Anthony McGee, 36, of Shepparton, successfully applied for bail in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court.
He is charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs, possessing methamphetamines and dealing with property suspected to be the proceeds of crime.
Shepparton Crime Investigation Unit Detective Acting Sergeant Leon Schroeter told the court Shepparton police started an operation investigating an alleged drug trafficking syndicate in the Shepparton, Cobram and Benalla areas in November 2023.
The court heard that as part of the operation, police had telephone intercepts on the phones of the men who they allege are the ring leaders, Shepparton brothers Luke and Liam Brown.
Det Act Sgt Schroeter told the court about several texts between Mr McGee and Luke Brown between December 3 last year and June 12 this year, which they say were about the supply and movement of drugs.
The court was told that police believe McGee trafficked 2.1kg of methamphetamines.
In several of the messages, the pair talks about “125” and “250”, which police believe refers to 125g and 250g of methamphetamines, Det Act Sgt Schroeter said.
Among the messages were ones on March 4, where Mr McGee says he can get another person to “weigh and double check”, Det Act Sgt Schroeter said.
The message came two hours after the arrival of a van in Shepparton that police say transferred drugs from Melbourne to Shepparton.
On another occasion, police allege Luke Brown and Mr McGee met on February 19 and Mr Brown removed an item from Mr Gee’s vehicle and put it in his pocket, that police allege was 125g of methamphetamines.
When police searched Mr McGee’s Shepparton home on Wednesday, June 12, they found three ziplock bags containing a total of about 90g of methamphetamines hidden in a fence panel outside the home, Det Act Sgt Schroeter said.
They also found $1200 in Mr McGee’s wallet and $1425 in his partner’s wallet.
Police also searched a storage shed belonging to Mr McGee, and Det Act Sgt Schroeter said he believed a “large quantity of cash” had been seized from there, but he could not confirm the amount as it was “still being counted”.
Det Act Sgt Schroeter said police believed Mr McGee “played an integral part in the drug trafficking enterprise”.
The officer opposed bail, saying police believed Mr McGee would continue to traffic drugs, because he had “no legitimate means” of repaying debts accumulated from buying the drugs.
The charges were laid on Thursday, June 13, and McGee has not entered pleas to any of them.
Mr McGee’s solicitor Ian Michaelson argued that his client reached the threshold to be bailed due to the fact he was an Aboriginal person, had strong ties to the area, and that he had an intellectual disability that could be verified, as he received a disability pension from Centrelink.
Mr Michaelson said Mr McGee also had a limited criminal history.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski granted Mr McGee bail, saying he did not think there was an unacceptable risk of him committing further offences, and he met the bail threshold he was facing because of his limited prior convictions and that he was a First Nations person and they were over-represented in custody.
Mr McGee’s bail conditions include that he report to police every day, not associate with his co-accused, abide by a 10pm to 6am curfew, and that he is only allowed one mobile phone and he must give the police the security number to it, and that he doesn’t leave Victoria or Australia.
