A third-time drug dealer who hid ice and cannabis inside the cavity of a torch has been jailed for 150 days.
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Teira Ripohau, 28, of Curdie Street, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court to drug-related offences.
The court heard he was caught driving with ice in his system in Warrnambool on July 27 and August 6 last year.
On both occasions he told police he had to go to the supermarket.
Then on October 20 Ripohau was the passenger in a Holden Commodore sedan intercepted on Warrnambool’s Bromfield Street.
A search of the vehicle revealed a black torch with 1.32 grams of ice and a quantity of cannabis concealed inside.
Police also located 0.33 grams of ice in the driver’s handbag and 0.38 grams inside Ripohau’s wallet.
Lawyer Xavier Farrelly said Ripohau’s offending was unsophisticated and a “low-level” example of drug trafficking. He said Ripohau took responsibility for all of the drugs in the vehicle and that text messages found on his client’s phone revealed a single sale of two points of ice.
He said the rest of the messages showed Ripohau telling people he didn’t have any drugs.
The court heard it was the third time Ripohau had been caught trafficking since 2016.
Magistrate Franz Holzer said the recidivist offending was concerning.
He jailed Ripohau for 150 days, stating that the 112 days he had spent in custody on remand was not enough.
The ruling comes just days after Warrnambool Detective Sergeant Andrew Raven said targeting recidivist offending would see a decline in drug-fuelled crime.
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