A gold nugget, commercial amounts of illicit drugs, scales and hundreds and thousands of dollars in cash were found in the motel room of a Ballarat man who faced court on Thursday.
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Mark McKay, 49, appeared from custody at the County Court in Ballarat to plead guilty to charges of trafficking drugs and weapons, possession charges and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
It follows two police operations, in 2019 and 2022, that put McKay at the scene of a haul of drugs, weapons and money at various sites across the Ballarat region.
The court heard the first sting, in 2019, came after McKay had sold quantities of methamphetamine to an undercover police officer, totaling 73.5 grams, across August and September 2019.
Police acted on the information on November 18, 2019, when they searched two properties on Sago Hill Road in Haddon, both belonging to associates of McKay.
On one of the properties, police found a shipping container belonging to McKay, which inside contained a slew of items, including five bags of ecstasy, four rifles, one handgun, a "Ned Kelly" imitation firearm, jewellery, power tools, motorcycle parts, generators and more.
Police later searched another Sago Hill Road property and found a shotgun and rifle.
Later that day, police arrived at McKay's Enfield address and found seven 5mg tablets of Oxycodone, a small amount of methamphetamine and $8225 in cash, among other items collected.
McKay was arrested and gave a no comment interview. He would spend 262 days in jail before being bailed.
The second incident occurred on August 11, 2022, when police observed McKay coming and going from a room at a motel on Main Road in Golden Point with associates.
Police decided to swoop in at 11pm, as McKay was leaving the motel, and searched his Toyota Hilux as he left the premises.
From there, police obtained a search warrant for the motel room and found 750.3g of methamphetamine, 39g of cocaine, 572g of cannabis, more than $250,000 in cash, more than $17,000 in gold nuggets, a scale and a war medal.
He was arrested on scene and had since remained in custody.
McKay's defence barrister told the court his client had been "full and frank" with police on both occasions of arrest.
McKay had been on bail and was set to plea to the 2019 offending in 11 days when he was arrested in 2022.
The court heard from psychologist Luke Armstong, who had previously prepared reports for the court with McKay on earlier occasions.
The psychologist told the court he believed McKay to have a dependent personality disorder, developed due to childhood trauma.
"From what I observed, and by discussing the circumstances of the offending ... my view is that the proceeds (of the crime) was a means by which he could buy out of the problems around him," Mr Armstrong said.
The court also heard evidence from McKay's partner.
The matter was adjourned until August 1 for sentencing.
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