QLD Mobile Phone Transcript of Alleged Buying/Selling Drugs - Police Questioning

[Gary]

I was contacted today on my phone and told by an officer of the law that my mobile phone is suspected of being used to buy and or sell illegal drugs. He read out a transcript of a conversation that i know nothing about that said " Hey L this is Gary. This my new number. Do you ever catch up with your old mate anymore". The police officer then told me that the conversation continued with drug coding included in the messages. He asked if I had ever lent my phone to anyone, i told him that i had on occasion alllowed people to use my mobile phone. He then asked me if we can meet at a station closer to where I live and I said yes that isn't a problem and at this stage I am meeting them tomorrow morning at 10am. I am concerned that my phone has been used and or compromised and used for things illegal and i am also concerned about the criminal law repercussions and ramifications of my meet tomorrow morning

 

[Tracy B]

Hi Gary,

If you are concerned, you can have a lawyer accompany you. At the interview, you should be cautioned:

• You have the right to remain silent
• If you say or do anything, if could be used in court as evidence against you or another person
• If you give evidence you believe might incriminate you, you can claim privilege against self-incrimination which means the evidence will not be used in court against you in criminal law, if you intend to claim this, you should claim it a few times (before your answer and after you finished answering)

Otherwise, don't be too concerned. You can ask for a lawyer at anytime during the interview. If you in fact had no knowledge of the telephone conversations, or any knowledge that your phone was being used to organise drug deals, you should not be charged with anything. It may be that your phone was tapped into. If this is the case, you should not be held responsible.

Just be courteous, don't aggravate the police, but this does not mean you have to respond to every single question and be overly accommodating. Remember your right to silence and your right to have a lawyer present during the interview.

 

[Gary]

thank you for your advice. What i dont understand is how did someone tap into my phone, do they do this when they ask to use my phone?
also, why havent the police just come to my home if they suspect that the phone is being used for illegal purposes?
What would happen if i did not attend?

 

[Rod]

They may have had a telephone intercept on the mobile that was called, not yours. Easy to do.

If the police called you, it suggests their investigations are close to finishing as they wouldn't want to alert the druggies they are on to them.

BUT: No longer lend your phone!!!!

 

[Tracy B]

Hi Gary,

I agree with Rod's response. A phone tap is possible. As for how this was done, you will need to hand your phone in to a technical person for a thorough investigation (one possibility, outside of phone interception, is a bug in one of the apps you downloaded, which would do the same thing).

The police need to make sure you are the owner of the telephone number. Coming to your house wouldn't directly answer this question. There may be many reasons why the police preferred to call you as opposed to knocking on your door.

Since you are not arrested, this would be a voluntary interview. Being voluntary, you can decide not to go. However, you should note that your refusal to cooperate may (i) make the police suspicious, (ii) make the police interpret you as uncooperative, and (iii) be used to make inferences against your innocent in all this. If you do decide to not attend, you should let the police know as soon as possible. As I mentioned earlier, you can attend with a lawyer to assuage your concerns.

You can contact your local QLD community legal centre for some free preliminary legal advice.