Drug fugitive's mum ordered to pay surety

An alleged drug smuggler's mother will be imprisoned for 12 months if she fails to cough up $315,000 for her son's failures to appear in court.

The Queensland Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Elizabeth Anne Turner, 62, pay $315,000 to the crown within six months or she would be jailed.

Justice Peter Flanagan also ordered the forfeiture of a $70,000 cash deposit she paid to the court in 2011 to release her son on bail.

Markis Scott Turner, 42, was arrested and charged by Australian Federal Police over allegations he was part of a suspected drug smuggling ring who planned to import a 50 kilogram shipment of cocaine into Australia.

A warrant was issued for his arrest on September 11, 2015 after AFP officers learned he hadn't reported to police since August.

Justice Flanagan said in his judgment police believed Turner had absconded and would not appear in the Queensland Supreme Court for his September 29 trial.

They noted his wife and children had left the country and flown to her native home of Poland.

Turner failed to appear in court on September 29 and again on November 9, putting at risk the money offered as surety by his mother and grandmother.

Ms Turner has been fighting an application to forfeit the money she stumped up to release her son on bail.

She told the court she believed her son had committed suicide.

But Justice Flanagan said the evidence to suggest he had died was "entirely circumstantial".

"She did not report her son as a missing person to police until February 2016," he said.

Justice Flanagan said Ms Turner's belief her son was dead was "not a satisfactory explanation" for taking six months to file a missing person's report.

The Queensland Supreme Court judge agreed to reduce the surety cost from $450,000 to $315,000 after he heard Ms Turner had already paid about $800,000 in legal fees for her son.

The court also heard she was suffering financial difficulties.

An order for Turner's grandmother to forfeit the $30,000 cash she paid as surety was dropped by the crown after it was informed she had died.