Court told of drugs in internal package

A CORIO mum accused of hiding drugs inside her will spend Christmas behind bars.

Jodie Thomas, 47, unsuccessfully applied for bail at Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Ms Thomas has been charged with trafficking heroin and ice after police executed a search warrant at her McKinley Ave home on Wednesday.

In court, a police informant from the Divisional Response Unit said officers noticed a package protruding from Ms Thomas’ vagina during the search.

It was later found to contain 3.68g of ice, while $1175 in cash was also found on Ms Thomas, which police believed to be the proceeds of crime, the court heard.

Her phone had 340 unread messages on it and police allege those were consistent with drug trafficking.

A search of her house — which she shared with her de facto partner, who is facing similar charges — uncovered scales, an imitation firearm, 0.1g of heroin, firecrackers and several stolen credit cards, the court was told.

The property next door was also searched where four revolver handguns, including a loaded Magnum, were found.

The occupant of that home was charged with firearm offences, but police allege Ms Thomas and her partner were using the property to store the guns.

The court was told Ms Thomas has two children who have been in the care of the Department of Human Services for two years.

Defence lawyer Vincent Pe- HEIGHT OF LUXURY GEELONG’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE, INSIDE TODAY ters said Ms Thomas denied trafficking the drugs and said they were for personal use.

He also said the cash in her possession was from a pokies win in North Geelong.

The police informant said it was possible the money was from winnings rather than drug dealing. But he said the 3.8g of ice was “far more” than any drug user would usually have on them at one time.

Mr Peters said his client was a long-time heroin user and had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

Magistrate Noreen Toohey denied bail and said Ms Thomas was an unacceptable risk of further offending if released.

“Everything points to her being somebody who is trafficking drugs,” Ms Toohey said.

Ms Thomas was remanded in custody until January 8.