Mongrel Mob-linked accused trafficker Colin David Addis among 17 charged in Mackay police drug operations

An alleged drug trafficker picked up in sweeping police raids is accused of accessing child abuse material. FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED

An alleged drug trafficker picked up in sweeping raids as part of two major police stings in Mackay and Whitsundays is also accused of accessing child abuse material.

Colin David Addis has been sent back to custody on a return to prison warrant after police arrested 17 people in joint police operations targeting rural drug crime and trafficking allegedly linked to the Mongrel Mob.

It is alleged the two operations were linked but it is unknown if Mr Addis, 63, has ties to the Mongrel Mob.

Mr Addis was charged with one count of trafficking between July 2021 and January 2022, two counts each of supplying dangerous drugs and the unlawful supply of weapons, and possessing drugs and used pipes.

The Balnagowan man has also been charged with using a carriage service to access child exploitation material on or about February 21, 2021.

Mr Addis’s parole was suspended on January 18, with a return to prison warrant issued.

His case will be mentioned again in Mackay Magistrates Court on March 15.

Because of the severity of some of his charges, Mr Addis’s case will be sent to a higher jurisdiction.

Detectives seized property including cars, a bike, a boat as part of sweeping raids across Mackay, Pioneer Valley and Whitsundays.

A magistrate has questioned the legitimacy of claims made against the alleged president of a street gang’s Mackay chapter during a bail application on Monday.

Karl Roberts Bailey was arrested in a police operation targeting drug trafficking allegedly linked to the Mongrel Mob.

Mr Bailey, who appeared via videolink in Mackay Magistrates Court on Monday, was nabbed in sweeping police raids across Mackay and Whitsundays.

Karl Robert Bailey is charged with numerous offences including trafficking and supplying dangerous drugs, and recruiting persons to a criminal organisation.

Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said the police had not supplied enough convincing evidence to suggest Mr Bailey had significant connection with the other 16 people arrested.

“There’s no certainty as to who those people are, and I’m not appraised whether they’ve been charged or whether they’re relevant,” she said.

“(There isn’t) any real evidence they are in the Mongrel Mob.

“Without police being able to articulate in the objection to the bail that these are the people who are a problem, it doesn’t lead to an unacceptable risk of interfering with them.”

The 17 people arrested are collectively facing 122 charges as police say they seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in drugs and more than $40,000 in cash.

The 17 people arrested are collectively facing 122 charges as police say they seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in drugs, more than $40,000 in cash and property including a bike.

Mr Bailey is charged with three counts of trafficking between April and September 2021.

He is also charged with recruiting persons into a criminal organisation on June 11, 2021.

His other charges include 10 counts of supplying dangerous drugs and one count each of possessing a replica handgun, possessing items suspected of being acquired with trafficking proceeds and possessing cash suspected of being proceeds of trafficking, possessing thing used in commission of a crime and fraud.

The 30-year-old Blacks Beach man was granted bail, with his mother set to place a $30,000 surety to gain Mr Bailey’s freedom.

Ms Hartigan said the price tag would be a “stretch for his mother”.

“The loss to his mother of $30,000 would be very significant,” she said.

Mr Bailey was arrested as part of a police sting targeting an alleged drug network linked to the Mackay chapter of the Mongrel Mob street gang.

“It’s all relative to the person providing the surety.

“From a moral point of view, Mr Bailey knowing that (it is a significant sum), he is unlikely to be found absconding.”

Mr Bailey said he was not sure if his mother would be able to make a cash payment of $30,000.

“I think the hardest part for my mum, I’m not too sure she will be able to get $30,000 out of a bank in one go,” he said.

Police seized large quantities of drugs including meth, cocaine, MDMA and LSD worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ms Hartigan confirmed Mr Bailey’s mother would need to provide proof she would be able to make the payment, rather than providing $30,000 in cash.

Mr Bailey will have to report to the Northern Beaches police station twice a week while on bail, and he will not be allowed to travel internationally.

Matters have been adjourned to a later date.

Bail bids were rejected for Mackay man Colin Mckay and Marian man Keith Douglas Jacklin.

Mr Mckay, 49, is charged with trafficking between April and September 2021 and one count each of possessing dangerous drugs, used utensils and anything used in the commission of a crime.

Detectives arrested 17 people as part of two major drug operations codenamed Sierra Asteroid and Tango Radar.

Mr Jacklin, 48, is charged with one count of trafficking between July 2021 and January 2022, five counts of supplying dangerous drugs, two counts each of possessing dangerous drugs and possessing property suspended of having been used in connection with commission of a drug offence, and one count each of possessing anything used in the commission of a crime and contravening an order about information necessary to access information stored electronically.

Both their cases were adjourned for committal in March.

It is unknown if Mr Addis, Mr Mckay and Mr Jacklin are also alleged to be members of the Mongrel Mob.

On January 13, 2022, Mackay CIB detectives closed two major drug operations codenamed Sierra Asteroid and Tango Radar.

Over two days, officers executed search warrants across Mackay, the Pioneer Valley and Whitsunday seizing “significant quantities of cocaine, methylamphetamines, MDMA, LSD, marijuana, fentanyl, steroids, and firearms”, Mackay Detective Inspector Tom Armitt said.

The street value of the drugs is estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, Detective Inspector Armitt said.

Police have also seized a Harley Davidson, three cars, a boat, more than $40,000 in cash as alleged assets and proceeds of crime from the property.

“We will continue to target within the Mackay and Whitsunday area anyone who traffics and distributes dangerous drugs,” Detective Inspector Armitt said.

“You are not safe from our attention and we will continue to relentlessly pursue you and your activities to disrupt and dismantle your organisations, and we will bring you before the courts and seize your assets.”

Sierra Asteroid was conducted between October 2020 and January 2022 and targeted alleged organised crime and drug trafficking in Mackay by the OMCG The Mongrel Mob, including executive members based in Mackay.

Tango Radar stretched between March 2021 and January 2022 and focused on alleged rural drug crime and ice trafficking predominantly in the Mackay and Pioneer Valley areas, which also extended to Cairns and South East Queensland.

Detective Inspector said the two operations, done in collaboration with the Organised Crime and Gangs unit, were linked and it was alleged those involved used sophisticated methods including encrypted apps to hide their criminal activity.

“We’re obviously hoping that it makes a significant dent. We know that organised crime is a scourge upon society and it tends to profit on the addictions and sufferings of others, which is why we will continuously, relentlessly pursue these persons,” Detective Inspector said.

“We are predicting others to be targeted by us in the coming days as we mop up our operations.”