Luck runs out for glamour rock couple arrested over Sydney drug syndicate

More than a decade ago, rock ʼnʼ roll frontman Azaria Byrne would have counted himself lucky. A day after he handed the keys of a Bali villa to a woman he claimed to have met only once in 2014, police swooped on the luxury digs. By then, though, Byrne had already touched down in Sydney.

The woman he gave the keys to, Leeza Ormsby, served a 10-month jail sentence for marijuana possession. Inside the villa Byrne had rented, police found MDMA and hashish weighed, bagged and ready for resale inside a locked drawer. Ormsby wasn’t staying at the villa and knew nothing about the drugs, she said.

Byrne, born in Brisbane in 1980, came to the notice of Interpol, but was never charged over the drug stash, which he denied any knowledge of, as he declared Ormsby’s innocence at the time.

On Wednesday, though, Byrne’s luck seemed to run out. Just after 7am, detectives investigating a large-scale drug supply syndicate in Sydney under Strike Force Dulce arrested the 45-year-old at his Earlwood home. There, they also took his hairdresser fiancee Brooke Mitchell, 28, into custody. Both have been charged with supplying large commercial quantities of a prohibited drug, participating in a criminal group and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Byrne, a former boyfriend of Jessica Origliasso – one half of Australian pop duo The Veronicas – has also been charged with acquiring illegal firearms parts that were allegedly found alongside a flick knife at his home.

Police say cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, LSD, ketamine and diazepam were also found at Byrne’s home. Mitchell’s mother, Joanne Cullip, 61, was also arrested at the home, which the trio share and Byrne bought for $1.25 million in 2020, according to property records. She was charged with participating in a criminal group and was granted police bail to appear in court in April.

About 20 minutes away, at a converted Leichhardt warehouse that Byrne sub-leases to musicians and recording studios, detectives allegedly found about 25 kilograms of ketamine, 17 kilograms of cannabis, 2.5 kilograms of cocaine, 3.5 kilograms of MDMA, 5.6 kilograms of diazepam, half a kilogram of magic mushrooms, 70 grams of methamphetamine, almost 20,000 pills believed to contain LSD, and $200,000 in cash. Police allege the drugs, some of which were found in a secret room at the Leichhardt warehouse by drug detection dogs, have a street value of $5.5 million.

For most of Wednesday, detectives searched upstairs rooms at the property used by several well-known bands, taking away carloads of evidence bags. Byrne had recently completed a fit-out of the space worth an estimated $200,000 that he claimed was funded by his work in the construction industry. None of the businesses or musicians renting studios from Byrne are accused of any wrongdoing.

Byrne’s band, The Art, has performed with well-known groups The Pixies, Thirty Seconds To Mars and Nine Inch Nails, as well as Marilyn Manson, according to media interviews he has given. In 2017, The Art supported Jimmy Barnes at a Sydney show. The band was scheduled to tour the country with Australian rock group The Superjesus in June and July.

The Harbour Agency, which manages shows for The Superjesus, declined to comment on Byrne’s arrest or its implications for the group’s upcoming tour. The booking agency represents well-known Australian bands and artists including The Angels, Dragon, John Farnham, Daryl Braithwaite and Guy Sebastian, according to its website.

Detectives allege Byrne directed the local activities of the syndicate, while Mitchell and her mother helped distribute drugs the group is alleged to have manufactured at a Marrickville lab raided on Wednesday. Police seized ketamine, MDMA and equipment they allege was being used for drug manufacturing at the property.

Byrne sobbed during a failed bail application on Thursday, during which prosecutors told Burwood Local Court he was a risk of moving what they called his legitimate as well as his unexplained wealth offshore if he was released from custody, and that it would be in his interest “to do everything possible to leave this jurisdiction”.

Byrne’s barrister, Hollie Blake, told the court his home was purchased with help from his parents, rather than any unexplained wealth.

The court heard Byrne had been captured on surveillance and listening devices supplying prohibited drugs over the nine month-long police investigation. He was remanded in custody to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on May 14.

Mitchell’s lawyer, Alexander Reetov, told the court his client did not play a high-ranking role in the syndicate. “She’s a lady of no substantial means, which is in contrast to Mr Byrne,” Reetov said.

Both Mitchell and her mother were seen accessing the Leichhardt studios where the syndicate’s drugs were stored several times while police were surveilling the property, the court heard.

Magistrate Jennifer Price refused Mitchell bail to face Downing Centre Local Court alongside Byrne on May 14.

At Potts Point on Wednesday, detectives arrested Oliver Dibley, a little-known producer and vocalist based in Los Angeles, where Byrne had occasionally travelled for work with his tour promotion company, Hi Society Touring. Drugs and $37,000 in cash were allegedly seized in the raid.

Dibley, 33, police say, was the offshore ringleader of the syndicate and directed its activities from the United States. He has been charged with dozens of counts of drug supply charges, as well as dealing with property alleged to be the proceeds of crime, and knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group. He has zero monthly listeners, according to his Spotify profile.

At searches of homes in Marrickville, Balmain and Dulwich Hill, police allegedly found cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine, magic mushrooms, prescription medication, cannabis, LSD and more than $40,000 in cash.

Several other alleged syndicate members who detectives say were helping to distribute the syndicate’s drugs were arrested over the course of Wednesday.

Andrew Donald Kirkby, 38, of Marrickville, Tayler Paul Richard Pride, 37, of Dulwich Hill, and Onur Karaozbek, 43, of Balmain, were all charged with drug supply offences. Kirkby and Pride were both charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime. Dibley, Kirkby, Pride and Karaozbek were remanded in custody to face court in May.

A 37-year-old woman, Keisha Seru, of Surry Hills, was arrested and charged with four counts of possessing a prohibited drug and participating in a criminal group after police allegedly found cannabis, magic mushrooms and dexamphetamine on her during a raid of the Marrickville home. She was granted police bail to face the Downing Centre Local Court in April.

“Tonight, there are less drugs on the streets of Sydney as a result of this excellent investigation,” acting Superintendent Gretchen Atkins said on Thursday afternoon.

Investigations under Strike Force Dulce are ongoing.

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