Richard Karl Kaye faces court after police pulled allegedly found 10kg of cannabis inside rental car’s toolbox

A father of three allegedly caught with 10.5kg of cannabis in a rental car planned to stay in Adelaide for just 24 hours – and had a heart attack in custody, a court has heard.

A Queensland father of three’s “sole purpose” of travelling to Adelaide was to traffic 10kg of cannabis, with flight records showing he was only going to be in the state for 24 hours, prosecutors allege.

Richard Karl Kaye, 53, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday in front of Magistrate Justin Wickens via video link charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs and driving while suspended.

Mr Kaye is yet to enter any pleas but, at his last appearance, told the court the allegations were currently contested.

Richard Kaye has been charged with drug trafficking after police allegedly located 10kg of cannabis in his possession. Picture: Facebook

Mr Kaye appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court via video link. Picture: Facebook

The court heard Mr Kaye, who is behind bars in SA after his bail was earlier denied, had suffered a heart attack while in custody on remand.

Prosecutor Chloe-Roxanne Kourakis told the court Mr Kaye arrived in Adelaide at 9.58pm on Monday, August 26, and “had a return trip booked for 9.36pm on Tuesday, August 27”.

“The defendant in this matter resides in Brisbane and he had purchased a plane ticket to travel to South Australia for only 24 hours,” Ms Kourakis said.

“This offending occurred at 2pm on Tuesday, August 27, so it’s the prosecution’s case that he was in South Australia solely for the purposes of transporting these drugs.

“We do know that there is a 24-hour exit and entrance from South Australia.”

Police stopped the MG4 Excite hire car Mr Kaye was driving on War Memorial Drive, near Adelaide Oval and, after a search of the vehicle, allegedly found a tool chest containing 21 vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis, totalling 10.5kg.

The toolbox police allegedly found to contain 10.5kg of cannabis. Photo: SA Police

Mr Kaye has contested the charges, but is yet to formally enter a not guilty plea. Photo: SA Police

The court previously heard Mr Kaye told police he was asked to collect the chest and deliver it to a person at the Adelaide Airport Bunnings.

He also said he wasn’t aware of what was inside the chest and wasn’t receiving any payment for the delivery.

At his last appearance, Rohan Roesler, for Mr Kaye, told the court his client’s reason for the trip was to visit his mother who has Alzheimer’s.

On Thursday, defence counsel for Mr Kaye made an application for home detention bail for their client to reside with a friend in Hope Valley – telling Mr Wickens a “substantial monetary cash surety” could be provided to the court “as extra insurance for Mr Kaye’s bail”.

“Certainly it’s my submission that there has been a significant delay in this matter,” they said.

“He has been in custody since August this year. Whilst being remanded in custody, I understand he has suffered from a heart attack.”

Mr Wickens ordered a home detention assessment report and remanded Mr Kaye in custody to appear again in court next week.

Originally published as Richard Karl Kaye faces court after police pulled allegedly found 10kg of cannabis inside rental car’s toolbox