It looks like an iPhone but police say it transforms into something much more menacing.
Weeks after the puzzling device was seized in a drug raid south of Perth, investigators are still trying to figure out just how menacing it can be.
Ballistics tests are underway to determine if the fake iPhone is more than just a replica gun – detectives want to know if it can actually fire.
Western Australia’s gang crime quad seized the device in a raid on an address in Baldivis, south of Perth, on February 15.
A 31-year-old man was charged with a series of drug and weapons offences after the search, which also allegedly uncovered 41 steroid tablets, $115,000, drug paraphernalia, two flick knives and a belt with a concealed knife.
Police said the device “appears to be a mobile phone, but can be folded to appear as a replica firearm”.
“Ballistic testing is currently underway to determine if the item can be operated as a firearm,” they said, in a statement.
Shortly after midday on the same day, police allegedly uncovered a “drug distribution station” in the garage of a home in the neighbouring suburb of Wellard, along with a kilogram of cocaine and 163 grams of MDMA.
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The 31-year-old was arrested at a shopping centre in Mandurah, about half an hour’s drive south, about an hour and a half later.
Police allegedly seized another 58 grams of methylamphetamine and $100 in cash from his vehicle.
After being refused bail, he’s due back in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with multiple drug possession with intent to sell or supply offences, including carrying a trafficable quantity of meth.
He’s also facing weapons, property laundering and stolen goods charges.
A 25-year-old Wellard woman was charged with possessing MDMA and cocaine with an intent to sell or supply, to appear in Rockingham Magistrates Court on April 3.
