A Canberra electrician charged after police sniffer dogs helped find a one-kilogram brick of cocaine at a Dunlop home has been granted bail.
Jake Low appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday via audio-visual link from the Alexander Maconochie Centre. He is facing one charge of trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis.
ACT police Detective Superintendent Scott Moller earlier this month said the 28-year-old was arrested after officers executed a search warrant at a Dunlop home.
The warrant was executed after police received a tip-off from the public.
Superintendent Moller said officers found at the house a 1kg brick of cocaine, which had an estimated street value of about $230,000. He said police sniffer dogs assisted with the operation.
Superintendent Moller said the seizure was a direct result of the Canberra community working with the ACT police, and that he expected further charges as their investigation continued.
"This [seizure] was part of an organised crime syndicate and was destined for Canberra [buyers]," he said.
"I'm glad that we've got it off the streets and that it's not in the community."
Superintendent Moller also confirmed there were criminal links to outlaw motorcycle gangs involved in Mr Low's matter.
He said that while ACT police had not detected an upturn in drug seizures during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canberrans had a disposable income and were among the highest users of cocaine nationally "so this is a trend we are seeing that has been pretty steady for some time".
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Mr Low was granted bail on Thursday with conditions including that he not use encrypted communication devices or messaging applications. He is due in court again on June 2.
The Dunlop cocaine seizure represents the largest in the Canberra region since a search warrant was executed in July last year on a Bungendore landscaping company and 384kg of cocaine was found concealed within the lifting arm of a second-hand Caterpillar excavator on the premises.
The drug shipment from South Africa had been detected at the Sydney Container Examination Facility in Botany Bay, sparking a joint operation involving NSW, federal and ACT officers and the Australian Border Force.
