Over 150 charges laid as alleged Cairns drug network shut down

A MAJOR methylamphetamine ring allegedly operating in Cairns has been shut down in a two-day police blitz.

Georgia Tanya Herrmann, 20, leaves Cairns Magistrates Court. She was granted bail for alleged drug trafficking as part of police drug squad Operation Oscar Burin.

A MAJOR methylamphetamine ring allegedly operating in Cairns has been shut down in a two-day police blitz.

Forty-six people have been charged with more than 150 offences as part of the seven-month operation, codenamed Oscar Burin, run by the Far North drug squad.

Eight people have been charged with drug trafficking, including a 38-year-old Sydney man accused of being the conduit for the drugs coming into the city.

He is due to appear in Cairns Magistrates Court this morning.

A further eight people appeared in court on Friday with seven remanded in custody and the eighth, Caravonica woman Georgia Tanya Herrmann, 20, released on bail.

She has been ordered to report to police three times a week and live with her mother as part of strict bail conditions handed down by Magistrate Joe Pinder.

Matthew Paul Lewis, 34, who is charged with drug supply, also applied for bail, but was denied when the court heard he allegedly committed the offence while on bail for burglary.

The remaining six people, Elizabeth Janelle Addo, 23, Danny Zig De Jong, 25, Vincent Arend Jongh, 26, Zak Morgan Millard, 27, Ashley Robert Pezzotti, 35, and Melanie Anne Ryan, 23, did not apply for bail.

Ms Ryan cried while appearing in the court dock, blowing kisses to a supporter in the public gallery.

The court heard Mr Lewis was allegedly overheard in a phone intercept offering to supply a “substantial” quantity of meth to someone.

“The basis seems to be offering to do an act,” his solicitor Tom Eckersley said.

“It’s an offer to obtain that amount. There was no actual passing on of that substance.”

Speaking outside court Far North drug squad Det Sen-Sgt Kevin Goan said police used a number of “covert policing strategies”, including phone taps during the seven-month operation.

He said it was alleged the network was supplying drugs to people across the Cairns community.

About 300g of meth was seized along with thousands of dollars in cash.

Police intercepted a parcel during the operation, postmarked from New South Wales, which allegedly contained about $250,000 worth of meth.

“(This operation) was in answer to our commitment of reducing the supply of illicit substances into the community,” Sen-Sgt Goan said.

“It’s disappointing the number of people who were allegedly involved.

“It shows that the consequences and risk to the community are still great.”

Police are yet to reveal how the Sydney man was allegedly bringing the drugs into Cairns.

A luxury Cairns CBD unit he was linked to was raided in October which was where the package had been directed to.

He was taken into custody at a Trinity Beach campsite on Friday along with a 29-year-old woman who is also charged with trafficking and granted bail to appear in court next month.

Originally published as Over 150 charges laid as alleged Cairns drug network shut down