Bizarre Gold Coast stories of 2021 from the crazy to the weird
Wild border protests, a snake orgy, and a real-life superhero’s epic take-down of a car thief. These stories were the biggest ‘what the...’ moments of 2021. See the full list.
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It has been a crazy year of bizarre news.
From wild border protest, to a snake orgy and the tale of the city’s real life superhero – these are Gold Coast moments of 2021 that left people saying ‘what the heck?!’
Ciggie drone delivery – July 19
A woman who organised a drone to deliver a pack of cigarettes to her Broadbeach hotel quarantine room was slapped with a fine.
Police said the woman organised the drone to deliver the cigarettes to the balcony of her room while she was in hotel quarantine on July 11.
The 44-year-old woman was able to collect the cigarettes from the drone before it flew off.
She was fined $1334 for failing to comply with a Covid-19 direction.
Accused drug smuggler found in shipping container – November 10
A Sydney millionaire and accused drug smuggler who allegedly tried to cross the border in a shipping container remains behind bars.
Mostafa Baluch was found by police in a Mercedes in the back of a shipping container allegedly attempting to enter into Queensland at the Gold Coast border about 1am on November 10.
It is alleged Baluch was a part of an attempt to smuggle 900kg, valued at about $270 million, into Australia.
Footage released by Queensland Police showed detectives quietly approach the shipping container before handcuffing a man alleged to be Baluch and rummaging through a bag that contained wads of cash.
Baluch, who owned Northbridge’s Cervo restaurant before it closed, is alleged to have been the financier behind a 900kg shipment of cocaine into Australia that had a street value of $270m.
As part of the search for Baluch, police raided two properties in Sydney’s west.
Police seized more than $250,000 cash, about 200g of cocaine, 485g of an unknown substance, mobile phones and an electronic money counter as part of the raids in Potts Hill and Yagoona.
Baluch allegedly cut off an ankle monitor and disappeared on October 25, days after he was granted bail.
Tradie smokes bong while hanging from high-rise – October 19
A tradie was filmed smoking what appeared to be a bong while suspended from rigging attached to a soaring tower at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.
The unusual 13-second video had been circulating on the popular social media platform TikTok, accompanied by the caption “still can’t believe this just happened’.
In the footage, the worker wearing a helmet, high-vis and sunglasses is passed a lighter and the apparent bong crafted out of a Gatorade bottle by a man standing on a balcony.
The tradie inhales, leans back and blows out a cloud of smoke before handing back the makeshift utensil.
Bloke tackles alleged car thief on sports field – November 11
A Good Samaritan helped police crash-tackle an alleged car thief after they dumped a luxury stolen car at a sports field.
Gold Coast father-of-three and Aquaman lookalike Jayson Huthmann-Grace chased one alleged thief on foot before lunging and making the diving tackle.
PolAir footage shows the co-accused appearing to stop before surrendering to the ground as the police officer arrives and subdues him.
Police say the drama unfolded at a sports field just before the start of an OzTag game.
Mr Huthmann-Grace was coaching his son’s OzTag team when he saw a helicopter circling in the sky and police lights.
“My first initial thought was ‘holy s**t are they going to be driving that car on the field?’” he said.
“Luckily they didn’t because there are safety bollards.
“Then I saw two guys running and the police were trying to chase them.
“I ran about 80 metres to catch the guys and then did a baseball slide underneath the fence, got up and started straight for the bigger guy and tackled him.”
Mr Huthmann-Grace said he shouted at the second alleged car thief to “get the f**k on the ground”, to which he complied.
“I think he was shocked, he must of thought I was a police officer,” the Coast dad said.
Like a true legend, Mr Huthmann-Grace carried on coaching his son’s game after the drama was over.
Man crashes car into Starbucks – September 24
Off duty nurses and a doctor rushed to the scene of a Starbucks on the Gold Coast after an elderly man drove into the front of the cafe.
An 83-year-old man drove his car through a metal bollard and into the window of the coffee shop on Surf Parade in Broadbeach at about 1.45pm on Friday.
According to a nearby worker two bystanders copped the main force of the car, which was travelling up to 30km p/h before it crashed.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesperson said seven people were assessed at the scene, with five taken to hospitals around the Gold Coast.
“Everyone was very lucky, there were only minor injuries,” he said.
Wild border protest – August 22
A Hollywood movie stuntman was fined more than $7000 after riding his horse through border blockades during anti-lockdown protest.
Michael Corrigan, 52, was fined by both Queensland and NSW after taking part in a rowdy demonstration at Coolangatta-Tweed Heads on August 22.
He was cheered by other protesters, with one woman yelling: “He’s back, woooh!”
Mr Corrigan, who lives in Murwillumbah, was among more than 50 people fined after the August 22 protest. Ten people were also arrested.
Snake orgy caught on video – September 29
Gold Coast snake catching group Wild Encounters certainly lived up to its name after being called out to relocate an “orgy” of snakes.
Wild Encounters co-director Katie Eales caught the act on video after receiving a frantic call from a Currumbin resident in September.
“The lady who rang us was in quite a fret,” Ms Eales said.
“She said ‘I’ve got a pile of snakes here’.”
When Ms Eales arrived at the location, she found “four common tree snakes – three boys and one girl – having a bit of fun on a balcony”.
The resident’s initial fear turned to laughter when she found out it was a ball of mating snakes.
The team at Wild Encounters safely relocated the snakes.
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