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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National

Man guilty of supplying meth, cannabis-laced 'nerd ropes'

Tyson Leota being arrested in 2023. Picture by NSW Police

A man has pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs after police found more than 2kg of edible gummy ropes containing THC at a Hunter property.

Raptor North police raided the Kurri Kurri home Tyson Leota shared with his partner and her sister on June 6 last year, where they found 345.4 grams of methamphetamine, later confirmed to be of 78 per cent purity, in a kitchen cupboard.

There, they also discovered a shoe box labelled "medicated nerd ropes" - with a large lolly rope inside.

A statement of agreed facts tendered to Newcastle Local Court noted police found five of the "nerd ropes" in the kitchen, which contained tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and weighed more than 2kg in total.

Police uncovered 50 buprenorphine strips in Leota's bedroom and $6515 cash - the proceeds of drug supply - in the home.

Leota was arrested at Edgeworth later that day and told police the "nerd ropes" were for personal use, but denied using the methamphetamine.

He pleaded guilty in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday to supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, and two other charges which will be taken into account when he is sentenced in the district court - possessing the buprenorphine strips and possessing stolen licence plates.

Meanwhile, Samantha Tennant, Leota's partner who also lived at the Kurri Kurri address, has pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying a prohibited drug greater than an indictable amount.

Mikayla Tennant, Samantha Tennant's sister, is facing six charges and has not yet entered any pleas. She is due to face Newcastle Local Court again next week.

Leota remains in custody.

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