A 22-year-old pharmacy student remains in custody after yesterday pleading not guilty to drug charges and electing trial by jury.
The University of Otago student was granted interim name suppression as he is facing trial on other charges in November.
He is charged with one count of importing class-B controlled drug amphetamine and three of possession, one of possessing utensils for smoking methamphetamine, four of possessing steroids and one of supplying steroids.
The most serious charge carries a maximum penalty of eight years’ jail.
The court heard the student’s family was "devastated" by the allegations.
"They are ... surprised and devastated by this alleged offending," defence counsel John Westgate said.
The student was seeking electronically-monitored bail, although Mr Westgate conceded he had not "put himself in the strongest position by allegedly offending while on bail" on the charges related to the other trial.
"[His parents] are realistic people devastated that their son has found himself in this position."
He entered not-guilty pleas in relation to all charges and elected trial by jury.
Judge Kevin Phillips said the student had a "very steep hill to climb" in his upcoming trial and adjourned any hearing on bail until that matter was dealt with.
The court heard, at his last appearance, that police allege the student, who is in the final year of a pharmacy degree, was in possession of more than 600g of amphetamine, with a street value of $125,000, and dozens of vials of steroids.
The offending came to light when a member of the public discovered a PVC pipe containing the amphetamine and vials of steroids in a bush near the student’s Belleknowes home.
Police were called, collected the pipe — on which the defendant’s fingerprints were found — and later executed a search warrant at New Zealand Post in Dunedin, where two packages addressed to the defendant were discovered.
One package contained more steroids and the other more than $700 in cash hidden in a PlayStation game case.
Police were still awaiting the final results of ESR analysis of the pipe’s contents, which could take six to eight weeks.
At yesterday’s court appearance, Mr Westgate said the results of that analysis were yet to be completed.
He will next appear in court on November 4.