Canberrans Kristaps Fridemanis, Annette Keir refused ACT Magistrates Court bail for alleged drug trafficking

Kristaps Fridemanis, 36, and Annette Keir, 43, appeared via audio-visual link in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with trafficking in a controlled drug other than cannabis and receiving stolen property.

Fridemanis, of Cook, also faces one count of possessing property, namely $2236, suspected of being crime proceeds.

Both defendants, with Keir being a Coombs resident, have not entered pleas.

ACT Policing in a statement said the pair was arrested in Hawker after an alleged drug deal at about 10.30pm on Monday.

Police searched Fridemanis' vehicle and found what they alleged to be at least 19 clip-seal bags containing substances suspected of being illicit drugs, including meth and synthetic heroin, and prescription medications. An amount of cash was also found.

At a search of a Cook residence at about 11.30pm, about $20,000 in cash, as well as alleged drugs and chemicals used in the manufacture of illicit drugs, were found.

Police said the residence had to be evacuated due to the hazardous nature of the chemicals found.

In court, a prosecutor opposed both defendants' bail applications, arguing there were likelihoods of them reoffending, interfering with evidence and witnesses, failing to appear in court, and endangering the safety of the community.

Jeremy Banwell, lawyer for Keir, said that based on the information about testing so far, it was not clear what the substances police seized were.

He said this was "a significant barrier to the prosecution case".

"There is nothing about the weight of the substances, which is a relevant consideration for the charge of trafficking," Mr Banwell said.

He said that in relation to the evidence of communications between the defendants, his client said some of the text messages and the slang used in them were related to her being a sex worker.

"[The sex work] may provide a viable alternate explanation for the content of some of those messages," Mr Banwell said.

The lawyer also argued that the alleged facts and bail consideration form by police had inconsistent details between them, including about the alleged drug deal.

"There's a paucity of evidence connecting any actual drugs to Ms Keir at this time," Mr Banwell said.

Georgia Le Couter, lawyer for Fridemanis, argued some of the assertions by police were not based on evidence.

"The risk of failing to appear is exceedingly minimal especially given that there's no history of failing to appear," Ms Le Couter said.

As for the risk of reoffending, she said the concern was based on the police assertion that the alleged offending was a source of income for Fridemanis to support his family.

"Whilst it is the case that his wife is unable to work, he does work casually in construction. That goes some way to mitigating or combatting that assertion by police that Mr Fridemanis is funding his family's lifestyle through these allegations," Ms Le Couter said.

The prosecutor said there was "evidence of the high level sophistication of drug trafficking".

"There appears to be hundreds of suspicious telecommunications between the defendant and the co-defendant," she said.

"All information indicates that the defendant is moving a substantial amount of drugs in the community."

The prosecutor said there was "every possibility" the defendant may abscond from the jurisdiction because he is living in Australia on a permanent residency.

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Magistrate Glenn Theakston refused bail for both defendants.

For Fridemanis, Mr Theakston said his decision was based on "the scale and nature of the allegations involving drug trafficking".

"The scale is such that there must be a risk of reoffending should the defendant be released," he said.

For Keir, Mr Theakston chose not to hear from the prosecutor and said the alleged offending was sophisticated.

"I do accept there is a degree of uncertainty as to precisely what was seized. But it's a serious example of a trafficking charge as described," he said.

"Her criminal history describes a long history of failing to appear."

Fridemanis' case is set for return on January 31 while Keir's is for February 7.

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