Driver caught using phone on Port Rd leads police to drug, money bust in Cheltenham
Officers initially pulled him over for using a mobile phone while driving – but then they made some surprising and even more serious discoveries, a court has heard.
Police & Courts
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A man who was allegedly talking on his phone at a traffic light has appeared in court after police discovered more than half-a-million dollars in cash and 100g of heroin at his home.
John Nicky Tedesco, 55, of Cheltenham, was charged with two counts of money laundering and five counts of drug trafficking.
Magistrate Kym Millard said it was appropriate to grant Tedesco bail as he appeared via video link in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Tedesco, a father-of-three, is accused of talking on his phone while stopped at the intersection of Port Road and James Congdon Drive in Thebarton just before 10pm on Tuesday.
A police patrol car that had stopped next to him pulled Tedesco over after the light turned green.
The officers noticed an axe handle in the rear seat of his Ford sedan and began to search the vehicle.
Police say they found $400 concealed in the footwell on the driver’s side, as well as several mobile phones and $28,000 in bundled cash under a jumper in the passenger’s side of the car.
A police prosecutor said Tedesco dropped a sealed bag containing three grams of methamphetamine in the gutter as officers searched him.
Officers later searched his home at Cheltenham, where they allegedly found about $600,000 in cash, 100g of heroin, 50mL of fantasy, 10g of methamphetamine and some cannabis.
Lawyer Andrew Moffa, for Tedesco, briefly questioned the validity of police’s search, saying:
“This is at 10pm at night, very dark, and the basis for the search is the location of what they believe to be an axe handle.”
“This is a definite not guilty, this matter.”
Tedesco’s wife, 50, was also arrested and charged with drug trafficking. She was granted bail at the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Tedesco will be granted bail, pending a review.