Olympian, brother on drug charges after winning appeals

Olympic silver medallist Nathan Baggaley and his brother are accused of being in possession of drugs while behind bars.

The siblings were found guilty by a Supreme Court jury in 2021 of attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

Both men are in custody ahead of a retrial after appealing convictions over a bungled plot to bring about $200 million worth of cocaine into Australia.

Nathan Jon Baggaley was sentenced on July 27, 2023 to 25 years behind bars, while his brother was handed a 28-year jail sentence.

Nathan is set to have three charges related to alleged offences that occurred on July 15, 2023 mentioned in Rockhampton Magistrates Court on Friday.

The 48-year-old is charged with two counts of possessing dangerous drugs and one of dealing with a prohibited thing.

Dru Anthony Baggaley faces the same charges which were mentioned at the Rockhampton court on Tuesday, with a further mention listed on April 30.

The alleged offences occurred on January 9, 2024.

Dru, 42, was unsuccessful in a bail application in the Supreme Court in March with Justice Melanie Hindman saying fresh allegations of drug offending while behind bars "loomed darkly" over his bid for release.

It is alleged he obstructed officers trying to search his cell in January by jamming the door's locking mechanism before flushing down the toilet a mobile phone, which was later found in the prison's plumbing.

Justice Hindman said it was alleged corrections officers found a phone charger, valium tablets, 100 strips of suboxone and a packet labelled "coke" in his cell.

The cases against the pair were first mentioned in the Rockhampton court in February.

The case involving the alleged attempted importation is due to be mentioned in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday with no trial date having been set.

The brothers are accused of being involved in a plan to get 650kg of cocaine from a foreign vessel hundreds of kilometres off the northern NSW coast.

Nathan Baggaley is a three-time kayaking world champion, winning two silver medals at the Athens 2004 Olympics.