A two-and-a-half-year drug trafficking operation came to an end after police raided Lloyds Hotel in November 2019, a Supreme Court jury heard on Tuesday.
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Crown prosecutor Ian Arendt said the crown allegation was that Stephen James Williams and Russell Peter Haworth trafficked in heroin, MDMA, ice and MDA between July 2017 and November 13, 2019.
Mr Williams and Mr Haworth have pleaded not guilty to trafficking in a controlled substance.
Mr Arendt said the men carried on drug trafficking as a business in Launceston and Kings Meadows.
Defence counsel for Mr Williams, Olivia Jenkins, said that it was the defence case that he was not involved in trafficking in any of the instances alleged by the Crown.
She said the evidence would not satisfy beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Williams carried on a business of trafficking for a substantial part of the two and a half year period.
Ms Jenkins said that the State's case focused on cash but in pre-Covid times people held cash and the defence disputed that the cash was related to drugs or trafficking.
"Our case is that Mr Williams was not involved in trafficking in any of the instances outlined by the Crown," she said.
Mr Haworth is representing himself during the trial.
Mr Arendt said that police found drugs at three properties connected with the defendants.
In July 2017 drugs were found at room 9 at the Kings Meadows Hotel, in July 2018 drugs were found at a rented shed at Killafaddy and in November 2019 drugs were found at Lloyds Hotel.
Mr Arendt said substantial amounts of cash were found at premises associated with the men when Mr Williams was a recipient of Newstart allowance.
He said that Mr Wiliams paid $10,000 cash to Peter Dixon, the owner of Lloyds Hotel, to cover rent arrears on behalf of Lloyds' licensee James Napier.
Mr Dixon shortly after returned the cash.
Mr Arendt said Mr Williams wanted to establish a night club licence at Lloyds because he was having problems getting a licence at the Hotel New York in York St.
"It is the State's case that in November 2019 it was Mr Williams who was in possession of Lloyds Hotel," Mr Arendt said.
The trial is likely to last two to three weeks and feature nearly 30 police witnesses and up to 20 civilian witnesses.
Mr Arendt said that a search at the Kings Meadows hotel found 108 grams of heroin, 62 grams of MDMA and 34.5 grams of ice.
He said that a search of Mr Williams home found $13,200 cash in a search.
When police pulled over Mr Williams and his driver Stuart Burgoine police found a .22 Smith and Wesson under the passenger seat.
Ms Jenkins said it was disputed that Mr Williams owned the firearm.
In the November 2019 raid police found 87.2 grams of ice in a chip packet at the end of a bar and $1490 in cash in Mr Williams' wallet.
Mr Arendt said Mr Wiliams occupied a bedroom upstairs at Lloyds in which further amounts of ice and cannabis were found.
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Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
