NEWS Accused ‘no drug kingpin’

THE son of a Top End mango farmer caught with almost 200gm of “dud” meth he bought on the internet will likely face a grilling in the Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to show he isn’t the kingpin police allege.

Van Vu Nguyen, also known as Michael Nguyen, pleaded guilty in the NT Supreme Court on Friday to the possession and supply of a commercial quantity of drugs after he was arrested on Cavenagh St in May carrying 60gm of high-quality meth, bagged up for sale.

A police search of Nguyen’s Berry Springs caravan found another “dud” 200g bag of meth, an amount which prosecutors say puts him near the top of the drug dealing hierarchy.

Nguyen, 31, claims he was sent the larger, unsaleable batch of drugs after paying for $10,000 of pseudoephedrine, a precursor to meth.

Matt Hubber, for Nguyen, said police had no evidence Nguyen had sold any of the “dud” batch of drugs.

Crown Prosecutor Tami Grealy said it was open to Chief Justice Michael Grant to infer Nguyen was a big-time drug dealer and had money stashed in an online bitcoin account, while Mr Hubber said his client had none of the hallmarks of a drug kingpin.

“Where’s the Ferraris, where’s the boats?” Mr Hubber said. Police have seized Nguyen’s Kawasaki motorbike, which Mr Hubber said was his only asset.

“He was living in a caravan.”

Nguyen is due to return to court, when he will be called to give evidence, on August 31.