Two kingpins of a massive drug syndicate that supplied the Rebels Motorcycle Club have each been ordered to pay $14 million in criminal proceeds to the Queensland government
Michael Paul Falzon was sentenced to 10 years' jail in 2009 after being found guilty in the Queensland Supreme Court of trafficking, producing and possessing a dangerous drug.
Co-accused James Thomas O'Brien was jailed for 14 years in 2008 for similar charges.
The men produced and sold methylamphetamine, or ice, between 1998 and 2004 at various properties outside Mackay, Rockhampton and Dalby.
During their trials the court heard it was a very successful multi-million dollar operation that fed drugs into the Rebels Motorcycle Club network.
Both men claimed to have been wrongly convicted of involvement, but had their appeals dismissed.
The state then took the pair to court again to confiscate the proceeds of the operation.
In a written judgment published on Tuesday, the Supreme Court in Mackay found the men manufactured 200 kilograms of drugs which was then worth a market value of $17.6 million.
Adjusted for inflation, the court found the current value was $28.1 million.
O'Brien and Falzon were each ordered to pay half of that adjusted amount to the government.
Share
