DRUG CHARGES LAWYERS MELBOURNE

Melbourne Criminal Lawyers - Criminal Defence Lawyers Melbourne - Criminal Defence Law Firm - Defense Lawyers - Ondrik Larsen Lawyers - Drug Charges - Drug Possession - Drug Trafficking Lawyer Melbourne

Our criminal lawyers have extensive experience in state and federal drug offences ranging from use and possession of a small quantity of drugs, to large scale operations involving trafficking and cultivation of large commercial quantities of drugs, and importation.

Drug charges, particularly those that involve ICE, are becoming more and more prevalent in society and the community is demanding harsher and harsher penalties. The Courts are responding to community demand for harsher penalties for drug offences which is why it is important for you to obtain the best legal advice from criminal lawyers you can trust who understand the law. We will thoroughly examine the case against you including the alleged quantities involved, and will prepare your case as if it were our own.

If you or someone close to you have been arrested by police for a drug offence, it is crucial that you obtain the right legal advice before participating in a police record of interview. What you say in that interview may see you convicted of a drug offence that you otherwise may not be, simply because you are confused, scared, and do not understand your legal rights. Contact our criminal lawyers immediately if the police want to speak to you about drug offences. For more information about participating in a police record of interview click here.

We understand that your life, your livelihood, your future, and your freedom rely on getting the best result and that’s what our goal is for you. It is important for us to make that happen, because we care not only for you, but for the people around you: your parents, your children and your loved ones, who are also suffering the stress, anxiety, and fear of criminal proceedings.

Types of drug charges include:

Use of drug of dependence
Possession of drug of dependence
Cultivation of cannabis (marijuana)
Trafficking of drug of dependence
Commercial trafficking of drug of dependence
Large commercial trafficking of drug of dependence
Conspiracy
Importation
Other drug related offences such as possessing drug paraphernalia, equipment to manufacture etc.

The types of drugs commonly before the courts, and commonly involved in cases where we have represented clients include:

Cannabis (marijuana)
Synthetic cannabis and other synthetic substances
Methamphetamine (ICE)
Amphetamines (speed)
Heroin
Cocaine
Ecstasy
MDMA
GHB
Prescription drugs without a prescription, eg. Viagra, anti-depressants etc.

You can be confident that our experienced criminal lawyers will explore all defences and examine the details of the police case to ensure that you receive the best representation and the best outcome. It is crucial to hire criminal lawyers who thoroughly understand the law and who won’t encourage you to plead guilty just because it’s the easiest thing to do. We believe that every client has a chance of winning their case and we will exhaust all avenues.

If however, we find that the odds are not in your favour, we will advise you of this immediately and will represent your best interests in preparing your case, doing everything we can to ensure that you receive the best outcome. This may include setting you on the right path for rehabilitation if you suffer from addiction. Our criminal law firm has professional relationships with numerous health care professionals including psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, treatment specialists and other services, who can assist you in putting your right foot forward, and we will be with you along the way to support this process.

For all drug related charges, contact Ondrik Larsen Lawyers for a confidential discussion about how our criminal lawyers can help you.

Our office is located at 19/236 William Street, Melbourne, Victoria, but we service all areas throughout Victoria and interstate.

Our criminal defence lawyers represent clients with drug cases and all other criminal charges from the metropolitan region of Melbourne, be it the Northern suburbs, Southern suburbs, Eastern suburbs, or Western suburbs of Melbourne, as well as regional and country Victoria and also Australia wide. We represent clients in the Children’s Court, Magistrates’ Courts, County Courts and Supreme Courts. For more information about the locations we service, please click here.

For more information about drug related offences including how the quantities of drugs you are charged with can affect your case, click here.

If you have been spoken to, or charged by police in relation to drug offences, click here for information about what to do next.

Do you or someone you care about suffer from addiction and want to talk to someone about it? Click here for more information.

Our criminal lawyers are experienced in making applications for bail at first instance and in the Supreme Court. If you would like to read more information about bail applications, click on this link, or you can speak to our experienced bail application lawyers today by clicking on this link.

*IMPORTANT INFORMATION*

It is crucial that you obtain the right legal advice before participating in a police record of interview. What you say in that interview may see you convicted of a drugs related offence that you otherwise may not be, simply because you are confused, scared, and do not understand your legal rights. If police want to talk to you, or have invited you into the police station for a “chat”, please contact our criminal lawyers today to get the right legal advice before you speak to them. For more information about participating in a police record of interview click here.

If you have already been interviewed or charged by police, get in contact with our drug charges lawyers as soon as possible to put your best foot forward and so we can start working on your case.

To speak to our drug offences lawyers, fill in the form below, our contact our Melbourne office on (03) 9918 0320

Contact our criminal lawyers today!

Drug Charges Lawyers Melbourne: Case Studies

Case Study One:

ALLEGATIONS:

Our client was implicated during a 5-month long investigation involving the Victoria Joint Organised Crime Taskforce and the Australian Federal Police, investigating the importation of 275kg of crystal methylamphetamine with an estimated value of $275 million, imported from China in 3 shipping containers with false floors concealing the drugs.

The investigation involved police surveillance including optical surveillance devices and telephone intercept materials.

Our client was observed during optical surveillance, loading a vehicle with 100 vacuum sealed bags of crystal substance weighing 100kg and was arrested at the scene.

He was remanded in custody and refused bail by a bail justice.

CHARGES:

Our client was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity (100kg) of methylamphetamine, and if found guilty, was facing a maximum term of life imprisonment.

He had a prior history for cultivation of cannabis, theft and dealing with proceeds of crime.

BAIL APPLICATION:

Given the nature of the charge of trafficking in a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamines, this automatically put our client in the “Exceptional Circumstances threshold” the highest threshold for bail.

His arrest came only months before he was due to get married – everything was booked, planned and family were coming from overseas to be a part of the wedding.

The police opposed bail.

As soon as we received instructions to act, we immediately began to prepare an application for bail – we couldn’t have him miss his wedding. We worked tirelessly to have everything in place for a bail application to ensure that we got it right first go, and we did. He was granted bail within a month of his arrest and he made it to his wedding day.

OUTCOME:

From the get-go, our criminal lawyers examined every document from the police with a fine toothcomb to identify every weakness in the police case. We were committed to getting the charges dropped and were not prepared to give up until they were.

As with all of our clients, we put everything into our client’s cases from the very beginning. We know that going to court can be stressful and we know that cases like this can often take years before even getting to Trial which can take an enormous toll on our clients and their families both financially and emotionally, so we do everything we can to try to avoid that – and we did.

Before even reaching a Committal Hearing, and while the case was still in the Magistrates’ Court, the charge against our client was DROPPED. We also successfully applied to have all of his legal fees paid by the police – this was a huge win for our client. The threat of a term of imprisonment and fear of missing seeing his child grow up, was gone.

Our drug charges lawyers were quick to act getting our client the best result he could have hoped for, without having to go to Trial.

Case Study Two:

ALLEGATIONS:

In this case, our client was intercepted by police driving a vehicle where 110 grams of crystal methylamphetamine was located by police under the driver’s seat and a bottle of liquid believed to be GHB also located in the vehicle. He was also found with over $16,000 in cash on him. He was served with a warrant to access his telephone but failed to provide the correct passcode for the device.

He was remanded in custody and refused bail by a bail justice.

CHARGES:

Traffick commercial quantity of methylamphetamine
Possess methylamphetamine
Traffick GHB
Possess GHB
Negligently deal with proceeds of crime
Fail to comply with order to access data storage device

He had a prior criminal history and priors for contravening conditions of bail.

Because he was charged with the indictable offence of trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs, the case was one that required going through the Committal process in the Magistrates’ Court and was destined to end up in the County Court for either a Trial or a Plea of Guilty where he would be facing a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.

BAIL APPLICATION:

Due to the nature of the charges, our client was required to show “exceptional circumstances” as to why bail should be granted. Bail was opposed by the police, who alleged that our client was an unacceptable risk of failing to appear at court when required, that he was a risk of flight and that he was a risk of committing further offences whilst on bail given his prior history of contravening bail conditions.

Our bail application lawyers started preparing for the bail application from the moment of our client’s arrest and applied for bail within 6 days of his arrest ensuring that we put the best case forward for bail the first time around. We understood how important it was for him be home and back at his legitimate employment so he could financially support his family and newborn baby.

We worked hard to thoroughly prepare the application for bail, working with support services, his family and employer to ensure we gave our client the best chances of being granted bail and we succeeded.

OUTCOME:

Because of our thorough preparation and commitment to our client, we were able to negotiate the charges with the prosecution before the matter even reached the committal hearing.

We were able to get the charge of Trafficking a Commercial Quantity of methylamphetamine downgraded to a charge of Trafficking (the difference in the maximum penalty applicable being 25 years imprisonment for a commercial quantity, to a maximum of 15 years for a traffickable quantity).

The charges of possessing methylamphetamine, trafficking GHB and possession of GHB were also withdrawn.

We immediately made an application to the court to keep our client’s case in the Magistrates’ Court (this is called making an “application for summary jurisdiction”). The importance of this is that rather than having the case go to the County Court, where the County Court could impose any sentence up to the maximum penalty, if the case is finalised in the Magistrates’ Court, the maximum penalty that a Magistrates’ Court can impose cannot exceed 2 years imprisonment – which is a substantial difference.

We were successful in our application to keep the charges in the Magistrates’ Court where our client accepted a Sentence Indication by the Magistrate and pleaded guilty to three charges:

Trafficking methylamphetamine
Deal with proceeds of crime
Fail to comply with order to access data storage device

He was placed on 2-year Community Corrections Order.

Thanks to the hard work our experienced criminal lawyers put in at the early stages of the case, his case was finalised within 3 months of his arrest, he was not required to serve any period of imprisonment and saved thousands of dollars in legal fees and a months or even years of waiting for his case to be finalised by avoiding going to Trial in the County Court.

What people say about our Drug Charges Lawyers on Google:

“Dear Ashlee

Firstly, I want to thank you for all your effort and tireless work you did on my case and your patience to explain every detail to me which was very reassuring.
Whilst facing serious drug charges and a possible jail sentence, you not only managed to get some of the charges dropped but also negotiated with the Police Prosecutor to bridge four court appearances and charges to one court date which not only saved me a lot of money but also alleviated a lot of stress on not only myself but also my family.
From the moment we first met, you guided me through all of stages of the case which was very reassuring but also your fees and charges where extremely fair and reasonable as this was also causing me a lot of stress as this was my first time facing such serious charges you where there for me every step of the way, I cannot thank you enough.
I cannot recommend Ondrik Larsen Lawyers enough, they are a great team of ladies who actually care about their clients – more Law firms should take a leaf out of their book!”
J.S

“I will be forever indebted to Olinka and Ashlee at Ondrik Larsen lawyers. If it wasn’t for them, I’m not sure where I would be right now.

Last year, I was charged with an offence carrying a penalty of life imprisonment as a result of being someone in the wrong place at the wrong time right before my wedding.

I was told by other lawyers not to apply for bail as they believed it would’ve been impossible to achieve due to the severity of the charges. However, upon my first meeting with Olinka and Ashlee, they believed I had a chance. Despite it being a very difficult task they were successful in an application for bail. Not only did they get me bail, they fought long and hard to the point where they got my charges completely withdrawn and had police reimburse all my legal fees.

This result changed my life completely. I made it to my wedding and have just welcomed my beautiful daughter to the world. If it wasn’t for Olinka and Ashlee, my life would’ve gone down a totally different path.

I cannot thank you ladies enough and highly recommend Ondrik Larsen Lawyers to anyone looking for any legal assistance.

Warmest regards,
D.N”

“Dear Ashlee,

Ashlee you are truly amazing, you showed soo much compassion both on a personal and professional level, to not only myself but also to my supportive family….

I am so grateful and appreciative of the hard work that got put into my case. I was facing serious drug charges and the reality was that I was looking at a jail term given I had a very long prior history for the same offences. However, you did not give up. You spent a lot of time making sure you had all the material you needed to show the Magistrate that I deserved another chance. You genuinely cared about me and the effect that these charges were having on me, my family and my daughter. And the result speaks for itself, I walked away with a fine and that is all!!
I didn’t at all think this could be possible!!!

So once again I Thank You soo much for your hard work and dedication. I’ve used many lawyers in the past and without hesitation i highly recommend Ondrik Larsen lawyers. I’ve not meet anyone more dedicated to there job!!!”

DP.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

If you have already been interviewed or charged by police, get in contact with our drug charges lawyers as soon as possible to put your best foot forward and so we can start working on your case.

To speak to our drug offences lawyers, fill in the form below, our contact our Melbourne office on (03) 9918 0320