Drug trafficking in Queensland

What trafficking means

Trafficking is not defined by a quantity. It is carrying on a business of unlawfully supplying dangerous drugs.

That is why the prosecution case is usually built from phone records, messages, banking, surveillance and the accounts of people who bought from you, rather than from what was found in your house. It is a pattern offence.

The consequence is that a person holding a modest quantity can face a trafficking charge, while a person holding a large quantity may face supply or possession instead. What matters is whether the activity had the character of a business: repetition, customers, pricing, records, profit.

The penalty changed in 2023

Older articles, including our own earlier version of this page, said the maximum was 25 years. That is out of date.

The maximum penalty for trafficking under section 5 of the Drugs Misuse Act 1986 (Qld) was raised to life imprisonment in 2023.

That does not mean life sentences will become common. It means the ceiling has moved, and sentencing ranges are calibrated against the ceiling. Anyone relying on pre-2023 comparable sentences is working from the wrong baseline.

Related offences under the same Act carry their own maximums, including supplying under section 6, possessing under section 9 and producing under section 8, each varying with the schedule of the drug and the quantity involved.

The drugs commonly involved

The Act divides dangerous drugs into schedules, and the schedule affects the penalty.

• Methylamphetamine. The most common subject of trafficking prosecutions in Queensland, usually manufactured domestically or imported in precursor form.
• Cocaine. Almost always imported, which frequently brings Commonwealth offences into the picture alongside the state charges.
• Heroin. Imported, and less commonly the subject of large scale prosecutions than it once was.
• MDMA. Frequently prosecuted at the supply level rather than trafficking, though not always.
• Cannabis. A Schedule 2 drug, which attracts lower penalties than Schedule 1 drugs, but is still capable of supporting a trafficking charge.
• Synthetic drugs. Chemically designed to imitate other drugs, with unpredictable effects and unpredictable classification.

Your property is a separate problem

A trafficking allegation almost always brings a confiscation application with it.

Under the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act 2002 (Qld), police and the Crime and Corruption Commission can obtain restraining orders over your assets before any charge is decided, and the practical burden of showing the property is not connected to the alleged activity falls on you.

That can mean a frozen bank account, a restrained house and a business that cannot operate, for the eighteen months or more that a Supreme Court matter takes. See our article on proceeds of crime.

What follows a charge

Trafficking is dealt with on indictment in the Supreme Court. The matter starts in the Magistrates Court, passes through a committal, and is then transferred.

Bail is not automatic. Trafficking is a show cause offence under the Bail Act 1980 (Qld), meaning you must persuade the court that your detention is not justified. See our guide on bail in Queensland.

The consequences extend past the sentence. A conviction affects employment, professional licensing, and entry to many countries.

If you are being investigated, or have been asked to attend an interview, get advice first. What is said in a record of interview forms the backbone of most trafficking prosecutions. See our page on drug trafficking charges.