Drug kingpin wins jailhouse plea for meth car return
CONVICTED Gold Coast drug kingpin Ivan Tesic has recovered a Holden Commodore seized by police after it was used to transport $11m worth of methamphetamine oil.
Tesic was convicted in 2019 of possessing six litres of meth oil and ordered to serve eight years and nine months.
The former Glitter Strip nightclub owner on Thursday made an application to a magistrate to have his 2005 silver Commodore ute returned to him.
Appearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court via video from Borallon jail, Tesic said the vehicle had been confiscated by police in 2014.
“That’s seven years ago,” he said.
During Tesic’s trial for unlawful possession of drugs and trafficking the court heard the ute had been used to transport six bottles of meth oil in a secret stash compartment from Sydney to the Gold Coast in 2014.
Police found the oil hidden in the ute outside Tesic’s palatial waterfront home in the Gold Coast suburb Isle of Capri.
The ute had been driven by a drug mule who later turned Crown witness, while Tesic was in Sydney, the trial heard.
The ute was found to contain concealed compartments in the airbag cavity and behind the passenger seat, which could be opened by a concealed switch.
The jury found Tesic guilty of possessing the meth oil but was unable to return a verdict on the ice trafficking charge.
In a split decision, Tesic’s conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Queensland Police did not oppose his application to have the vehicle returned on Thursday and magistrate Suzette Coates ordered its return to Tesic noting he would have to organise a truck to pick it up as it was unregistered.
“Yep, all good,” Tesic said.