Daniel Philip Howard jailed for 12-month marijuana trafficking business

A police operation which followed a towed caravan concealing more than 70kg of marijuana led investigators to a drug trafficker who had about $170,000 cash hidden in a dusty box in his garage.

A police operation that followed a towed caravan concealing more than 70kg of marijuana led investigators to a drug trafficker who sold more than $370,000 worth of drugs in a year and had about $170,000 cash hidden in a dusty box in his garage.

Daniel Philip Howard, 48, pleaded guilty on December 7 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of trafficking marijuana, one of possessing property obtained in trafficking, one of possessing anything used in a crime, one of possessing over 500g of an illicit drug, one of possessing drug utensils and one of unlawful possession of a weapon.

Judge Jeff Clarke said police were carrying out surveillance on co-accused Brett Gundry and Michael Anderson when they followed them to Howard’s Koongal residence in the early hours of December 6, 2021, where they pulled up and reversed in a tow truck with a caravan attached.

“He unloaded the caravan from the tow truck and the police immediately swooped (in),” he said.

Police located more than 77kg of marijuana in the caravan.

Crown prosecutor Maryam Yousufzai said Howard was in close vicinity to the caravan when police raided the property and part of the marijuana was to be delivered to Howard.

Daniel Philip Howard. Picture: Facebook

“Howard’s mobile phone was seized and it contained a message indicating that he expected to receive new stock of marijuana,” she said.

Judge Clarke said the message that revealed this expectation was sent 1.5 hours before the raid to one of Howard’s customers.

The court heard the phone revealed Howard had trafficked marijuana between December 6, 2020, and December 7, 2021, supplying at least $370,000 in that year.

Judge Clarke said while police executed the search warrant, three cars slowed down or stopped outside Howard’s house before taking off and two people turned up in Howard’s front yard before police attended the residence.

“From his house, police seized 1141 grams of marijuana that was packaged in five cryovac bags,” Ms Yousufzai said.

“Police also seized $169,300 cash that was hidden in a metal tin container … that was in the back of the cupboard with dust on it in the garage.

“He made full admissions to the trafficking as well as the money being proceeds from trafficking drugs.

“But he denied any knowledge of drugs in the caravan despite the message on his mobile phone expecting to receive drugs.”

Police also located a credit card knife and flip knife (the weapons charge) in the garage.

The court heard Howard was receiving Centrelink payments, and working two days a week as a mechanic, earning $850 per week.

Howard’s criminal record showed an almost 20-year gap in drug offending with his first drug offence taking place in the early 1990s, and the next for possessing nine grams of marijuana and 66 seeds in 1997 with two more court appearances for drugs in 2000 and then nothing until September 2019 when he was convicted of a drug supply.

His criminal record includes 25 drug supply convictions, marijuana possession convictions and a drug production conviction.

Defence barrister Jordan Ahlstrand said Howard came from a decent family and grew up on the Gold Coast where his parents still lived.

He said Howard had been in a relationship with the mother of his four children since 1995.

Mr Ahlstrand said Howard worked as a panel beater after leaving school in year 10 and worked at Main Street Auto from 1996, when he relocated to Rockhampton, for 14 years.

He said Howard sustained a shoulder and upper arm injury playing indoor cricket in 2018 and had been using more marijuana to self-medicate.

Mr Ahlstrand said his client had used marijuana since his early teenage years.

Judge Clarke sentenced Howard to six years’ prison, declared 366 days presentence custody as time served and set parole eligibility for June 5, 2023.

He also activated a suspended sentence of six months’ prison which had been handed down in the magistrates court in September 2019, to run concurrently with the trafficking prison term.

Mr Gundry’s and Mr Anderson’s indictments are to be presented in the Supreme Court on December 12.

Ms Yousufzai said the co-accused had been charged with “almost a single day of trafficking drugs”.

Originally published as Daniel Philip Howard jailed for 12-month marijuana trafficking business