The alleged leader of a large meth production ring is trying to gain access to her property so she can fund her defense, a court heard.
Xiaoyan Ning was extradited from Kingston Beach, Tasmania, to Victoria last July after police cracked down on the alleged syndicate and charged 15 people in the two southern states.
She appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday via an audiovisual link, wearing a plaid jacket and an ornament in her long black hair.
Ms. Ning sometimes appeared in tears when attorneys discussed funding for her defense with Judge Ross Maxted.
The mother of two in her mid-thirties owns property in Victoria but has been prevented by the state from accessing her property, the court said.
Attorney Michael Haralambous told the court that Ms. Ning was in the process of filing an application for access to the property through Victorian Legal Aid to fund her legal defense.
He said she had previously volunteered in court hearings.
Ms. Ning, a Chinese national who has lived in Australia since 2004, has been charged with drug trafficking and negligent use of the proceeds of crime.
When granting her bail in the Victoria Supreme Court last year, Judge Lex Lasry said Ms. Ning was one of three suspected syndicate members who police say were the leaders.
She denies the allegations against them.
Her partner Eng Beng Koh is also accused of being the ringleader in the alleged drug syndicate.
The couple have two children under the age of four and Ms. Ning was living with the children with her partner’s mother in Tasmania when she was arrested, police said.
Magistrate Maxted said Friday it would be “very, very challenging” to hold an upcoming hearing testing the evidence against all 15 suspected drug syndicate members and their 15 – at least – attorneys while observing Covid-19 social distancing rules in the courtroom become.
“My investigation in court is that none of my colleagues ever had a 15-year charge,” he said.
“You can only imagine this on (online platform) Webex and the dramas that come with it.”
The syndicate is said to have “operated a sophisticated and large-scale criminal enterprise since at least 2018, and possibly earlier,” the Victoria Supreme Court previously heard.
Police claim the syndicate made methylamphetamine, commonly known as ice, and laundered the money through companies like chicken farms and a job placement company.
It is alleged that the Syndicate used vulnerable people working on the farms to “house” the secret laboratories.
When police pounced on the suspected meth ring, 23 search warrants in properties across Victoria and Tasmania found scientific glassware and equipment, rotary evaporators (commonly used in making ice), over 25 kilograms of ice, hydroponic equipment, cannabis, bulk Cash, cell phones, vehicles and jewelry.
The syndicate is said to have imported over five tons of precursor chemicals used to make meth.
Ms. Ning is charged with co-defendant Yining Tao responsible for moving the syndicate’s money, buying equipment, and managing the finances of companies used for money laundering.
She will return to court on July 12th.
