A Cringila bartender and part-time fitness instructor discovered with almost $60,000 worth of methamphetamine concealed inside her designer handbag has pleaded not guilty to a drug supply offence in court, despite allegedly telling police she knew exactly what she was doing.
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Mother-of-five Louise Kierce was refused bail in Wollongong District Court on Friday for the third time since her arrest on July 10 after police found her with 88 grams of the drug "ice" in a Guess handbag during a vehicle stop.
Documents tendered to the court said officers attached to Lake Illawarra target action group were patrolling the suburb of Warilla when they saw a silver Toyota Corolla travelling north on King Street at speed just after 8pm.
The vehicle's driver was seen to brake harshly at the traffic light intersection of Queen and King streets when the driver spotted police.
Officers conducted registration checks and discovered the vehicle was a hire car. Police conducted a U-turn and caught up with the Corolla, stopping it on Shellharbour Road.
Kierce was subjected to a breath test which returned a negative reading. She told police "I just dropped my son off at his girlfriend's, I don't know the address, I only know how to get there."
Officers subsequently conducted checks on Kierce through their internal database, which revealed police intelligence reports linking her to an investigation into the supply of ice and cannabis.
Police began searching the vehicle, eventually turning their attention to her handbag.
Officers said they felt a "bulge" in the lining of bag that felt like a granulated substance wrapped in plastic, however Kierce dismissed it as "the stuffing in the bottom"
"It's a Guess bag so it's got extra padding," she said.
The bag was emptied and police examined the lining of the bag more closely, allegedly discovering a small tear in seam.
Inside, they found three resealable bags containing methamphetamine.
Kierce immediately denied knowledge of the drugs, telling police she'd been given the bag a month earlier from her son's girlfriend.
She was taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station and charged with one count of drug supply.
Officers also searched Kierce's phone, allegedly discovering an "extremely large number" of text messages relating to what police believe to be the supply of methylamphetamine.
She allegedly made partial admission during her first interview with police, telling police a man named "Ishmal" used her phone up to 50 times a day and she acted as his secretary by liaising with him and responded to texts about drug transactions.
However, she denied knowing the ice was in her bag at the time of her arrest.
The interview was concluded and Kierce returned to her cell, but requested a second interview a short time later.
She allegedly told police she knew the drugs were in her bag and that she'd gone to a house in Mount Warrigal and met with a man named "Gremlin" who had concealed the drugs in her bag to deliver to "Ishmal".
Police said the drugs had an estimated street value of $58,800.
Kierce pleaded not guilty to the drug supply charge when she appeared in court via video link from Silverwater women's jail on Friday.
In seeking bail, Kierce's lawyer her client needed to be at liberty to look after children, including one with special needs.
She said one of Kierce's family members had agreed to put up a $2,000 surety.
However, Magistrate Sally McLaughlin refused bail and adjourned the case to September 1 for further mention.
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