Day-to-day policing keeps a lid on drugs in the region

A SWELLING of drug-related offences in Gympie Magistrates Court shows the fight against drugs is a steady one for Gympie police officers.

The maximum penalties for possessing, supplying and trafficking marijuana could rise if a proposed State Government amendment passes. Contributed. Picture: Contributed

A SWELLING of drug-related offences in Gympie Magistrates Court yesterday shows the fight against drugs is a steady one for police officers and prosecutors in the Gympie region.

A search of a Kia Ora property late last month, which saw six people charged with drug offences, five of whom pleaded guilty in Gympie Magistrates Court yesterday, was one example contributing to Augsut's 95 drug-related crimes in the region.

While the monthly figure is the second highest in the region in the past 12 months (after a recorded 107 instances in May), Gympie CIB detective sergeant Rob Lowry believes day-to-day policing of the region is responsible for any wave of recent drug-related crime coming through court, rather than an increase in the problem itself.

He said tactics by Gympie police officers such as interacting with people on the street, researching Crimestoppers files, using registered informants and working on information coming over the counter all contributed to the attack on drugs.

"From time to time we might seek assistance from other areas in the police force such as the state flying squad and the Maryborough Tactical Crime Squad,” he said.

Of the Kia Ora property search on Johnson Rd where a number of people were living in houses, sheds or caravans, David Mark Winning, 50, was fined $600 and put on a four-month good behaviour bond with a $500 recognisance when he pleaded guilty in court yesterday to producing and possessing marijuana and possessing methyl amphetamine and drug-related utensils.

In her first offence before the court, Andrea Pel, 50, pleaded guilty to growing and possessing marijuana, owning drug-related utensils and using two shipping containers to dry it at the Kia Ora property. She was fined $1200 but spared a conviction.

Similarly, Garth Frederick Richards, 46, of Kia Ora, was fined $1000 for the possession of marijuana plants and seedlings, while Cornelis Hendrik Pel, 49, of Cooroy entered into a four-month good behaviour bond for marijuana and drug seed possession in his caravan on the property.

Another 57-year-old man, who had arrived at the property to borrow star pickets for a fence, pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana and drug-related utensils and was fined $2000, with previous drug use in his history weighing heavily towards his sentence.

In another incident, Kiyah-lis Paku, 19, was spared a conviction but was fined $700 in the Gympie Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to possessing drug-related utensils and a dangerous drug. The magistrate took into account her early plea of guilty.

Det Sgt Lowry said the public could help with the policing of drug use in the community by reporting anything suspicious to Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

He said things to look out for were high volumes of traffic at residential addresses, strange smells coming from residential properties, either rural or suburban, constant lighting coming from sheds and the blacking out of windows in sheds and houses.