Katia Drcec and Karl Holt to face County Court trial after pleading not guilty
HE was the target of police surveillance that led to Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson’s drug charges. Now an alleged drug dealer and his girlfriend have pleaded not guilty to a swag of charges in a Geelong court.
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ACCUSED Geelong drug dealer Karl Holt and his girlfriend Katia Drcec will face a County Court trial after pleading not guilty to a swag of charges on Tuesday.
Holt, 31, was the target of the police surveillance that led to drugs charges being laid against former Geelong Football Club coach Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson earlier this year.
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The personalised number plates – ONBA1L – of Holt’s Mercedes Benz gave police a helping hand when they eventually decided to arrest him in Corio on January 4.
Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard Tuesday officers had been listening to Holt’s phone conversations for the previous two months.
Just four days before Christmas, Holt was allegedly at an apartment block around the corner from the Geelong Police Station when officers say they heard him negotiating a drug deal.
Detective Acting Sergeant Naomi Bourke said the customer drove to the building shortly afterwards and went inside.
After he emerged, officers followed the man to Newcomb, where they pulled him over, finding 28g of methylamphetamine and $2180 cash in his car.
It’s alleged the drugs were sold to him by Holt.
Holt and Drcec are both accused of trafficking a commercial quantity of meth, other drugs charges, property and weapons offences.
The charges were laid after their arrest in the Merc’ and a police search the same day of Ms Drcec’s mother’s home in Mill Park, where it’s claimed the defendants were living.
Police say they found 18g of meth in Drcec’s handbag and a further 82g in the boot of the car when they swooped on the pair in Corio, and then uncovered more than 220g of the drug at the home, along with 10 vials of testosterone and 24g of amphetamine.
More than $25,000 cash, a Geelong-made Baum road bike, valued at almost $20,000, and a pellet gun were also seized. Police claim the money was made dealing drugs, and the bike was stolen.
The following day a different car of Holt’s was raided by police in Lara. Among the items police say they found in it were a pair of knuckledusters and a gun silencer, both made with a 3D printer.
The court was told the knuckledusters were inscribed with Holt’s nickname ‘Bang Bang’, matching the tattoos on his fingers.
Contrary to his number plate, Holt was not on bail at the time of his arrest, but he was on a community corrections order. Another charge he faces relates to allegations he used fake doctor’s certificates to dodge his obligations to do unpaid community work on that order.
Lawyers for the defendants tried to have some of the charges against them discharged on Tuesday, but magistrate Michael Coghlan ruled there was enough evidence to send each allegation to a jury trial.
He said the allegation was that Holt and Drcec operated a “joint criminal enterprise”, and therefore the prosecution would not have to prove either had exclusive ownership of the drugs to sustain the allegations both had trafficked a commercial quantity.
The matter was set for a directions hearing in the County Court at the end of this month.