Tonga Valevale Tonga, Colin Patrick Button, face court over $2m alleged cigs, cash, ATM thefts

UPDATE: Two southwest Brisbane men have faced court after a major police operation involving millions in allegedly stolen cash, cigarettes, ATMs and other property.

Two men have faced court on a total of more than 270 offences after allegedly stealing an estimated $2 million dollars in stolen property including cigarettes, cash and automatic teller machines (ATMs).

Tonga Valevale Paea Tonga, 30, of Inala, faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday (June 28) on 84 charges, mostly entering premises and committing an indictable offence by break. His matter was adjourned to July 25 in the same court and he was remanded in custody.

Colin Patrick Michael Graham Button, 29, also of Inala, faced Cleveland Magistrates Court on Wednesday (June 29).

He was charged with 191 offences, also mostly entering premises and committing an indictable offence by break and was remanded in custody until late July.

Police in Brisbane’s bayside led the four-month operation, code named Operation Tango Solar.

The police Bayside Crime Group, with help from specialist units including Centenary and Ipswich crime groups, the Public Safety Response Team and Polair, targeted break-ins at small business where cigarettes, cash and ATMs were stolen.

Senior-Sergeant Chris Lafferty, from Bayside Crime Group, said the two alleged offenders targeted mum and dad businesses, such as independent supermarkets, tobacconists, as well as after hours service stations.

Police have arrested two Inala men over a string of alleged thefts of cash, cigarettes and ATMS.

“(Alleged) offences were committed in the Brisbane, Logan, Gold Coast, Moreton and Ipswich areas and predominantly occurred in the early hours of the morning,” he said.

“Our operation, involving police from across much of southeast Queensland, focused on finding similarities between the (incidents), identifying the key players and locating and arresting them.

“This was a significant property crime operation with stolen property and damage caused to businesses expected to exceed two million dollars.”

Detectives arrested the two alleged main targets of Operation Tango Solar on Tuesday night in Pallara, in Brisbane’s southwest, in an allegedly stolen vehicle.