Ms Armitage said if released on bail, Johnson hoped to enter a Salvation Army rehabilitation course at Normanton, removing him from his associates in Mount Isa. Justice David North said Johnson had a “serious and lengthy” criminal history, with convictions in 2002, 2003, 20 for offences that “mostly related to drugs”. In 2007, Johnson was sentenced to eight years in jail for trafficking methylamphetamine and seven years in jail for trafficking marijuana. Justice North said Johnson is currently charged with trafficking drugs from Decemto July 27 last year. “It is not alleged that the applicant was the principal of the syndicate, but the case against him seems to be that he was active in sourcing drugs and supplying to a large customer base, it being alleged, some 47 people.” “It is alleged that he was one of a number of people that were carrying out activities in what is described loosely as a syndicate,” he said. Johnson is also charged with two counts of supplying methylamphetamine to undercover police on March 11 and 16 last year. The supplies allegedly totalled 11.43 grams, of which 5.209 grams was pure methylamphetamine. He was also charged with possessing a mobile phone allegedly used for trafficking and digital scales. Johnson was arrested and granted bail in August last year. On December 3 last year, he was arrested again and charged with fresh offences of supplying and possessing methylamphetamine and possessing $575 suspected of being drug proceeds.Īs he had allegedly reoffended while on bail, Johnson was in a show cause position. He was refused bail in Mount Isa Magistrates Court on March 1.Ĭrown prosecutor Dominique Orr yesterday opposed bail, saying there was an unacceptable risk Johnson would reoffend or fail to appear. “In my submission it is a very strong Crown case, there are a number of telephone intercepts where the applicant self-identifies,” she said. Justice North said he could not accept there was an unacceptable risk Johnson would fail to appear in court, but there was an unacceptable risk he would reoffend.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. “The word kingpin often gets thrown around, but there is no doubt it applies here.” “Tse Chi Lop is in the league of El Chapo or maybe Pablo Escobar,” said Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia and Pacific representative for UNODC, referring to Latin America’s most legendary narco-traffickers. The syndicate is the major factor in the fourfold increase in region-wide meth trafficking in the past five years, the UNODC says. In a report in July, the UN agency said the meth trade had reached “unprecedented and dangerous levels,” and was a “direct challenge to the public security and health of the region.” The supply of the highly addictive drug has surged, causing the street price to plummet in many countries. The AFP has identified 19 top syndicate leaders, four of whom are Canadian nationals, the target list shows. Other suspected leaders hail from Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam.
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