Cy Morris pleads guilty after trying to hide 3kg of cocaine in a hole at the Darwin Esplanade

A drug dealer who tried to hide more than 3kg of cocaine by burying it in a hole at the Darwin Esplanade was being watched by police the whole time, a court has heard.

A cache of more than 3kg of cocaine in cash found in a canoe drum buried near the cenotaph at the Darwin Esplanade. Picture: NTPFES

A drug dealer who tried to hide more than 3kg of cocaine by burying it in a hole at the Darwin Esplanade was being watched by police the whole time, a court has heard.

Cy Robert John Morris pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to supplying a commercial quantity of the drug and dealing in more than $150,000 in the proceeds of crime.

The court heard the 41-year-old from Mullumbimby in NSW had been communicating with “members of an international drug syndicate” that was “importing cocaine into Australia” since at least April last year.

Crown prosecutor Tami Grealy said when speaking with one of the syndicate’s members in the Netherlands, Morris told them “he was working hard ‘driving across Australia with product to try and make money back and pay you’”.

“That person responded that the price will go back up and he also asked ‘Where is the stuff now?’ but the offender didn’t respond,” she said.

Around the time Morris arrived in Darwin on May 1, detectives from the joint Organised Crime Taskforce received word he was “a person of interest” who had travelled from Perth and placed him under physical and electronic surveillance.

Cy Robert John Morris pleaded guilty to commercial drug supply and dealing in more than $150,000 in ill-gotten gains. Picture: NTPFES

Ms Grealy said they watched on as he bought a 20L canoe drum, a cryovac machine and bags, a shovel, gardening gloves, rubber matting, cleaning rags and DampRid moisture absorber.

The officers then followed Morris to the cenotaph carpark on the Esplanade where he took the equipment with him over the fence and into the bushes.

“The offender found a location in the bush to construct a cache, he dug a hole and inserted the drum, he covered the cache with rubber matting, he used rocks, soil and foliage to conceal the dig site,” Ms Grealy said.

When the detectives went to investigate, they found freshly disturbed soil and a marker stone before digging it up to reveal the empty drum and placing everything back how they found it.

Morris then drove out to Howard Springs where he stopped at a residence for about 30 minutes before driving back to the cenotaph where he “ran a lap around the carpark looking into the parked vehicles”.

The Supreme Court heard police were watching on as Cy Morris buried $1.5m worth of cocaine at the Darwin Esplanade. Picture: NTPFES

Ms Grealy said he dug the drum up again and “deposited a large quantity of cocaine and cash inside” before heading back to his hotel where he was arrested at 5.30am the next morning.

When police opened the drum, they found 3242.1g of cocaine inside, valued at $1.5m, along with more than $100,000 as well as more cash and two mobile phones in his hotel room.

An examination of the phones revealed internet searches for “cocaine make you vomit” and “cocaine test false reading” along with photographs of bricks of cocaine.

In another message to one of the overseas syndicate members, Morris said “we need a better price” and asked “How many do you expect me to sell?”.

He returns to court for sentencing on July 12.