A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a drug trafficker who disappeared halfway through his trial.
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A Launceston Supreme Court jury found Nathan Scott Davidson guilty in his absence on Thursday morning.
The 42-year-old had pleaded not guilty to trafficking as well as six counts of dealing in the proceeds of crime, but failed to appear for the last three days of his trial.
He was accused of trafficking ice, cannabis, morphine and Ritalin for about two months in 2014.
The trial, before Justice Robert Pearce, began last Wednesday.
When Davidson did not appear on Tuesday, a warrant was issued and the trial proceeded without him.
During opening statements last week, Crown Prosecutor Peter Sherriff told the jury Davidson was “in the trafficking business” in late 2014. He said as part of the initial investigation, police intercepted a “large number of phone calls” between someone they believed to be Davidson and other parties, “arranging to meet for purchases”.
During those conversations, locations were mentioned and at those locations, police found property believed to be proceeds of crime, Mr Sherriff said.
Cash, jewellery, gemstones, computers, power tools and recorders were among the property found at different locations across Launceston including Glen Dhu, Killafaddy, Travellers Rest, Cressy and South Launceston.
When he was found at Killafaddy he was loading property into a vehicle at a storage facility in the area.
During the two months he was accused of trafficking, Davidson was pulled over twice and found with a small quantity of drugs.
As of Thursday afternoon, Davidson was yet to be located by police.
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