A Perth man caught with more than 76 grams of ketamine stashed in a hired campervan while holidaying in Tasmania has been sentenced in the Supreme Court.
Kush Kalra, 30, was pulled over by police in Hobart on January 31 after the owner of the rental company raised concerns he was driving under the influence of drugs.
The company owner told police Kalra appeared “spaced out and confused” when he handed over the keys at his hostel on Argyle Street a week earlier.
Police found the ketamine hidden in a black leather bag in the back of the Toyota van, along with $7,275 in cash, two mobile phones, digital scales and empty snap-lock bags.
Officers also discovered cannabis and drug paraphernalia scattered throughout the vehicle.
Kalra tested positive for cocaine, methylamphetamine and amphetamines.
The Supreme Court heard the ketamine had a potential street value of up to $22,800, depending on how it was sold.
Kalra had factory-reset his iPhone before handing it to police and claimed the cash was from selling jewellery at a music festival in Nugent. The court rejected the explanation.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Chris Shanahan said that while the state found ketamine-related offending was not especially common in Tasmania, the quantity involved posed a real risk to the community.
“The potential impact on the community of the distribution of such amounts of ketamine is significant,” he said.
The court was told Kalra had prior drug convictions in Western Australia, including cocaine supply charges in 2021 and a 2019 conviction for careless driving causing death while drug-affected.
His lawyer argued he should be released immediately on time served, saying Kalra had been abstinent in custody and wished to return to his partner and child in Perth.
Chief Justice Shanahan sentenced him to 18 months’ jail, backdated to January 31, but suspended nine months on the condition he commits no imprisonable offence for 18 months.
Kalra had already spent over eight months in custody.
“… If you continue down the path you were on prior to your arrest it is not going to have a happy ending,” Chief Justice Shanahan said.
“You say that you wish to remain sober, return to Western Australia and make a life with your partner and child you now have that opportunity. How you use it is entirely up to you.”
The cash seized was forfeited to the state as proceeds of crime.
