After their arrest in 2007, the Baggaley brothers who runs a sophisticated drug syndicate, was finally sentenced last month. Nathan Baggaley, 32, a former Olympian and his brother Dru Baggaley, 27 were sentenced to jail in Lismore District Court. Nathan received nine years with a non-parole period of five years for dealing ecstasy while Dru received 12 years for manufacturing and dealing, with a non-parole of eight years.

Before Nathan’s involvement in the drug dealings of his younger brother, he was an Olympian and world kayaking champion. However, an incident in 2005 changed his life when ASADA suspended him due to a positive anabolic steroid test. He said that he inadvertently drank an orange juice bottle which belongs to his brother. He maintained his position that his intake of steroid is an accident. During a court hearing Nathan said that he had been cut off from what he truly loved. “I was left with no profession and no work opportunities,” Nathan said.

The result of a separate investigation by the Sunday Telegraph on the extent of Baggaley’s operation was a little bit disturbing. The news agency discovered that the Baggaley brothers used minors in their drug dealings. They used teenagers as couriers of the drugs for their clients based on the interview with a close friend of the brothers. “Nathan and Dru had young people, a gang of them, about 18 to 20 years old, out there selling - surf club kids. They idolised Nathan . . . they were in awe of him, they adored him and he meant everything to them,” he added. Most of these kids were troubled youngsters in the Byron Bay community which were easily enticed by money offered by the Baggaleys.

To hide their illegal operation, Nathan used his kayak manufacturing business as a front. The pill press used to make ecstacy were found on Nathan’s industrial property during a raid by the authorities. They used false identities to run the drug ring and in buying parts for the pill press. They even used coded messages when transacting with their buyers and arranged transactions using a special, password-protected email account. Some of the coded communications by the brothers were “hours” for 1000 tablets of ecstacy and “overtime papers” for money. Authorities observed that the Baggaley brothers personally deal with big time clients while using minors to deliver to small time buyers. Some of the dealings were conducted near Coolangatta Airport on the Queensland border, or at their oyster lease at Brunswick Heads.

A special operation which they called Strike Force Alawa was formed by the Australian drug enforcement officers and local detectives. After several months of undercover operation they finally cracked down the Baggaleys drug syndicate when an undercover agent was able to purchase 1000 pills of ecstacy.

After the sentencing Nathan Baggaley still hopes to redeem himself. “I want to prove that our past doesn’t have to define our future. It’s what you do with these second chances that you should be judged on,” he said. It is still unclear whether Nathan wants to be back into sports after completing his sentence because of his tarnished reputation as a steroid user and a drug dealer.

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