A third-year apprentice carpenter has been ordered to undergo drug counselling after he was found with bags of cocaine and Superman-branded MDMA pills on New Year's Eve.
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Tuan Kiet Hoang, 26, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying prohibited drugs when he appeared in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.
Agreed facts tendered to court said South East Region Enforcement Squad officers were conducting proactive patrols on Northcliffe Drive, Berkeley about 8pm on December 31 when they stopped a maroon Renault Clio that Hoang was a passenger in for a roadside breath test.
An officer noticed a large sum of Australian cash coming out of the Warrawong man's wallet and they asked him whether he had been in trouble with police previously.
"Yeah I got done DUI for cocaine," Hoang replied.
The officers noticed Hoang appeared "nervous" as his carotid artery in his neck and chest was obvious and his chest was rising and falling at a heightened rate, the documents said.
Hoang was asked to exit the car and searched before telling officers "yeah I got some pills and that" when asked if he had anything illegal in his possession.
In Hoang's shorts, police found three clear bags with 25 MDMA tablets inside in the shape of the Superman emblem with the letter "S" stamped on.
Hoang then removed an open packet of cigarettes from his underwear.
It contained six small bags of cocaine with another small amount found in his wallet along with $1160 cash.
All the drugs and cash were seized as Hoang made "full and frank admissions" to having the "pingers" and cocaine, the documents said.
Hoang was arrested and taken to Lake Illawarra police station where officers weighed the drugs. The bags contained six grams of cocaine and five grams of MDMA tablets.
In court on Tuesday, Hoang's lawyer Danny Lagopodis said his client had a limited criminal history and was a "fairly heavy user of illicit drugs" at the time of his arrest.
"The good news is that he has now ceased completely," Mr Lagopodis said.
He said Hoang was remorseful for supplying drugs and now wanted to be a "law abiding citizen" and focus on his trade as a carpenter.
Magistrate Michael O'Brien convicted Hoang and placed him on a 12-month community corrections order before ordering he attend drug and alcohol counselling.
"You come before me as a young man with most of his life ahead of him," Magistrate O'Brien said.
"You have a limited history and you need to keep it that way."
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