Advertisement

Man faces deportation after being caught with Vegemite-smeared drugs

Man faces deportation after being caught with Vegemite-smeared drugs

A French drug trafficker who smeared Vegemite on bags of drugs to mask the smell from music festival sniffer dogs is now facing deportation.

Romain Franche is not a happy little Vegemite after a sniffer dog stopped the 22-year-old before he made it through the gates at last Saturday's Electric Parade festival in Melbourne.

Prosecutor Senior Constable David Lee told the court Franche, who has been living in Melbourne studying at business school, smeared Vegemite on the bags of drugs to hide their smell from the dogs.

Franche, who has also been working as a Yarra River gondolier and French vintage furniture salesman while in Melbourne, was apprehended by police with $3000 worth of MDMA, acid, ketamine, ecstasy, hashish and cocaine he had purchased.

The court heard Franche did not possess large amounts of drugs, apart from 62 acid tabs, which Snr Cst Lee said was "a little bit alarming".

Defence lawyer Lorna Williamson told the court her client had no prior convictions and had been in custody for five days.

Franche was convicted and fined $4000 for trafficking MDMA, acid, ketamine, ecstasy and cocaine.