Morcombe trial hears of accused's arrest

Detectives swooped on Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe's accused killer when he visited the crime scene with undercover police, a court has heard.

Details of 44-year-old Brett Peter Cowan's arrest have emerged during his trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Thursday.

Detective Sergeant Graeme Farlow said he had been working full time on the investigation into Daniel's death for almost six months when he and a number of other officers travelled to a isolated clearing at the Glasshouse Mountains in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland on August 13, 2011.

Det Sgt Farlow said there was some old machinery and a couple of sheds in the clearing, which used to be a sand-blasting area, and detectives hid themselves in a number of areas.

"I secreted myself behind a pile of timber with Detective Senior Sergeant Edwards," he said.

"I observed a Toyota Hilux to drive into this location, it contained the accused and two other gentlemen."

The detectives emerged from their hiding places and spoke to the men in the car, and Cowan was arrested and taken to police headquarters in Brisbane.

Det Sgt Farlow said he also travelled to police headquarters, where he was told by senior police management there would be a substantial search underway and he was nominated as the crime scene manager.

Daniel disappeared in December 2003 while waiting for a bus at Woombye in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Cowan has pleaded not guilty to murder, indecent treatment of a child and interfering with a corpse.

The trial continues.