A EUROBODALLA man arrested at Gundagai and accused of being involved in an alleged drug syndicate will face a committal hearing on September 22.
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John Sidney Finlayson, 63, of Malua Bay appeared in Batemans Bay Local Court on Monday on charges of supplying a prohibited drug in a large commercial quantity, cultivating cannabis in an indictable commercial quantity, knowingly participating in a criminal group, manufacturing a prohibited drug in a commercial quantity and receiving property-theft.
Finlayson, Luigi Gino Fato, 62, of East Lynne and 40-year-old Hank Peter Pickett of Malua Bay were arrested in Gundagai on February 12.
It is alleged police found 9.5kg of the drug ice with an estimated street value of $9 million in their vehicle.
Police subsequently executed search warrants at numerous locations around the state and allegedly found 2750 cannabis plants worth $5.5 million on a rural property at Crowther, near Young.
Forty-six-year-old Garry Vyse of Batemans Bay was arrested at his home on the same day in connection with the police operation.
Finlayson has not yet entered a plea on the charges.
A committal hearing will be held on September 22, where it is expected the case will be committed for either sentence or trial in the District Court.
The court heard that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions needed to make a decision about witnesses involved in the matter.
Finlayson’s bail was continued.
Fato, Pickett and Vyse have entered guilty pleas and are expected to be sentenced in Bega District Court on October 20.
- Bay Post