A former Canberra real estate agent accused of being involved in the importation of more than $4 million worth of methylamphetamine has had charges, including money laundering, dropped as he awaits trial.
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Gerardo Penna appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday for the charges of money laundering, receiving stolen property, possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of crime, and failing to comply with a magistrate's order.
The first two of those charges were withdrawn while the remainder were committed for trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
The case is set for an administrative listing in the higher court on October 27.
Penna, in his 40s, was already accused of involvement in the importation of methylamphetamine said to be worth more than $4 million last November.
When he fronted court last year, he pleaded not guilty to charges - including attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported methylamphetamine and drug trafficking.
Penna's arrest for those charges followed that of his co-defendant, Bonner woman Priscilla Palombi, who also faces drug-related charges and has pleaded not guilty.
ACT Policing had said a package containing the drugs was intercepted by the Australian Border Force when it arrived in the country on November 3, 2021.
Police claim to have replaced the methylamphetamine with an inert substance and tracked the package to a Bonner home they allege was its intended destination.
Officers from the ACT Policing drugs and organised crime team raided the place and arrested Palombi.
Police then executed a search warrant in Penna's home suburb of Page.
"During the warrant, methylamphetamine was located, along with drug paraphernalia, suspected stolen property and more than $15,000 in cash," police alleged last year.
Penna was previously granted bail to await his Supreme Court trial for the drug charges when he was arrested again in June after allegedly breaching bail by using a mobile phone in April and committing a new offence by defying a magistrate's order to provide police with its passcode.
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