Phones claim in meth case trial

TRIAL proceedings have begun for Shaune Henry Howlett, who stands accused of “controlling and directing” a meth trafficking operation from Hobart.

The Lewisham resident fronted Hobart Supreme Court on Tuesday for day one of his trial, where he has pleaded not guilty to one count of trafficking methamphetamine into Tasmania.

State prosecutor Heather Denton alleged Mr Howlett used prepaid phones to give instructions to Terry Henry Simpson, who was caught with 972g of meth on August 24, 2018.

She said the meth was “good quality”, about 71 to 73 per cent purity, and worth $277,000 to $972,000 depending on how it was to be sold.

The court heard Mr Simpson was attempting to fly from Sydney to Hobart but was pulled up by a drug sniffer dog and searched by police.

A search yielded two packages of meth smuggled in his underwear as well as a Samsung phone that Ms Denton argues was used to communicate with Mr Howlett.

Defence lawyer Greg Richardson said throughout the course of the trial they would argue Mr Howlett had nothing to do with Mr Simpson’s smuggling attempts.

“The fact (Mr Simpson) was importing a large amount of an illicit drug into the state is not disputed. The issue in this case is what on earth that’s got to do with Shaune Howlett,” he said.

Ms Denton said Mr Howlett and Mr Simpson used several different prepaid phones under different names to “covertly” communicate with each other.

Tasmania Police searched Mr Howlett’s Lewisham home on January 16, 2019, and seized several phones including one encrypted phone.

Ms Denton said this was a “circumstantial case” but the volume of circumstantial evidence was considerable.

The trial is ongoing.