Stuart MacGill was dobbed in by a friend before the Australian cricket legend was charged for alleged $300,000 cocaine dea
Stuart MacGill was caught up by a friend before the Australian cricket legend was charged over an alleged $300,000 cocaine deal
- A friend of MacGill’s told police about the cricketer’s $1,000 debt
- Led to indictment for alleged $300,000 cocaine deal
A friend of former Test star Stuart MacGill turned on him before the veteran cricketer was charged for allegedly setting up a $300,000 cocaine deal.
MacGill’s friend gave information to police claiming the former champion leg-spinner was involved in arranging a one-kilo cocaine deal.
The person, who cannot be named due to a court order, told police that MacGill had a debt worth $1,000, which was forgiven after he allegedly closed the deal.
A friend of former Test great Stuart MacGill (pictured) turned on the veteran cricketer after he gave information to police claiming MacGill was involved in arranging a one-kilo cocaine deal.
MacGill stood outside Chatswood police station on Sydney’s North Shore about 6pm on Tuesday following an investigation by police.
The 52-year-old was charged with participating in the supply of a large commercial quantity of cocaine.
It is understood the new charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
He has been released on bail and will appear at Manly Local Court on October 26.
Police will allege the deal involved one of the men agreeing to sell a kilo of cocaine to the other for more than $330,000.
It comes after MacGill made headlines in April 2021 after he was allegedly kidnapped by three masked assailants in Sydney and taken to a rural estate, where he was stripped naked and then beaten.
Three men – MacGill’s former brother-in-law Marino Sotiropoulos and brothers Frederick Schaaf and Richard Schaaf – have been charged in connection with the alleged attack and their cases are still in court.
MacGill previously told police he was pulled into a car and driven 60 kilometers to a two-hectare estate in Bringelly in the south-west of the city, where he was held in a dilapidated hut.
He claimed he was then beaten until he blacked out, with his alleged kidnappers threatening to cut off his fingers if he did not hand over the $150,000.
MacGill claimed he was eventually bundled back into a car and dropped off in Belmore, where he found a ‘sympathetic’ taxi driver, who agreed to take him home.
Police have previously publicly stated several times that MacGill was an innocent victim who introduced the two men but was not involved in the drug deal.
The 52-year-old former cricket star (pictured) was charged with participating in the supply of a large commercial quantity of cocaine after standing outside Chatswood police station on Sydney’s North Shore about 6pm on Tuesday.
It is understood the new charge – which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment – came after police received new information about the case.
MacGill has previously appeared in several television interviews about his alleged ordeal, denying involvement in the cocaine supply.
Speaking to SEN WA Breakfast in June last year, the former Test bowler and father of two said he was so scared after the alleged attack that he even resorted to traveling in the boot of his girlfriend’s car before he eventually left Sydney for a number of weeks.
MacGill (right) played 44 Test matches for Australia between 1998 and 2008, taking 208 wickets
‘I felt enormous pressure. I actually ran away for a month after that. (My girlfriend) Maria (O’Meagher) threw me in the back of her car, I sat in the trunk, I got out of my unit, and then I had some friends who very generously put me up in hotels around Sydney for two or three weeks, and then I went away with (a friend).
“We ended up driving down the coast of New South Wales and through Queensland and ended up on Fraser Island, so in total I was probably away for about six weeks.”