A glamorous real estate agent advertised cocaine on Craigslist as tickets to a ‘White VIP’ party before being busted selling the substance to an undercover cop.
Auctioneer and property consultant, Kristiana Karakostas, 27, posted on the American classified website in February 2017, under the guise of a man called ‘Charlie’, who was selling $350 tickets to an exclusive Melbourne event that weekend.
‘Charlie’ even offered to personally deliver the tickets.
‘Best in Melbourne,’ the ad promised, the ABC reports. ‘Sort out your weekend properly.’
But Victoria Police were watching – with a court hearing details of how she conducted the drug ring in cahoots with former Bachelor contestant Georgia Tripos on sentencing.
Kristiana Karakostas (pictured), 27, posted coded advertisements selling cocaine on Craiglist as $350 tickets to an exclusive ‘White VIP party’
Karakostas (pictured) was arrested at Woodards Real Estate Agency in Mount Waverley, where she worked as an auctioneer and property consultant, on March 15, 2017
Karakostas’ plan came undone when a detective arranged to meet her to buy cocaine at a Mount Waverley petrol station.
The service station was just 50 metres away from the real estate agency where she worked.
After handing over the small zip lock bag, the estate agent told the undercover officer that she had better ‘stuff’ coming that would cost $400.
Police stormed Woodards Real Estate Agency three weeks later to execute search warrants, arresting Karakostas in her office and seizing her handbag.
Stashed in a makeup bag, they found about six grams of cocaine worth around $2,200 and more than $3000 in cash.
When officers later raided Karakostas’ Glen Iris home they discovered another 21.5 grams of cocaine and 384gm of another drug known as ethylpentylonane and other drug paraphernalia.
The level of purity of the cocaine was documented on a Crown Casino postcard located under her bed.
During Karakostas’ arrest Georgia Tripos (pictured) arrived and began speaking with Karakostas in another language
Tripos rose to fame after she appeared on Richie Strahan’s season of The Bachelor
Karakostas, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking cocaine in the County Court of Victoria last month.
At a sentencing hearing on Friday, Karakostas was spared a jail sentence and was placed on a three-year community corrections order. She was ordered to complete 150 hours of community service.
Shortly after her arrest, analysis of Karakostas’s phone revealed that she moved 68.5 grams of cocaine in dozens of transactions between between February 2 and March 10, 2017.
The deals were conducted all over the city, including at the St Kilda Festival, Crown Promenade, Flinders Lane and the Intercontinental Rialto.
In court on Friday, Judge Lawson said Karakostas was ‘intimately involved’ in the trafficking of the drugs.
The court heard Karakostas became dependent on cocaine when she was 24-years-old while in a toxic relationship.
Georgia Tripos (pictured) was arrested by police in 2017 who later found cocaine and cocaine purity testing kits at her home
‘You became reliant on cocaine as a form of escapism from negative emotions and low self-worth,’ Judge Lawson said.
Judge Lawson noted that Karakostas had excellent prospects of rehabilitation, stating she had made major life changes and was now committed to a law-abiding lifestyle.
Karakostas ran the drug operation in partnership with former Bachelor star Georgia Tripos, who was subsequently arrested during the police investigation.
The brunette rose to fame after she appeared on Richie Strahan’s season of The Bachelor.
Tripos has pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine but will fight other charges at a trial on November 9.