THE brother of NRL star Payne Haas - accused of trafficking 1.8 kilograms of ice - has been granted bail with a judge calling the case against him "extremely weak".
Zeda Haas, 20, applied for NSW Supreme Court bail on Wednesday, about a month after he and 19-year-old Kaharau Beer were pulled over in a car at Beresfield and charged over an alleged plot to import large quantities of methamphetamine from the United States.
According to police, Australian Border Force officers in early August intercepted two parcels from the US, which allegedly contained 1.8kg and 2.2kg of methamphetamine. The drugs had a potential street value of $3.5 million, police have said.
The package containing 1.8kg of ice was addressed to a house at Beresfield and, after being replaced with an inert substitute, was sent on its way and monitored by police.
Mr Beer was allegedly contacted and travelled from Queensland to collect the package. He allegedly picked up the package from an address at Beresfield and was stopped a short time later by police and arrested.
Mr Haas was in the passenger seat and the pair were each charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of a controlled drug and taking part in the supply of a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, which carries a maximum of life imprisonment.
But on Wednesday, Justice David Davies said the extent of the evidence against Mr Haas was that he was "in the car with someone who went to this place and picked up a package".
"I don't think that there is any basis for refusing bail to this man on the information that I have," Justice Davies said. "He doesn't have a criminal record, there can't be any concern about anything at all except that he might not appear in court because of the seriousness of the charge. "But when all he is supposed to have done is be in the car when someone else picked up the package, I don't think he would be worried to come to court to say he knew nothing about it."
Justice Davies said there was nothing in the documents before the court to indicate Mr Haas had committed the trafficking charge, which is a Commonwealth offence.
"Moreover his involvement at all is such that the prosecution case on the state supply charge at the present time and on the present material available to the court is an extremely weak one," Justice Davies said.
He granted Mr Haas bail on a number of conditions, including a $50,000 surety and reporting three times a week to police in Sydney.
Mr Beer remains behind bars and the pair are due to appear in Newcastle Local Court next month.
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