A man on trial for trafficking heroin has told a court he made $400,000 police found in his home from gambling and saving his work income, not from drug dealing.
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But Chang-Kee Song, 43, changed a plea of not guilty on a charge of trafficking heroin on the third day of his trial in the ACT Supreme Court.
Giving evidence on Friday, Mr Song said he learnt to count cards when he was young and after describing the method in detail said he used the skill to make money from gambling.
About $250,000 of the cash that police found in his Phillip home was made through counting cards at casinos, while the rest of the money came from savings made from work income over about 13 years, he said.
"I understand how it looks, it looks bad but it's not the case," Mr Song said.
"I've worked hard for this money."
His winnings came from gambling at Star City, Sydney and another casino in Melbourne, but a shuffling machine at Canberra's casino stopped him from counting cards in the capital, Mr Song said.
Police allege Mr Song, in custody since June last year, made the $400,000 from drug dealing and have charged him with trafficking heroin and money laundering.
While he entered a guilty plea to trafficking heroin on Friday, he disputes facts tendered to the court by police, and has maintained a not guilty plea to a charge of money laundering.
Mr Song changed his plea to the trafficking charge before admitting to passing on heroin to a woman who cleaned his home because she was struggling with withdrawals.
"I understand now that's considered trafficking. I wish I hadn't done it," he said.
A witness said on Thursday she had bought heroin from Mr Song, who she knew as "John", on a number of occasions and had also cleaned his house in return for heroin when she could not pay.
Mr Song admitted to using about $500 worth of heroin a day at the height of his addiction before his arrest, and said he would inject the drug throughout the day to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
The court heard several recordings of phone conversations between Mr Song and people asking to meet him for heroin.
His defence lawyer James Stewart has argued that his client was not a heroin dealer, but one of a group of users pooling their finances to buy the substance in bulk to save money.
Mr Song said he bought the drug in bulk with a group of people because he wanted to avoid buying and using more of the substance.
"No one made money out of it, but everyone saved money by doing it," he said.
The trial continues on Monday.
