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Two Canberra school friends charged with trafficking ice and MDMA racked up debts of more than $100,000 owed to drug dealers linked to criminal groups, a court has heard. Joel Andrew Lemmon, 26, and Robert James Masling, 27, were denied bail after prosecutors told the ACT Magistrates Court the "inexperienced" pair had led double lives in the weeks before they were arrested in an undercover police sting on Thursday. ACT Policing said in a statement the men were each charged with eight drug trafficking offences after officers raided properties in Amaroo and Kaleen as part of a long-running investigation into an illicit drug syndicate operating in Canberra. Police had seized drugs with a potential street value up to $700,000, three cars, six firearms, ammunition, a banned weapon and $5500 as proceeds of crime as part of a wider investigation spanning 10 months, the statement said. Prosecutors opposed bail on grounds Lemmon and Masling would reoffend, fail to appear at court or interfere with the ongoing investigation when the pair appeared separately before Magistrate Robert Cook. Neither accused has entered pleas to the charges, which the court related to a series of alleged drug transactions of ice, MDMA and cocaine between August and October this year. Prosecutor Soraya Saikal said Lemmon, of Amaroo, been living "somewhat of a double life" in recent months and had "hoodwinked" members of his extended family who had no idea he was allegedly dealing drugs. The court heard Lemmon, who was married with an infant daughter, had worked for the Finance Department for four years and had top-secret security clearance. He allegedly turned to trafficking drugs earlier this year to remedy money problems and told police he now owed $100,000 to drug dealers with no money to pay his debts. Ms Saikal argued Lemmon's initial financial woes had been enough to drive him to deal drugs and the fact he now found himself in far more dire circumstances could prompt him to reoffend. A police officer gave evidence the drugs police seized as part of the operation amounted to more than 705 grams of ice and MDMA, with a wholesale value of roughly $134,000, and a potential street value up to $700,000. He admitted, under cross-examination, those figures were estimates and could be significantly lower or higher. The witness said Lemmon's wife would also likely face charges in relation to the drug trafficking operation. However, no charges have yet been laid. Lemmon's defence lawyer Adrian McKenna, of Ben Aulich and Associates, acknowledged the offences before the court were very serious but said there was a presumption for bail. Mr McKenna said his client had no criminal record and claims of the $100,000 drug debt were "in a bit of a vacuum" and still "very much unknown". The court was told Lemmon's father-in-law would offer $5000 surety and the prosecution's concerns about his release from custody could be mitigated by strict bail conditions, including a curfew. Masling was supported by his family in court and sobbed as it emerged he'd been allegedly caught red-handed, selling about $54,000 worth of drugs to an undercover police officer in multiple deals, and owed members of the drug syndicate about $75,000. His lawyer Jacob Robertson, of Sharman Robertson Solicitors, said any fears of retribution from the alleged drug syndicate towards his client, if he was granted bail, could be remedied by strict bail conditions. Mr Robertson said Masling's parents were willing to offer a $10,000 surety and would relocate temporarily with their son to their holiday house in NSW if he was released. But Ms Saikal said Masling, too, had been leading a double life given his parents, whom he still lived with at the family home in Kaleen, had no knowledge of his alleged offending. She noted the "brazen" nature of the former school friends' crimes and said the arrests showed the men, who didn't have criminal records, were inexperienced and no plan in place to pay back any debts they accrued. Magistrate Robert Cook denied bail. The matters will return to court next month.

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