A Warilla mother-of-three and alleged drug dealer accused of trademarking her GBL with glitter has failed to secure bail to attend an 18-month live-in drug rehabilitation program, with a magistrate predicting she faces an "inevitable" lengthy jail sentence if she is convicted.
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Taia Kakahi fronted Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday seeking bail after more than five months behind bars on a host of serious drug-related offences, including two counts of supplying a large commercial quantity of GBL, also known as 'G' or 'liquid ecstasy'.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of life behind bars, with a standard non-parole period of 15 years.
It's inevitable she faces a fairly lengthy full time jail sentence in my view - one would think a sentence of between three and six years.
Police allegedly discovered 2.4lt of GBL in Kakahi's Toyota Kluger after she was stopped on the M1 at Figtree on April 16 under the suspicion she was breaching COVID-19 laws.
Neither Kakahi or her two passengers could provide police with a reasonable excuse for being out that night.
The GBL was spread across three different water bottles, with glitter added to each of the mixes as Kakahi's "personal trademark", police will allege.
Officers also found a drug ledger, digital scales, measuring cup, small spoon, glass pipe and a glitter kit containing two small tubs of silver and gold glitter.
Police estimated the GBL had a potential street value of $14,400, with a single dose considered anywhere between 1ml and 3ml at a time.
Kakahi was charged and remanded in custody at the time.
Meanwhile, police carried out further investigations into Kakahi's alleged drug activity, resulting in detectives laying an additional 10 charges against the 38-year-old in July, including the commercial supply charges.
Police will allege Kakahi played a part in the supply of 28.1kgs of GBL in the Wollongong area in the two weeks before her arrest, but details of where the alleged supply took place and to whom was not publicly disclosed during the court proceedings.
The remaining charges relate to allegations Kakahi was also involved in the sale of methamphetamine and buprenorphine.
In court on Wednesday, defence lawyer Matt Ward said Kakahi was "in the grip of a significant addiction to liquid ecstasy" at the time of her arrest.
He said she had recently secured a bed in Odyssey House's 12-month live-in drug rehabilitation program and sought release from custody to attend the facility.
"She's not seeking to be released willy nilly into community," he said.
"This is a long-term, structured residential program available to her."
However, Magistrate Mark Douglass was sceptical of Kakahi's real need for rehabilitation.
"This court is not persuaded she's a person in custody, desperately sick, who is in urgent need of rehabilitation," he said.
"It's inevitable she faces a fairly lengthy full time jail sentence in my view - one would think a sentence of between three and six years."
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