ASPRO HEIR PLEADS NOT GUILTY OVER $12M HEROIN IMPORTATION

A member of the Melbourne family that founded the worldwide Aspro
pharmaceutical empire appeared in a Victorian County Court yesterday to
contest a charge of attempting to possess $12million worth of heroin.

David Michael Nicholas, 58, whose grandfather pioneered Aspro pain killers,
was also charged with possessing a trafficable quantity of heroin.

The Crown prosecutor, Ms Jeanette Morrish, told the court that on September
24, 1994, Nicholas drove a man referred to as Mr Lu to the Como Hotel in
South Yarra, where Mr Lu received heroin in a bag from an undercover Thai
policeman.

The court was told that heroin had been imported into Australia and seized
by police. The heroin was undergoing a "controlled delivery" so police could
find out who was to receive it.

Australian Federal Police and Thai authorities were conducting the
investigation under the name of "Operation Levitate". Ms Morrish said the
6.24 kilograms of pure heroin was worth over $12million and divided into 24
blocks.

When police arranged the controlled delivery, most of the blocks were
replaced with plaster fakes, said Ms Morrish, although a trafficable
quantity of 359 grams remained. This was done in case the controlled
delivery proved a failure, said Ms Morrish.

The policeman offered to show Mr Lu one of the real heroin blocks at the
Como hotel to prove he had the drugs, the court was told. The court was told
that a listening device was placed in a bag containing the heroin.

Ms Morrish said that tapes of the conversation between Mr Lu and Nicholas in
Mr Nicholas's car indicated that Mr Nicholas knew the drug was in the bag.

But Mr Philip Dunn, QC, for Nicholas, said he would be asking the jury to
consider whether the tape of the conversation between Mr Lu and Nicholas was
"a product of dishonest police behaviour" that might have been "fudged" in
some way.

"The conduct of the police themselves is important in this case, " said Mr
Dunn. "Did police manipulate the listening devices?"

Nicholas pleaded not guilty to one count of possessing a trafficable
quantity of heroin and one count of attempting to obtain possession of a
commercial quantity of heroin.

The trial continues.

Checked-by: Don Beck