Perth man Shane McQuillan jailed over attempt to traffic $250,000 worth of MDMA to Broome

A Perth man has been handed a five-year jail sentence after he was caught trafficking $250,000 worth of the party drug MDMA into Broome in March 2021. Shane William McQuillan, 35, appeared in Perth District Court this month convicted of smuggling 55 grams of MDMA into the tourist town to sell. A further 441 grams was discovered at his home in Connolly. His accomplice Ryan Mays, 42, was also convicted. The pair had been arrested after they were stopped by police while driving on Great Northern Highway towards Broome Rd. Broome police found a black toiletries bag containing eight clip-seal bags of 387.9 grams of methylamphetamine and two clip-seal bags containing the MDMA hidden behind the glovebox in their car. At the time, then-Senior Sergeant John Harty said the bust, worth an estimated $240,000, was one of the biggest he had seen in the sleepy tourist town. “It’s probably not our largest one, but it certainly is one of the biggest ones we’ve had in the time that I’ve been here,” he said. Both McQuillan and Mays were charged in relation to the MDMA, while the meth charges fell on Mays. The prosecution said the men had intended to sell the drugs on arrival in Broome. The scale of their involvement in the drug trade became clear when Joondalup detectives executed a search of the home both men share and found a black bag containing 411 grams of MDMA under McQuillan’s bed. Also found in the room were several smoking implements and a set of digital scales with traces of white powder. McQuillan entered a plea of guilty in August, discounting his sentence by 12 per cent. Judge Vicki Stewart reflected on McQuillan’s involvement in the commercial sale of MDMA during the sentencing. “You were engaged in a commercial drug-dealing activity at a higher level in the drug distribution network than a low‑level street dealer,” he said. “There can be no doubt that, given the quantity of the MDMA, it would have been distributed within the community for profit.” McQuillan was sentenced to five years and nine months imprisonment backdated to his initial arrest on March 29, 2021. He will be eligible for parole in 2025. Mays is set to appear in Perth District Court on January 20 for sentencing.