JAIL ENDS GLAMOROUS LIFE PAID FOR BY DRUGS

He Spent $1 Million on Racehorses and Lived in a Gold Coast Mansion
but Yesterday, Dennis Lowe Was Jailed As a Drug Dealer.

RACEHORSE owner Dennis James Lowe was a darling of the Gold Coast
racing set but few knew he was a criminal who funded his lifestyle
through drugs.

In the Supreme Court in Brisbane yesterday, Lowe's dreams of the good
life crashed when he was jailed for 18 years for trafficking
amphetamines, sold mostly in Victoria.

As a serious violent offender, Lowe will have to serve 80 per cent of
his sentence before being eligible for parole.

One of Lowe's employees, Erick William Zagata, was jailed for a total
of seven years. In 1999, Zagata was given a wholly suspended two-year
sentence for an unrelated fraud, but the day after began his major
role in Lowe's drug ring.

Justice Ros Atkinson said Lowe led an extravagant lifestyle to which
few could aspire and there was no doubt he was involved in drugs
simply for greed.

She said amphetamines were a major problem in society and Lowe had
shown no remorse about the problems the drugs caused.

Lowe led a lifestyle the envy of many as he mixed with racing's elite
at the Magic Millions thoroughbred sales and at other events on the
Gold Coast.

He outlaid more than $1 million on racehorses - at one stage he had
close to 50 - and spent large amounts upgrading his Linden Park stud
near Beaudesert.

Lowe and his family lived in a 90-square house at the upmarket
Sovereign Islands estate on the Gold Coast. It had five bathrooms, a
large heated pool and top-class security.

It was a far cry from Lowe's early days working for 17 years on
Melbourne's infamous docks where his nickname was Buster.

His criminal record dated back to 1964 when he was 14, and he was
known by several aliases in Melbourne - Ray Latta, Ray Latter or Ray
West.

After leaving the docks he spent years in the earth-moving business
before moving to Queensland where he ran a nursery in the Redlands.

However, police believe it was Lowe's links to his old
painter-and-docker days which allowed him to set up a massive
amphetamine production operation.

One of the investigating officers, Andrew Massingham, said the
laboratory and equipment discovered by police indicated Lowe and his
cohorts had the potential to manufacture enormous amounts of the drug.

Massingham said the equipment was by far the largest found in
Queensland.

Lowe, 53, was found guilty of trafficking, possession of amphetamines
and receiving money from the sale of amphetamines.

He and Zagata, 39, were found guilty on joint charges of producing
amphetamines. The charges spanned from May, 1999, to December, 2000.

The Supreme Court trial heard Lowe set up the company named Denlin, at
Loganholme, south of Brisbane, which was for manufacturing pet and
equine products and in particular horse cough drops.

However, the company was a front so Lowe and his associates could
legally obtain drugs such as pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine,
which were used to make amphetamines and methyl amphetamines.

Lowe was under financial pressure in 1999-00 and in particular to the
Magic Millions company for a number of horses he had bought.

In 1999 he set up Denlin and employed Zagata and a man named Jim
Greenup as his managers.

Zagata obtained the authorities from health officials to purchase
large amounts of pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine from
legitimate chemical suppliers.

Police became suspicious when Denlin bought 25kg of pseudoephedrine
and a joint Queensland and federal police and National Crime Authority
operation named Voice began. Police used new investigation techniques
because Lowe was dealing with old friends in Melbourne and the
operation was hard to infiltrate. Lowe, Zagata, Greenup and men from
Melbourne were put under surveillance.

At one stage police covertly found between $200,000 and $300,000
hidden in Greenup's airline luggage on a trip back from Melbourne.

On another occasion Lowe was intercepted at Goondiwindi, on the
Queensland border, driving a horse transporter back from Melbourne,
and $59,200 was found.

Police found chemicals bought by Denlin were syphoned off for the
manufacture of amphetamines at a property at Canungra, in the Gold
Coast hinterland.

The operation was later moved to a shed at Telemon St in
Beaudesert.

It will never be known how much amphetamine was produced and sold, but
police have no doubt it was an extraordinarily large amount.