Linda Davina Brooks, 38 “secreted” meth in her body to courier the drug between the Gold Coast and Cairns, court told

A sex worker who hid “golf-ball-sized” amounts of meth inside her body to fly the drug between the Gold Coast and Cairns for months, came undone when police stopped her car, a court has been told.

Davina Linda Brooks, 38, has pleaded guilty in Cairns Supreme Court to possessing and trafficking methyl amphetamines between the Gold Coast and Cairns.

A sex worker who hid “golf-ball-sized” amounts of meth inside her body to fly the drug between the Gold Coast and Cairns for months, came undone when police stopped her car and found 2.2kg of meth hidden in the battery compartment, a court has been told.

The woman, a former Miss Nude Cairns, was pulled over by the police on the Bruce Highway near Fishery Falls in May 2022 at the end of what was described as her second larger-scale courier job by road trip.

The seizure from the car, which weighed in at 1.66kg of pure meth, sparked a police investigation that uncovered her earlier deliveries, the court as told.

Police found 2.2kg of drugs hidden in the battery compartment of the car Brooks was driving, which contained 1.66kg of pure meth.

Linda Davina Brooks, 38, has pleaded guilty in the Cairns Supreme Court to two charges of trafficking drugs and possessing drugs, and her part-heard sentence has been adjourned until next week.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court Brooks was moving drugs from August 2021 to late May 2022, travelling under false names, using encrypted messages, carrying multiple phones and delivering Cairns-based consignments from the Gold Coast or Brisbane.

Ms Friedewald said CCTV footage, phone records and search warrants uncovered $100,000 in cash behind a false wall at her Gold Coast home.

Investigations also showed Brooks had been taking regular day trips between the South East corner of Queensland and Cairns, with Brooks carrying half-ounce, golf-ball sized amounts of meth inside her body, which were handed to another person for distribution throughout Cairns.

The meth couriered by Brooks from Brisbane and the Gold Coast was distributed in and around Cairns.

Police identified about 40 plane trips around that time, but Brooks’ testified in court at her sentencing that more than 20 of those false-name trips were to meet and service clients as part of her sex work.

Ms Friedewald told the court that, by May 2022, Brooks had begun moving larger quantities by car, getting paid about $5000 for a return trip.

Brooks recruited a second driver – a man she met on Tinder, who mentioned he was looking for work.

Ms Friedewald said Brooks handled logistics for a man she described as “the big boss”.

“The arrangements were being made by the defendant and being passed on … in messages, she said she doesn’t like working for big organisations and described the operation as ‘similar to working for a family business so everyone is looked after and no one gets ripped off’,” Ms Friedewald told the court.

Brooks testified during her sentencing proceedings in Cairns Supreme Court that some of the $100,000 found in her home was from pokie winnings and sex work, and that some of her trips under false names were also for sex work.

Defence barrister Martin Longhurst said Brooks had led a “life marred by exposure to terrible violence”.

He said she had “been taken advantage of her whole life” including entering the sex work industry at 15.

“She’s been exploited from her earliest memory to now … which has led to her to move 2kg of meth – an act that could lead to eight years prison – for $1000,” Mr Longhurst said.

“To stick drugs up her vagina, expose herself to jail … it’s another hallmark of someone who has just been exploited and abused her whole life.”

Mr Longhurst said Brooks had tried to “scratch” her way out of her situation, winning an award for Miss Nude Cairns in 2019, and trying to re-skill by getting a human resources licence.

Mr Longhurst said Brooks had been working in the sex work and adult entertainment industry since she was a teenager.

“She’s not some zombie waif through life – she’s smart and with another sort of start in life, she’d be quite successful,” Mr Longhurst said.

Ms Brooks, who says not all of the trips and money were drug-related, will resume giving evidence at her sentencing next week.

She said some of the money was pokie winnings, or sex work payments.

The sentence will continue in Cairns Supreme Court before Justice James Henry on Wednesday, May 20.

Originally published as Linda Davina Brooks, 38 “secreted” meth in her body to courier the drug between the Gold Coast and Cairns, court told