Mysterious drug caps found following wild Toowoomba street brawl

A Toowoomba man caught with a pocket full of drugs while running away from an all-in street brawl said he wasn’t involved in the “melee” which was “none of his business”.

Ariek Lual pleaded guilty to possessing drugs and breaching his bail.

A young Toowoomba man caught with a pocket full of hard drugs while fleeing a large street fight has pleaded guilty to the drug offence.

The Toowoomba Magistrate Court heard officers arrested Ariek Lual, 21, on November 8, 2024, after police broke up a group fight in parklands along Queens Street.

Police prosecutor Rowan Brewster-Webb said Lual was nabbed when officers broke up the “large melee” at 3.30pm.

“Upon being challenged (by police), all persons ran, some being caught and detained, and the defendant was one of those,” he said.

In July 2025, Toowoomba man Ariek Lual pleaded guilty to possessing drugs and breaching his bail.

Brewster-Webb said Lual was detained and searched because there was a warrant out for his arrest.

Inside Lual’s pocket, officers found 18 clear capsules with a greyish-brown powder inside.

He said Lual told police he didn’t know anything about the drugs which were suspected to be meth or MDMA.

Lual was released on bail that day, however he breached the undertaking by failing to report to police a number of times.

Acting as duty lawyer, solicitor Alysha Jacobsen told the court Lual did own the drugs, which were for personal use, as he was planning on “partying” with friends that weekend.

“They had met up in a park, there were some other things that were going on which he instructed were none of his business, he wasn’t involved in it, but that his cousins were there, and that’s when police had arrived.”

Ms Jacobsen said the 21-year-old Toowoomba man failed to report on one occasion because he was working as a plasterer in Cotswold Hills, and on the other occasion because of a death in his family.

She said he had since quit and was looking for work in the trade industry.

Lual was fined $500 and had no conviction recorded.

Originally published as Mysterious drug caps found following wild Toowoomba street brawl