A SEBASTOPOL man has been branded as a "scourge' on the community after trafficking almost 80 grams of marijuana to an undercover police operative.
Ballarat Magistrates Court heard yesterday that Michael Timothy Maguire, 40, sold the drug, at a cost of $735, during four transactions between September 25 and October 31 this year.
Outside court, Ballarat Regional Response Unit Senior Constable Denis Farrell condemned Maguire's criminal activities.
"Drug traffickers are a scourge on our society," he said. "They prey on the vulnerable and weak-minded in our community, no matter how large or small they traffick."
Earlier, the court heard Maguire was arrested on Friday after a three-month investigation, code-named Operation Maenad.
The investigation, headed by the Ballarat Regional Response Unit, included surveillance of Maguire's Boxley Crt home.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Steven Kent told the court Maguire sold the undercover operative 79 grams of marijuana during the five-week period.
A search of his home on Thursday also uncovered 80 30mg morphine tablets and 102 60mg morphine tablets, he said.
Sen Const Kent said the total amount of 8.52 grams was four times the traffickable quantity, with a street value of $5460.
The court heard the undercover operative saw Maguire give a female in his house a strip of tablets on return for $100 to $150 on November 9. Snr Const Kent said Maguire fled through a bedroom window when police raided his
home.
Defence lawyer Avi Furstenberg said his client, who used marijuana to alleviate the constant pain of a neck injury, trafficked cannabis to support his own habit.
Magistrate Luisa Bazzani bailed Maguire, who pleaded guilty to five counts of trafficking cannabis and three of trafficking a drug of dependence, and adjourned sentencing to December 13.