Queensland real estate agent on alleged drug ring charges
A Queensland real estate agent faced court on Tuesday on drugs-related charges after police busted an alleged Redlands methamphetamines ring.
LJ Hooker agent Ryan Patrick McCann, of Cleveland, was one of five men charged after police raided six properties on Monday.
McCann, 36, faces 34 drugs-related charges. Last year he sold more than $40 million of property, but his LJH web page quickly came down overnight.
McCann was detained for questioning on Monday in relation to allegedly trafficking dangerous drugs, supplying and possession, according to the Redland City Bulletin.
The Queensland papers reported the estate agent, who appeared in the dock wearing a Scooby Doo T-shirt in court, repeatedly interrupted proceedings, denying he was an addict and was told to sit down and be quiet when he tried to interject.
Defence lawyer David Spiro said McCann was a successful real estate agent who made $100,000 in commissions last month.
He also told the court his client was a drug addict who had only "received commercial recompense" from drugs once, when he had some carpentry work done in return for drugs.
Spiro said the alleged large-scale drug trafficking was “fanciful”.
“There’s only one allegation from the affidavit that my client received commercial recompense for an alleged supply, and that’s the person who provided carpentry services,” he said. “This idea that my client is running a large-scale operation in supply in my submission is fanciful.”
McCann's father, Patrick, a retired real estate agent, who watched proceedings, said he was devastated as his son had worked hard to achieve in the real estate industry.
McCann was remanded in custody until 27 October when he is due to reappear in Wynnum Magistrates court for a committal mention.
Cleveland CIB officers raided a real estate office in Queen Street, Cleveland, before arresting the estate agent at his Raby Bay home.
Forensic search team officers claim they discovered the drug 'ice' hidden inside walls at his bayside home, Seven News reported. Staff at the Cleveland real estate agent's office were locked out of their building while police searched the office.
Magistrate Zac Sarra refused bail on the grounds that McCann was at risk of reoffending.
The court heard McCann, from Raby Bay, had a history of drug taking dating back to 2009 when he was intercepted for drug-related activities while driving. The court heard police had been listening in to McCann's private and business phone calls since 2012.
The LJH real estate agency website said was a 'life member' of the Multi-Million Dollar Captains Club. The Life Member of the Multi Million Dollar Captains Club recognises the top 3% of real estate agents within the LJ Hooker network.
He qualified in the shortest possible time, after he joined LJ Hooker in 2007. He was also listed as a 2013 Queensland A List agent.
Ryan McCann. Photo courtesy of alistrealestateagents.com.
Ryan McCann was billed on his homepage website profile as one of Brisbane’s highest profile agents - with endless success stories.
He joined LJ Hooker over three years ago and together this powerful marketing machine has dominated the bayside market with over 70 individual sales last calendar year. McCann sold over $40million of real estate in just 12 months; these figures saw Ryan awarded the runner-up prize at LJ Hooker Queensland State Awards beaten only by the Land and Marketing Division.
His results also placed him in the company’s top 10 performing agents within the country.
Some 92% of MCann’s record sales were repeat or referral based clientele.
As ranked by independent source The Market Tracker, Ryan was ranked the number one agent in the bayside for a record 48 weeks out of 52 for the number of properties under contract and he was placed in the top three for the number of listings, proving that consistency is achievable in sales despite the variation in market conditions.