ONE brother has been imprisoned and his sibling handed a suspended jail sentence for a drug and firearms trade flushed out by a police undercover operation.
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Jarrod Betts, 24, and Jordan Betts, 22, were sentenced in Wagga District Court this week by Judge Phillip Mahony SC.
Jarrod Betts was jailed for 17 offences, including three counts of supplying a prohibited drug greater than the indictable quantity and one count of possessing a prohibited drug.
The 13 firearms charges included two counts of supplying an unregistered firearm and single counts of shortening a firearm and acquiring a pistol.
Jordan Betts was given concurrent two-year suspended jail sentences for five crimes: two drug supply offences and three firearm offences, including supplying a prohibited firearm. He was convicted but given no other penalty for possessing ammunition.
The State Crime Command’s drug squad and Wagga police set up Strike Force Golder in July, 2015, to investigate Jarrod Betts and his “associates”.
On July 30, they made their first move when an undercover operative tried to call Jarrod Betts to arrange a buy of drugs and firearms.
The call was not answered, but soon after Betts sent a text message telling the potential customer to contact his brother, who would arrange the sale. About 6.30pm the same day, the operative picked up Jordan Betts from an Ashmont house and drove him to another house in the neighbourhood.
There, Jordan Betts negotiated the sale of a 12-gauge shortened shotgun and 20 rounds of ammunition for $500 and 100 ecstasy pills for $1600.
On September 25 another undercover operation was authorised and four days later an operative tried unsuccessfully contact Jarrod Betts, so he reached out to Jordan. Jordan Betts texted his brother: “Ring him. U won’t get f….d around trust me I talk to these guys all the time there all right mate make some money for yourself.”
Assured by his brother’s words, Jarrod Betts met the operative later in the day in an Edward Street carpark and told him two rifles in a guitar case for $1600.
The operation also included monitoring the brothers’ mobile telephones.
Intercepts showed Jordan Betts agreed to sell 53 ecstasy tablets to people who were not police in eight transactions in September and Jarrod agreeing to supply 714 pills between September, including 200 to his brother.
Jarrod Betts was given a head sentence of four years and six months, with a non-parole period of two years and six months, backdated to December 21, 2015, when he went into custody. He will be eligible to be considered for parole on June 20, 2018.