Trafficker Anh Ho caught with ice in middle of major Norlane drug house bust

A drug trafficker was caught with 80 grams of ice after driving up to a Norlane home in the middle of a major drug bust.

Drug trafficker Anh Ho was caught with 87 grams of ice.

A drug trafficker was busted with large amount of ice when he showed up at a Norlane drug house while it was being searched by police.

Just as officers were uncovering methamphetamine, cannabis and cash inside the Spruhan Ave home, Truganina man Anh Ho drove up to the home and was found in possession of 87.6g of ice.

Ho, who pleaded guilty in Geelong Magistrates Court to a charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence, was in the passenger seat of the car and came to police attention because he was trying to avoid being seen.

Officers searched the car and found three clear resealable bags containing methamphetamine in a black magnetic box between the seats, two mobile phones and $3,060.05 in cash.

They also uncovered a series of text messages found on Ho’s phone that suggested he was trafficking in the early months of 2022.

Police told the court on Friday Ho had been caught with a total of 87.6g of ice, with 78 per cent purity.

The street value was estimated between $10,000 and $15,000.

The woman who owned the house, Donna Russell, 46, pleaded guilty to drug possession and trafficking charges in May 2022.

Police found 15 syringes containing methamphetamine, six ziplock bags containing cannabis and $2970 in cash inside the house.

Ho’s defence barrister, Tass Antos, submitted this was “not the type of drug trafficking where there are hundreds of co-offenders”.

Mr Antos said Ho came to Australia when he was 15 from Vietnam and fell into the Melbourne nightclub scene in his early 20s.

At that point, Mr Antos said Ho made “the fatal decision to start experimenting with drugs,” including ice and MDMA, or ecstasy.

The court heard Ho had been released from prison only months before he was court and was on a community corrections orders at the time.

Magistrate Peter Mellas made it clear Ho was “in the business of trafficking … it’s not that he’s the fall guy”.

Mr Mellas also referred to Ho’s prior criminal history, telling the accused man that he “picks up where he left off almost, and in fact goes up to a whole new level”.

“There is lots of space for someone, in spite of their best intentions, to fall back into old friends, old habits, just simply because the only place to go back to live is where they were living, which means the same people are with them (again),” Mr Mellas said.

Mr Mellas ordered Ho be assessed for a community corrections order.

He will return to the court at a later date for sentencing.

Originally published as Trafficker Anh Ho caught with ice in middle of major Norlane drug house bust