Marcus Geoffrey Smart pleads guilty to cocaine bust, drug driving

A young man previously caught up in a police drug raid has been found with a large amount of cocaine.

Marcus Geoffrey Smart faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday. Picture: Patrick Woods

A Moffat Beach man who failed to open his phone during a targeted drug task-force raid has been found with a sizeable amount of drugs.

Marcus Geoffrey Smart’s possession of the large amount of cocaine was one of many offences which breached a suspended sentence he received last year after a Sunshine Coast Drug and Serious Crime Taskforce search warrant.

He faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to multiple charges including possessing dangerous drugs over the schedule, driving with a relevant drug in his system and driving without a licence.

All offences were committed while Smart was on a suspended sentence during the offending spread across several months in 2024.

The court was told this suspended term of imprisonment stemmed from a raid by detectives on a Maroochy River home on March 7 last year.

Smart outside court. Picture: Sam Turner

Police prosecutor Mark Burrell said detectives showed Smart and four other men the search warrant which was executed to investigate drug trafficking.

Sergeant Burrell said Smart refused to open his locked Apple iPhone to police despite the warrant requiring the 22-year-old to do so.

The court heard the Moffat Beach man was sentenced last year for contravening an order by a magistrate and placed on a four-month jail sentence which was suspended for 12 months. This was extended several months later.

Sergeant Burrell said despite this, Smart continued to breach it.

He pleaded guilty. Picture: Sam Turner

This included the Moffat Beach man driving with meth, cannabis and cocaine in his system on a suspended licence, breaching bail and failing to appear in court.

The police prosecutor said the most serious charge related to a large cocaine bust at Mountain Creek on May 21.

Sergeant Burrell said Smart was found with 3g of pure cocaine in 9g of substance. He was also found with a small amount of marijuana and a bong.

Defence solicitor Chris Lumme said the search warrants where Smart was present were in the names of other people, and was instructed the 22-year-old was only couch surfing at various properties.

As for the drugs found, the solicitor said they were for Smart’s personal use.

Mr Lumme said Smart was employed and showed a new level of maturity which was attributed to his partner and her family supporting him.

Magistrate Chris Callaghan accepted Smart made an effort to turn his life around and opted to keep him out of custody.

Smart was jailed for four months but immediately released on parole. He was also disqualified from driving for nine months.

Originally published as Marcus Geoffrey Smart pleads guilty to cocaine bust, drug driving