Accused drug trafficker tells Gold Coast police he has been selling drugs for two years

A Robina man accused of drug trafficking stunned police with his brutal honesty, a court has heard.

A Gold Coast man admitted to police without prompting he sold drugs for two years. Picture: iStock

AN accused drug trafficker allegedly blew his own business when he admitted without prompting he had dealt cocaine and ecstasy for two years.

Ashley Barrington Martin, of Robina, allegedly confessed to police after they had pulled over his friend in relation to other matters.

Martin allegedly told police he was dealing the drugs for two years.

It is alleged Martin volunteered the information without prompting from police who had pulled over the car to talk to Martin’s friend, who was driving.

The Southport Magistrates Court was told Martin was using Wickr to make the drug deals to different people across the Gold Coast.

Wickr is a messaging application which encrypts messages and also makes them unavailable once deleted.

Police inspected Martin’s phone and found he had not deleted some of the messages on Wickr, the court was told.

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Magistrate Gary Finger granted Martin bail on strict conditions including he not use Wickr, he not have contact with friend in the car, he report regularly to police and he live at his home in Robina.

Duty lawyer Sam Jackson, of Bamberry Lawyers, said Martin had moved to Australia from the United Kingdom 20 years ago.

“The suggestion that he is not employed and that he is living from an income derived from drug trafficking is incorrect,” he said.

Mr Jackson said Martin was living off the limited income he received on the Newstart allowance.

The matter will return to court no January 22.