Bennet Schwartz Wiki

                                    Bennet Schwartz Biography

Who is Bennet Schwartz ?

A former mining executive turned cocaine smuggler was arrested because police recognized his dog Louis in a photo he sent to co-conspirators, before he was found dead in his cell.

Detectives secretly raided Bennett Schwartz’s Double Bay unit in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in August looking for evidence linking him to a major syndicate allegedly involving suspected drug lord Mostafa Baluch.

Investigation

The person they were looking for had sent a photo of a French bulldog to someone months earlier using the same phone used to run the cocaine operation, but investigators had limited evidence that it was Schwartz.

When they opened the door and saw the same dog sitting in the apartment, they confirmed that the 34-year-old former Rio Tinto worker was involved.

“The dog’s name was Louie,” a police source told the Daily Telegraph. Schwartz had two of the same breed.

The tiles in the unit also matched the ones Louis was sitting in in the photo Schwartz sent under the alias ‘Anybreak’ on May 25.

The authorities were able to see messages between drug dealers because they were sent using AN0M.

The messaging app popular with criminals because it was thought to have impenetrable encryption that prevented conversations from being monitored.

In reality, the app was created by the Australian Federal Police and the FBI to catch international criminal organizations and recorded all their conversations.

Police took a photo of Louis the day the apartment was raided in August and used it as evidence against Schwartz, along with the image he sent in May.

Arrested and Charged

A former mining executive turned cocaine smuggler was arrested because police recognized his dog Louis in a photo he sent to co-conspirators, before he was found dead in his cell.

Investigators also seized a disposable phone that was used to check the delivery status of the cocaine shipment, along with 62 other shipments of heroin and methamphetamine.

With the photo and phone, police had enough evidence to show that Schwartz was trying to make a plan to smuggle 27kg of cocaine into Australia with northern beaches restaurateur and accused drug lord Mostafa Baluch.

Apparently, the drugs were hidden in plasticine.

Baluch was also indicted for the plot, but has yet to plead guilty to any of the charges.

He is in Australia’s most secure prison, Goulburn’s Supermax, after an ankle monitor was allegedly cut off while he was on bail and went on the run.

Victim

‘He was brought up by his widowed mother in a proper way. She made sacrifices to give him a good education, he studied, he had a job and the support of his family.’

Schwartz was the victim of extortion attempts while behind bars and was released in March 2020.

He was arrested again in October of the following year and charged with his involvement in the shipment of cocaine.

He was awaiting trial on more drug smuggling charges when he was found dead at the Metropolitan Detention and Reception Center in Silverwater in February.

Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding his death are ongoing and Correctional Services confirmed that there would be a coroner’s inquest.

Bennet Schwartz Quick and Facts

• Bennet Schwartz sent a photo of Louis to a drug co-conspirator in May last year
• Police secretly raided the 34-year-old’s unit in August and found the same dog 
• Sydney Grammar graduate was linked to alleged drug kingpin Mostafa Baluch
• In February, Schwartz was found dead in his jail cell