A British mother of two and her boyfriend have been charged in Australia after police allegedly discovered 107kg of ketamine with an estimated street value of £5.7 million in the boot of their rental car. Demi McDaid, 23, and Jack Farrelly, 30, both from Scotland, were arrested at a hotel in Sydney on June 26 following a raid by New South Wales Police. During the operation, officers allegedly found multiple mobile phones, over $2,000 in cash, and documents believed to be drug ledgers in the vehicle. A subsequent search of a holiday rental on Hampden Road in Artarmon uncovered an additional 2kg of ketamine.
Charges and allegations
McDaid and Farrelly have been charged with two counts of supplying a prohibited drug—one larger than an indictable quantity and one larger than a commercial quantity. They appeared at Manly Local Court last month, where bail was denied and they were ordered to reappear at Downing Centre Local Court on August 25. NSW Police will allege that the couple traveled to Australia with "the sole purpose of taking part in the distribution and supply of large commercial quantities of prohibited drugs."
Investigation details
The arrests followed tip-offs from the local community that alerted detectives to activities at a rented unit. Police said the operation combined "good old-fashioned police work" from senior detectives with the tech skills of younger officers. Acting Crime Manager for North Shore Police Area Command Detective Acting Inspector Alison Dixon stated that drug syndicates are increasingly utilizing the high turnover of temporary accommodation rentals to evade detection by law enforcement in Australia.
Social media posts
Prior to the move to Australia, McDaid posted a video on social media showing herself at an airport with a Chanel handbag and a Louis Vuitton holdall. The caption read: "POV: He books you to a flight to where he is cause you miss each other that much and can't go a few days without seeing one another." The drugs, believed to have an estimated street value of AUD$11 million (approximately £5.7 million), were pictured in police photos crammed into the hire car and stacked after seizure.
