Shaun Small, 29, denies hiding cocaine under bed to help cocaine trafficking syndicate
The ACT Supreme Court has heard how a dangerous, big time drug supplier sent 5kg of cocaine, stamped with an AK-47 symbol, to a Canberra home.
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A drug gang minion who was found with nearly 5kg of high purity cocaine under his bed was “guarding or concealing” the drugs for an unknown, big-time drug trafficker, prosecutors allege.
Shaun Claude Small, 29, on Monday faced the ACT Supreme Court and pleaded not guilty to trafficking in a commercial quantity of cocaine.
Crown Prosecutor Soraya Saikal-Skea told the court a police raid on Small’s Theodore house in May last year uncovered the massive haul of the drug in a backpack under Small’s bed.
Ms Saikal-Skea said the drugs were packaged in five 1kg bricks, stamped with an AK-47 symbol embossed into the powder.
She said unlike many drug prosecutions, there were no scales, clip seal bags or “wads of cash” at Small’s house.
“His role was to guard or conceal the drugs,” Ms Saikal-Skea said.
She said Small’s role in the drug trafficking operation was “small but high risk”, and hiding the drugs under his bed was a “fairly naive hiding place”.
Small’s barrister, Hament Dhanji SC, said his client was not a target of the police operation.
Mr Dhanji said and the prosecution would have to prove Small either intended to sell, or help someone sell the drugs.
He said the drugs were not Small’s own stash.
“When we’re talking about 5kg of cocaine, it’s obviously somewhat farcical to say it’s for personal use,” he said.
A witness, who is an acquaintance of Small’s but whose name cannot be published, and who gave evidence under immunity, said the drugs had been sent to Canberra by a major cocaine distributor.
“I don’t wish to name them, for my own safety reasons, obviously,” he said.
“I was sort of a middle man.”
He said he had been left with the drugs when the Canberra buyer couldn’t be reached.
The witness said he then gave the drugs to Small about three weeks before the raid.
“I told him it was cash and (asked) if he could hold on to it for a few days,” he said.
Small put the backpack in his ceiling cavity for safekeeping, the court heard, but then moved it to under his bed when his central heating broke down and he needed to call a tradie.
When one of the syndicate’s drivers came to pick up the drugs, the witness said he was trying to force him to take the lot back.
Under cross-examination, the witness agreed he had ben involved “in the supply of a large quantity of drugs”.
He said it wasn’t a surprise that police were investigating him, although he has never been charged.
The trial, before justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson, sitting without a jury, continues.