Alleged Darwin drug trafficker made dealer paddle across Cahills Crossing to pick up stash, court hears
A DARWIN taxi driver supplied drugs to a remote community by leaving them on one side of Cahills Crossing, forcing his dealer to canoe across croc-infested waters to get them, a court has heard.
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A DARWIN taxi driver supplied drugs to a remote community by leaving them on one side of Cahills Crossing, forcing his dealer to canoe across croc-infested waters to get them, a court has heard.
Mohammad Qadir, 31, is currently on trial after pleading not guilty to charges of supplying a commercial quantity of cannabis to an Indigenous community.
The court heard from witness Dwayne Campbell, who said Qadir supplied cannabis to him to deal in Gunbalanya.
Campbell said on one occasion, Qadir left two pounds of cannabis on one side of Cahills Crossing for him, forcing him to paddle across using a canoe and a tree branch to pick it up.
“He gave me a call saying he left something at the crossing for me to pick up … and sent pictures of the location through Facebook Messenger,” he said.
“I used a boat to try to cross the river – the river was up … it took about half an hour to get across.”
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He said Qadir had also provided him with an eftpos machine so that people could purchase cannabis by card and get cash out.
He said he decided to stop selling for Qadir in late 2018 before handing himself into police, telling them he was “offloading heavy stuff from a taxi driver”.
At that point, Campbell said Qadir began “blowing up his phone” and sending threatening messaging to himself and his partner.
During cross-examination, Qadir’s lawyer Jon Tippett QC asked Campbell – who has pleaded guilty to supplying drugs himself – if he was in contact with a number of drug suppliers in Darwin throughout 2018, including “people he hadn’t given the names of to police”.
“No,” Campbell replied.
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The trial continues.
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