A former Victorian policeman allegedly caught with almost half-a-kilogram of ice at an airport is facing new charges, Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
David Cameron Lister was arrested at Townsville Airport in April, three months after resigning from the force. Police allege he ferried the drugs from Melbourne in a backpack.
The 37-year-old, who is on bail on charges of trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs and cultivating cannabis, faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court again on Monday.
Prosecutors asked Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg for an adjournment, saying police may also charge Mr Lister with conspiracy offences.
The former senior constable, who was once based at the Broadmeadows police station, will face court again on September 7.
The alleged ringleader of the syndicate, 32-year-old Jarrod Hennig, as well as associates including Osama Elsayed and Townsville-based Andrew Harrison, also faced court on Monday.
Mr Hennig and Mr Harrison, who remain in custody, were further remanded for a contested committal hearing in March next year. Mr Elsayed, who is on bail, will face court on October 5.
Mr Hennig ran building company Trades Group, where both Mr Lister and another alleged syndicate member, Luke Debono, worked.
Fairfax Media revealed in May that detectives from the North West Regional Crime Squad dismantled the syndicate in a series of raids in Melbourne, Townsville and country Victoria.
It was the culmination of a seven-month investigation that began after a wave of run-throughs in Melbourne's north and west where gangs were targeting cannabis crop houses.
The syndicate, police said at the time of the arrests, was one of the groups committing the run-throughs.
During its investigation police recovered 16 guns including a military grade Theron sub-machine gun at a house in Braybrook as well as 1.5 kilograms of ice, worth more than a million dollars.
