Srpko Kuzmanovic, 31, of Mount Pritchard, was arrested on Wednesday, July 26 after his vehicle was stopped near Bega.

He was charged with supplying an indictable quantity of drugs other than cannabis.

He appeared in court on Thursday, July 27, and solicitor Geoff Knox argued for bail on his behalf.

Mr Knox told the court Kuzmanovic would strenuously deny the drug charge, and a second person had decamped from the scene after police stopped the vehicle, which did not belong to his client.

“He had no idea there were drugs in the car,” Mr Knox told the court.

Mr Knox said his client was a carpenter in Liverpool and, if granted bail, would report daily to police.

He said Kuzmanovic would admit to separate charges of custody of knife in a public place; driving with special range PCA and failure to display P-plates correctly.

He conceded his client had a police record and a warrant had been issued for him in 2011 and there had been previous breaches of bonds, but these instances were “not for avoiding court”.

He also said Kuzmanovic was required to care for his father, who suffered a heart condition, and was due to be released from respite care into Kuzmanovic’s care.

Kuzmanovic was on a section 9 bond and was on parole to August 12 for a separate matter.

Registrar Virginia Scanlon said Kuzmanovic had failed to show cause as to why bail should not be refused and remanded him in custody for a further hearing by audio-visual link on Monday, July 31, in Batemans Bay.