Charges only proceeding against Ava Wheaton in Ingle Farm drug bust
A teenage girl has faced court after allegedly admitting to a massive stash of drugs and cash, while her “significantly older” partner has had a win.
Police & Courts
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A teenage girl who allegedly admitted to a massive stash of drugs and cash has faced court as her “significantly older” partner and co-accused has had all charges dropped against him.
Ava Wheaton, 18, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday, after detectives from the Serious and Organised Crime Branch found about 125g of methamphetamine, 134 tablets of Suboxone, $41,250 cash and three gel blaster firearms at an Ingle Farm home.
It was alleged the drugs were discovered inside a bedroom with Ms Wheaton and her 45-year-old partner Jovan Trandafilov, with some of the Suboxone placed inside balloons.
On Tuesday, prosecutors withdrew all charges against Mr Trandafilov, who remains in custody on unrelated matters, and dropped four of Ms Wheaton’s charges, including multiple counts of possessing firearms.
The only charges proceeding against Ms Wheaton are now two counts of drug trafficking and one count of money laundering.
During a bail hearing in October, the prosecutor told the court that Ms Wheaton had admitted to police at the scene that she would “take responsibility” for “whatever was in the bedroom”.
At the time, Magistrate Christopher Smolicz raised concerns over her relationship with 45-year-old Mr Trandafilov, who he described as a “significantly older male with a significant criminal history”.
“Information had been received that the defendants were in possession of a trafficable amount of methylamphetamine,” the prosecutor said.
“Ms Wheaton told police ‘whatever was in the bedroom’ was hers and she ‘would take responsibility for it’.
“Ms Wheaton denied any knowledge of the firearms, which had been buried inside a black Nike duffel bag in the backyard.”
On Tuesday, Timothy Clarke, for Ms Wheaton, asked for further time as he hadn’t been told the charges would only be proceeding against his client.
“I haven’t spoken to her about what’s going to happen now that her co-accused is not involved,” he said.
Mr Clarke said he needed to clarify whether what Ms Wheaton said to police formed the basis of the charges only proceeding against her.
Magistrate Justin Wickens adjourned Ms Wheaton’s charges until next month for negotiations.
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