Bail for drug syndicate

Chinese woman allowed to care for kids despite ice charges

A KINGSTON Beach woman allegedly involved in a largescale Chinese-Malaysian drug trafficking syndicate has been granted bail so she can care for her infant children while waiting for her case to reach court.

Chinese national Xiao Yan Ning, 35, was arrested at her Hobart home on July 1 this year and charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of the drug ice and negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime.

She was extradited to Melbourne two days later and remanded in custody at the Dame Phyll is Frost Centre, according to a newly published Supreme Court of Victoria judgment.

Justice Lex Lasry said Victoria Police began investigating an alleged trafficking syndicate operating throughout Tasmania and Victoria in February this year, with Ms Ning arrested along with 15 other people — including her partner and father of her two children.

He said it was alleged the syndicate had been operating since at least 2018 with more than five tonnes of precursor chemicals, running clandestine labs to manufacture ice, and laundering money through bank accounts and businesses.

Justice Lasry said it was also alleged the syndicate was operating chicken farm sand rural labour organisations to legitimise its income, using vulnerable people to “house-sit” their drug labs.

“It is the Crown case that (Ms Ning and her partner) are the two main persons in charge of the syndicate’s business finances, ”he said.

Ms Ning has been living in Australia since 2004 and is currently on a bridging visa.

Justice Lasry said at the time of her arrest, she was living at Kingston Beach with her two children and their grandmother.

After being denied bail in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, Ms Ning applied to the Supreme Court, given her case could be delayed until 2023.

The Victorian Office of Public Prosecution argued Ms Ning was an unacceptable flight risk and could contact alleged offenders who were currently“on the run ”.

Justice Lasry granted bail with several conditions, including that Ms Ning surrender her passports and not contact certain people.

She will return to the Melbourne Magistrates Court on November 4, with a pre-trial hearing expected in April next year.