Garth Molloy and Todd Mehlhopt guilty of cocaine supply face sentencing
Fly to Sydney, hire a car and drive cocaine back to the Gold Coast. It sounded like an easy way to make a quick $30,000 — except the cops were watching the whole time, a court has heard.
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Two Gold Coast men will be sentenced later this month after a police sting nabbed them trying to run 112g of cocaine back to Queensland in a hire car on the M1.
Garth Molloy, of Broadbeach Queensland, pleaded guilty to supplying a prohibited drug when he faced Wyong Local Court on Tuesday.
He also pleaded guilty to a further charge of possessing a prohibited drug, which will be taken into account when he is sentenced in Gosford District Court.
An agreed set of police facts tendered to court revealed officers attached to Strike Force Hansel obtained telephone intercept warrants for a suspected Sydney drug dealer.
Based on those conversations police believed Molloy and his co-accused Todd Mehlhopt, 30, of the Gold Coast, flew into Sydney about 8am on April 12 last year to purchase drugs.
The pair hired a grey Toyota Kluger car with Queensland plates and at 8.44am the alleged Sydney drug dealer text messaged Molloy “U close”.
Police intercepted a subsequent phone call where the dealer directed them to attend the car park at Thornleigh McDonalds.
At 9.40am the dealer again rang Molloy and directed him to the car park underneath the adjacent Bunnings Warehouse.
Five minutes later he calls again and Molloy tells him “I am just pulling in now, what car?” to which the dealer says “just go under there, they will see ya”.
Police meanwhile were conducting surveillance and observed a white SUV with an unknown man sitting in the driver’s seat parked in the car park.
Officers then saw the grey Kluger with two males on board pull into the driveway with Mehlhopt getting out and Molloy proceeding into the car park.
Police saw the grey Kluger pull up to the white SUV and observed the two men meeting for a short time before both vehicles exited the car park.
Later police pulled the Kluger over at the Tuggerah exit of the M1 motorway and asked the pair to get out.
Police facts state officers noticed Mehlhopt had a “hard object bulging in the front of his jeans near his groin area”.
Police said “mate, what’s that bulging in your underpants?” and Mehlhopt replied “I guess it’s drugs”.
He removed the drugs, which tests later confirmed had his DNA on the knot of the bag.
Mehlhopt told police he believed it was cocaine and it was for his personal use.
Molloy initially denied any knowledge of the cocaine found on Mehlhopt and he was allowed to leave.
However police intercepted 10 subsequent calls between Molloy and the alleged Sydney drug dealer discussing the arrest and the vehicle stop.
He told the dealer he told Mehlhopt to “f..k it off, throw it out the window or I’ll keep driving” before Mehlhopt put it down his pants.
Mehlhopt was taken to Wyong Police Station where he was charged with supply and possessing a prohibited drug, to which he previously pleaded guilty in court.
Molloy later told police if he had more time he would have thrown the drugs out the window and indicated “half that paper was mine” in respect to purchasing the cocaine.
Molloy and Mehlhopt face sentencing submissions in Gosford District Court later this month.