Bennet Schwartz: Convicted cocaine smuggler is found dead in his cell

An investigation is under way into circumstances surrounding the death of convicted cocaine smuggler Bennet Schwartz, 34, who was found “unresponsive” in his maximum-security cell at Silverwater jail on Saturday.

Schwartz had already served a jail term for his involvement in a cocaine smuggling racket and had been released from jail in March 2020. But last October he was arrested for his alleged role in another major drug conspiracy and was being held in the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre.

According to a statement from Corrective Services, in which Schwartz was not named, “the inmate was found unresponsive in a cell at around 11.45am and was pronounced deceased by NSW Ambulance officers at approximately 12.18pm,” on February 19.

Bennet Schwartz once had it all. After graduating from Sydney Grammar and the University of Sydney, he landed a job at mining giant Rio Tinto.

“Many offenders coming for sentence to this court have terrible backgrounds,” said District Court Judge Peter Berman, who handed Schwartz a maximum sentence of six years with a non-parole period of 3½ years in 2018.

“They are raised by parents who model illegal behaviour. They are abused, they do not have guidance and they associate with criminals. The offender has no excuse whatsoever for his behaviour.”

But only 18 months after his release, Schwartz was re-arrested in October last year over his alleged role in smuggling 27 kilograms of ­cocaine into Australia.

While Schwartz did not apply for bail, one of his alleged co-conspirators, Mostafa Baluch, did.

After controversially being granted bail, Mr Baluch prompted one of the country’s biggest manhunts after he chopped off his court-ordered electronic ankle monitor at his Bayview home on Sydney’s northern beaches and fled.

He was on the run for 16 days before authorities caught him hiding in a car on the back of a truck near the Queensland border in November.

Superintendent Matthew Parsons from the AFP said police had information that Schwartz was in contact with Mr Baluch before he went on the run.

“He’s a successful qualified young gentleman with links to the mining industry and hospitality industry but ­obviously he’s chosen this road, be it for the fame and fortune of the gangster lifestyle,” said Superintendent Parsons when Schwartz was re-arrested late last year.

Those sentiments had previously been expressed by his sentencing judge in 2018. Judge Berman said that his widowed mother had made many sacrifices to give her son a good education. The judge said was baffled by Schwartz’s behaviour, which he could attribute only to greed.

However, the judge said time in custody had not been easy. “Jails are terrible places. They are places where violence is ever-present. But the conditions of custody are made even worse when an inmate is suspected of having assisted the authorities,” they said.

He noted that inaccurate and irresponsible reporting had suggested Schwartz was a senior executive in Rio Tinto and that he might have been a police informer.

As a result, other inmates attempted to extort money from him, which led to him being injured by an attack with a sandwich press, said the judge.

The judge said that “worse was to come” when Schwartz was stabbed for the mistaken belief that he was a “dog”, or police informant.

Corrective Services and NSW Police are investigating Schwartz’s death. “All deaths in custody are subject to a coronial inquest,” said the Corrective Services’ statement.