Daniel Stewart Toon charged with 14 offences including meth trafficking

Lawyers for an accused meth dealer want trafficking charges dropped, but prosecutors hit back arguing there is a reasonable case for allegations of a commercial drug business.

Daniel Stewart Toon is charged with 14 offences including meth trafficking.​

A lawyer for an accused meth dealer attempted to have trafficking charges dropped, arguing there was an “evidentiary deficiency” in the police case for a commercial drug business.

Daniel Stewart Toon, 43, is facing 14 charges including trafficking methylamphetamines between August 2020 and January 2021 and aggravated drug possession.

He has been in custody on remand since his arrest in early January 2021 after police raided Oaks Rivermarque.

It is alleged he was found in possession of a large amount of meth and cash, multiple phones and drug-related items.

Following a committal hearing in Mackay Magistrates Court which heard from two police officers involved in the arrest, barrister Joshua Morris made a no case submission against the trafficking charge.

“In my submission there is no evidence Mr Toon carried on the business of trafficking in a dangerous drugs,” Mr Morris said.

Daniel Stewart Toon, 43, is facing 14 charges including trafficking methylamphetamines between August 2020 and January 2021 and aggravated drug possession.

“The crown has to have evidence that Mr Toon actually engaged in carrying on a business or the trafficking charge must fail.”

The court heard police relied on phone taps to build their trafficking case against Mr Toon.

“The crown says Mr Toon’s talking about dangerous drugs during the telephone interceptions, yet your honour has not been provided any statement by a police officer saying what the drug terminology actually is,” Mr Morris said.

Mr Morris argued the telephone intercepts posed the bulk “and only evidence” for the meth trafficking charge.

He said there was no evidence of advertising, that bank records did not show if drug money had been deposited, no surveillance of Mr Toon selling drugs and no statements from others saying they had bought drugs from his client.

Police prosecutor Lennon Stathoulis detailed the items Mr Toon was allegedly found possessing when police raided his room that included 25g of meth spread across multiple bags, six mobile phones “two of which were subject to the telephone intercepts”, $14,955 in cash, digital scales, a remote controlled drone, a box of unused clip seal bags and digestible empty consumable capsules.

It is alleged Mr Toon was found possessing 25g of meth, six mobile phones and $14,955 in cash.

Mr Stathoulis said one of the phones was a “cipher phone”, which is an encrypted phone.

He told the court police also searched two vehicles as a part of the investigation and allegedly found 1.4g of meth, empty clip seal bags, cryovac bags, mobile phones and an iPad, another remote controlled drone and hypophosphorous acid: “Which I understand is a precursor to making methylamphetamine”.

The court heard Mr Toon was not charged with any production offences.

Mr Stathoulis also argued there were inferences that could be drawn from the phone taps including that Mr Toon met with a customer “in a secluded location to supply drugs”.

Mr Stathoulis said the items Mr Toon was allegedly found with in combination with the phone tap evidence “there is a case which a reasonably instructed jury could convict him”.

Magistrate Damien Dwyer adjourned the matter for decision in mid March.