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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-2...siness/6960074

Former drag racer jailed for 13 years over ecstasy distribution network

By Louisa Rebgetz

Brett Raymond Stevens

Former Australian drag-racing champion Brett Raymond Stevens has been jailed for at least 10 years for running a million-dollar ecstasy ring in Queensland.

Stevens, 50, also known as "Skunk", retired from drag racing in 2008.

In September, a Brisbane Supreme Court jury found Stevens guilty of producing and trafficking MDMA, also known as ecstasy, between 2007 and 2009.

Prosecutor Daniel Boyle said Stevens ran a large-scale drug operation said to have produced up to 100,000 ecstasy pills a week, and to supply areas throughout Queensland.

Today, Justice Peter Lyons sentenced Stevens to 13 years in jail.

He also convicted Stevens of a serious violent offence, meaning he must serve at least 10 years of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

Mr Boyle had told the court Stevens "was a puppet master in running his entrepreneurial drug business and was able to coordinate the running of the business without much hands-on contact".

Stevens' arrest followed an electronic surveillance operation, involving telephone intercepts and video surveillance, which Queensland Police ran for several months.

Outside court, Stevens' lawyer Chris Hannay said the sentence was a surprise to his client.

"Obviously he is bitterly disappointed, his family is upset and it carries all that associated grief that goes with it," he said.

"Probably not what he was expecting or what he was hoping for but certainly within range."

Mr Hannay said Justice Lyons was making a statement in handing down his sentence.

"He sent a clear message to those who want to get involved in that sort of behaviour that the courts certainly won't tolerate [it], no matter what the circumstances are and no matter what the hardship is to families and friends."