A former Melbourne real estate agent is accused of stashing almost $1 million worth of illicit drugs, cash and a handgun in her apartment and a storage unit.
Tegan Miller, 29, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with more than a dozen offences, including drug trafficking, after police raided her home in Plummer Street, Port Melbourne, on October 11 last year.
Former real estate agent Tegan Miller is accused of drug trafficking.Credit: Facebook
Police allege they discovered more than a kilogram of methamphetamine, about 130 grams of cocaine, and almost 40 grams of MDMA during their raids, with a combined street value estimated at more than $390,000.
Charge sheets released by the court say police also found an unregistered handgun and almost $520,000 in cash.
Investigators also allege they found fraudulent licences and seized several phones that Miller refused to provide passcodes for.
Miller worked as a real estate agent and property manager for some of Melbourne’s best-known agencies before the alleged offending.
Detective Senior Constable John Milne told the court that police became aware of “numerous bits of intelligence to suggest Ms Miller was trafficking methamphetamine”.
In early 2022, Miller was the victim of a home invasion in which men wielding guns and a machete stormed into her apartment and threatened her. Police alleged this incident was “almost certainly” drug-related, the court was told.
Miller has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Defence lawyer Christopher Terry questioned elements of the prosecution’s case as he cross-examined investigators and Bevan Cottrell, the former manager of the Port Melbourne storage unit site.
Miller has pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen charges.Credit: Facebook
The court was told that in the days before police raided Miller’s home and the storage unit there was a technical fault with some of the surveillance cameras at the storage site, limiting the police’s ability to obtain footage.
But the court heard an access log – which records data whenever an individual code is activated when someone enters or leaves the facility – showed Miller’s storage unit was visited four times in the two days before being raided.
“There is simply no way of knowing [who accessed the storage unit] because of a technical fault … You can’t look at CCTV and see who came and went during those times,” Terry said.
The activity log suggested the storage unit site was accessed twice on October 9 and again on October 10. A day later, police raided the unit, allegedly seizing several bags of drugs and observing a camera set up inside the locker.
Asked by Terry whether it was common for a person with a storage locker contract to give their access code to others, Cottrell said while that occurred, the business advised against it.
The court was also told several unidentified men were seen entering and leaving the storage unit site in the days before the raid.
Police tried unsuccessfully to identify the men by cross-referencing driver’s licences and criminal records.
Miller was ordered to return to the County Court on September 23.
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