Man accused of stashing meth and cash in underwear waistband faces court

A man has been denied bail after he appeared in court on Thursday accused of stashing meth and cash in his underwear waistband which police said they found after a random breath test. Nathan Trevor Howells appeared in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court facing one charge of possessing meth with an intent to sell or supply and one charge of possessing stolen or unlawfully obtained property. The 29-year-old Kalgoorlie-Boulder man, who is yet to enter pleas for the charges, appeared in the dock from custody. The police prosecutor said a random breath test on Thursday resulted in police finding a clip-seal bag with an alleged 0.69g of meth in Mr Howells’ car. The prosecutor said in a further search police discovered $1100 cash hidden in Mr Howells’ underwear waistband, along with another clip-seal bag of meth. They said a total of 2.76g of meth was found on Mr Howells and several unused clip-seal bags were also located in the car. Defence lawyer Will Reid applied for bail, saying the large sum of cash was from his client’s work in landscaping and maintenance. He said Mr Howells was returning from a job at the time of the random breath test and his employer would be asked to provide receipts to account for the cash. Magistrate Paul Lyons said it seemed “unusual” that someone would carry the proceeds of their job in their underwear waistband. But he said he could understand that if someone encountered police knowing they had drugs in their possession, they might be “concerned with how it all looked” and attempt to hide the cash. Mr Reid said that was “exactly” what was conveyed to him by his client. The defence lawyer said the unused clip-seal bags found in the car were to be used for cannabis. Mr Lyons said the prosecutor’s case was not what he would consider “weak” and said if convicted, immediate imprisonment was “almost inevitable”. He said there was a risk of Mr Howells not attending court and committing further offences if released. He was not satisfied that any conditions could eliminate the risks and declined to let Mr Howells out on bail. The magistrate also noted Mr Howells faced other charges, including possession of methylamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a prohibited weapon and driving without a licence — with no pleas entered. Mr Howells will come before the court for these matters again on March 21.