Accused Albanvale drug queen Karlie Cook charged with trafficking MDMA and testosterone
A fitness obsessed Melbourne glamour girl has been accused of running an alleged massive MDMA and testosterone racket.
North West
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A Melbourne glamour girl accused of being the mastermind behind an alleged drug manufacturing and trafficking empire remains behind bars.
Karlie Cook, 38, fronted Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of MDMA and testosterone.
Cook, who was also charged with trafficking Xanax, was allegedly nabbed at her Albanvale home with various drugs on July 13 this year.
Police busted Cook after Australian Border Force intercepted three kilos of testosterone in separate consignments at Sydney earlier this year.
Authorities traced the consignments to several Melbourne properties allegedly linked to Cook.
Echo Taskforce cops raided Cook’s home where they allegedly seized testosterone, MDMA and 20kg of Xanax.
Police believe the Xanax had been manufactured and pressed inside a bedroom at the home.
Investigators, who allegedly seized a pill press, also discovered a clandestine drug lab set up inside Cook’s home.
Police allegedly discovered various liquids, tablets and pills, canisters, vials, empty bottles, labels, a label maker, cash and bottles investigators believed contained steroids.
Police also allegedly seized 1,4 butanediol, a taser, a crossbow and arrow and a cash counter.
A police clan lab expert examined the scene and determined some substances could be removed for examination.
It’s also alleged police saw the pill press set up with a container “catching” white tablets.
Cook, who fronted court for a bail application, was also charged with possessing a pill press for the purposes of trafficking drugs.
Police also raided a Sunshine home where Cook’s “best friend” was arrested.
Investigators seized the friend’s phone which contained messages including a screenshot of an ad for Xanax.
The court heard Cook complained to her friend that “somebody had stolen her design of Xanax labels”.
Further messages related to drug trafficking included the friend asking Cook if she had “reloaded”.
The friend also asked Cook for “grams and half-gram pick-ups”.
Police also raided a second Albanvale address where a man was arrested and interviewed.
The man denied any knowledge of drugs but said Cook was his girlfriend who often had “packages delivered to his house”.
Investigators later raided a Deer Park storage facility linked to Cook where they discovered plastic bottles and lids on August 5.
Echo Taskforce detective Senior Constable Alex Kapetanovski said Cook used bogus IDs to mask her drug activity.
“Investigators reasonably believe that (Cook) has been importing and manufacturing and trafficking testosterone, steroids, Xanax and other drugs of dependence for an extended period of time …,” Sen-Constable Kapetanovski said.
“(Cook) is clearly manufacturing drugs of dependence and steroids on a large scale and further trafficking the drugs in which she’s created her own label designs and subsequently labelled them for sale.
“(Cook) is an unacceptable risk to the community with the risk to herself and surrounding neighbours as a result of her attempts to manufacture drugs and unknown substances.
“(Cook) has no medical or scientific qualifications or background, however, has continued to import and buy various chemicals and drugs to further combine together to manufacture the multiple drugs of dependence …
“Surrounding neighbours would be at risk to potential explosions that could occur.”
Sen-Constable Kapetanovski told the court Cook’s “sole income” was “manufacturing drugs”.
“The value of the drugs seized would’ve lost tens of thousands if not more in street value of the product,” she said.
Police will file further trafficking, importing and drug charges on Cook, the court was told.
The court heard Cook worked as an “on-again off-again” bookkeeper who also ran her own beauty business.
Cook’s sister, who was aware her sister used drugs, told the court she could live with her at Geelong if bailed.
“She was pretty honest about it (drug use) … the weight management and things like that …,” the sister said.
The prosecution submitted Cook’s operation was “sophisicated” and “extensive”.
Cook, who was denied bail, will face court at a later date.