Gold Coast police smash Middle Eastern cocaine trafficking gang, arrest senior member
A MIDDLE-Eastern cocaine-trafficking gang operating on the Gold Coast has been smashed by police after a high-ranking member was arrested.
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A MIDDLE-Eastern cocaine-trafficking gang operating on the Gold Coast has been smashed by police after a high-ranking member was arrested.
Police say the gang, known for using brutal tactics with their drug trafficking, has been dismantled after a ‘significant figure’ was picked up by police in his luxury Surfers Paradise unit on Saturday.
The 31-year-old man, allegedly involved in the trafficking of cocaine across the Gold Coast and South Brisbane, faces trafficking, extortion, enter premises, and drugs and weapons charges.
His arrest will have an impact on the operations and activities of the criminal syndicate, police allege.
Organised Crime Gangs Group commander Detective Superintendent Roger Lowe said the man had now ‘swapped his high-end accommodation for a watch-house cell’.
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It will be alleged that the enter premises and extortion offences happened in June 2017 when two men entered a secure Gold Coast apartment complex and assaulted and then threatened the male occupant with serious physical injury.
It will be further alleged that a during a search of a vehicle on the Gold Coast on October 22, 2016 a loaded .22 calibre semiautomatic pistol was found in a hidden compartment.
The man was denied police bail and appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today.
He has been remanded in custody to reappear on January 15, 2018.
The investigation was a part of Operation Oscar Pompeii which focused on a middle eastern organised crime network.
The operation closed on November 2 with police charging 19 people with 73 drug and weapons related offences.
Det Supt Lowe said to those involved in the network, no-one is untouchable.
“We will continue to pursue those causing harm to the community through drug selling, violence and intimidation. We’ll also target the assets and profits made through illicit activities,” he said
Further arrests are expected.
Originally published as Gold Coast police smash Middle Eastern cocaine trafficking gang, arrest senior member