Self-proclaimed royalty caught up in Sydney drug raids

The self-proclaimed ‘King and Queen’ of a notorious Sydney nightlife district have been denied bail for multiple charges of supplying heroin and ice.

Engaged couple Mathew Bieganski and Belinda Stoleski have been caught up in a police operation targeting the supply of drugs in Kings Cross.

Four people – Mr Bieganski, 33, Ms Stoleski, 35, Toni Leanne Bennet, 41, and Adam John Wright, 40 – were arrested after police raids in Kings Cross, Surry Hills and Redfern.

Belinda Stoleski and her partner Mathew Bieganski have been denied bail on drug charges

The raids were part of ‘Strike Force Pirrama’, a police operation set up in June this year.

Mr Bieganski and Ms Stoleski posted photos to Facebook just days before the arrest, posing under cartoon crowns with the caption ‘King and Queen [of] Darlinghurst’.

Mr Wright was the only one granted bail, but not before he appeared in court with ‘substantial injuries’ sustained during his arrest.

His face was scabbed and he lifted a patch to show his left eye was swollen shut when his lawyer referred to the injuries during his first mention at Central Local Court on Wednesday.

The court heard the 40-year-old violently threw his arms around, threw punches and tried to headbutt a police officer during his Tuesday arrest.

Mr Wright’s lawyer noted his ‘substantial injuries’, saying his left eye-socket could be fractured and he didn’t agree ‘with necessarily everything’ in the police facts.

Ms Bennet used phones, the internet and ledgers to co-ordinate the distribution of heroin and ice from a home in a Redfern apartment block, police on Tuesday said.

The pair were two of four arrrested as part of a police operation dubbed 'Strike Force Pirrama'

The pair were two of four arrrested as part of a police operation dubbed ‘Strike Force Pirrama’

It’s alleged up to 30 drug runners would then sell the drugs along the Cross’s main strip, Darlinghurst Road.

Ms Bennet is charged with 23 counts of supplying a small quantity of a prohibited drug, one count of knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group and one count of supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis.

Ms Stoleski and her fiancé Mr Bieganski are both charged with several counts of supplying a small quantity of a prohibited drug, one count of supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis and one count of dealing with proceeds of crime.

The couple are both charged with supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis

The couple are both charged with supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis

Mr Wright is charged with several counts of supplying a small quantity of a prohibited drug, two counts of assaulting a police officer and one count each of resisting or hindering a police officer, possessing a prohibited drug and dealing with proceeds of crime.

The court heard during bail hearings for Mr Wright, Mr Bieganski and Ms Stoleski that the crown case was strong, with the three arrested as the result of a controlled police operation.

They’re next scheduled to face court on November 9.

 

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