Drugs accused bailed with GPS
AN ex-Lone Wolf bikie allegedly linked to an international drug import operation, in which ice was smuggled into the country in packages listed as comic books, has been granted bail.
Christopher John Taylor, 43, was granted bail in the Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday more than a year after being arrested by investigators.
He must wear a GPS tracking device and not contact his co-accused Ross Stuart McCallum or witnesses in the case.
Taylor has been charged with 11 offences including drug trafficking and importation.
He is accused of importing methylamphetamine between January 29 and March 15, 2019 and trafficking the drug and GHB between May and June last year.
It is alleged Taylor became known to detectives during an investigation targeting McCallum.
Police allege McCallum is linked to 21 packages that were listed as containing comic books, photo albums or legal documents sent from the US to addresses on the Gold Coast.
Some of the packages were intercepted in the US, and one in Australia and allegedly contained methylamphetamine.
Police allege Taylor had met with his co-accused, and in April 2019 messaged him the address of a Southport property that had previously received a package linked to McCallum.
He was also a point of contact to a Burleigh Heads man, who had also received a package linked to McCallum, police allege.
Taylor was arrested on June 20 last year and was allegedly found with more than 40g of ice, 4.5g of cocaine, GHB, $5540 cash, scales and multiple phones.
During the raid on a property police found two notebooks in a car, alleged to be linked to drug distribution, which contained notations with dollar amounts and weights.
One of the books had the words “DON’T TOUCH” on its cover, police allege.
Outside of court, his solicitor Jodi Allen said bail was applied for because of concerns with delay, exacerbated by COVID-19.
“The reasons the matters haven’t been progressing is through no fault of anyone,” she said.
“There’s an allegation of drug importation, there are drugs allegedly located in the United States. For any analysis certificate to be admissible in Queensland those alleged drugs need to be analysed by an authorised Queensland lab.”