Rebels: Aydin Brown, former bikie, accused of making meth
An ex-Rebels bikie who know lives in a sleepy seaside town allegedly taught a mate from jail how to cook a huge haul of ice the bathroom of a one-bedroom unit.
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A former Rebels bikie who lives in the sleepy seaside town of Kiama allegedly taught an old prison mate how to manufacture a huge haul of the drug ice in the bathroom of a rural home.
Aydin Brown was arrested from his Kiama home on Tuesday, after police allege he was involved in the cooking and supplying meth in 2016 and 2017.
The 33-year-old faced Wollongong Local Court from cells at Wollongong Police Station on Wednesday, where his legal team questioned why Brown was charged more than three years after the alleged offences took place.
“There is no explanation as to why these charges were brought years after the alleged offending,” his defence lawyer James Trevallion said.
“ … It is completely unfair to the accused.”
Magistrate Jillian Kiely agreed, noting the delay was of “considerable concern”. After also noting the police case “didn’t appear to be strong”, she chose to grant Brown bail.
However, Prosecutor Sergeant Sean Thackeray, noting the offences carry life imprisonment if found guilty, submitted a detention application to the Supreme Court, meaning Brown will stay behind bars on remand until a Supreme Court judge makes a decision on bail.
In documents tendered to the court on Wednesday, police allege Brown, a heavily tattooed father of one, offered to teach a mate he met in St Hillier’s Correctional Centre how to cook meth upon his release.
Brown was released from custody in 2014 to live at Commissioners Creek in northern NSW, and remained in contact with another inmate until he was released in 2016.
It’s alleged that upon his release, the man travelled to Commissioners Creek to meet Brown.
On June 8, 2016, police allege a vehicle registered to Brown was captured on CCTV driving north from Kempsey carrying “drug manufacturing apparatuses and precursor chemicals”.
The following day, police allege Brown and his mate attended a hardware store in Murwillumbah, where they purchased caustic soda, a heating mantle and a fuel source for the heating mantle “which were to be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine”.
Over the following days, it’s alleged in court documents that Brown taught his mate how to cook meth in the bathroom of his little one-bedroom unit, with the pair allegedly producing 650g of ice crystals.
In July the following year, police allege Brown travelled to the Gold Coast to buy $90,000 worth of meth from the same mate. In the documents, police allege they have evidence that Brown withdrew $74,000 cash from his bank account that same day.
On the afternoon of July 14, it is alleged in the documents Brown attended another man’s residence where he met the man and picked up the kilogram, of meth, promising to pay him the remainder of the $90,000 at a later date.
Despite police claiming they attended Brown’s former Commissioners Creek home on August 30 of this year where they obtained forensic samples that “appeared to be consistent with historic drug manufacture”, Brown’s legal team argued the evidence surrounding the case was “very scarce”.
Despite this, the prosecution argued the full extent of the evidence was “compelling” and “quite strong”.
Brown will remain on remand in custody until he faces the Supreme Court later this week for a determination on his bail application.