Drug, gun squad to target north coast crime syndicates

CRIMINAL syndicates involved in guns and drugs will be targeted by a new specialist police squad to be based on the NSW north coast.

CRIMINAL syndicates involved in guns and drugs will be targeted by a new specialist police squad to be based on the NSW north coast.

The team of five, to be based in the Tweed-Byron area, is among four regional units to be rolled out across the state.

The newly formed Northern, Southern and Western Region Enforcement squads will work with the drug squad and rural investigators to try to eliminate the ice scourge destroying country towns.

Deadly... A used needle in Bryon Bay found during Daily Telegraph investigation.

The officers will be charged with investigating drug supply, firearms offences and property crime, as well as any criminal syndicates that operate in the area.

“This unit will not only increase our police presence in the region but also increase the ability of police to focus on crime which most affects the everyday lives of residents and businesses,” Acting Superintendent Brendon Cullen said in a statement on Monday.

Officers from NSW Drug and Firearm Squad Cannabis Eradication Program during operation in Tweed Heads hinterland this year. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Cannabis and ice have become a focus for police in NSW’s north, with frequent raids unearthing crops, labs and criminal networks.

It comes after a Daily Telegraph investigation earlier this year into the dangerous drugs culture transforming the idyllic beachside enclave of Byron Bay, Australia’s playground to the stars.

Residents described how the hippie vibe of the surfers’ paradise, which used to boast the state’s highest rates of use and possession of cannabis, is being rapidly transformed into something much darker thanks to a growing dependence on the deadly, addictive drug methamphetamine.

Detectives from the Drug and Firearms Squad. Source: NSW Police

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NSW Police late last year announced a squad would be launched in Tamworth on the back of numerous raids on drug and bikie networks plaguing the region.

In February, they announced they had smashed drug supply rings across country NSW, seizing more than 6300 cannabis plants worth $13 million during a series of co-ordinated bush raids.

The NSW Drug Squad seized 6346 cannabis plants during a cannabis eradication program across NSW this year. Picture: NSW Police

A member of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang was arrested after police located a loaded firearm and an elaborate hydroponic cannabis set-up at a home in Oberon, central western NSW.

Drug and Firearms Squad has crisscrossed the state in 4WDs and helicopters, dismantling major drug operations and charging 29 people in the process.

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Superintendent Peter McErlain told the Daily Telegraph in February that although ice was the number one challenge facing officers, targeting cannabis was vital because it “fuelled organised crime”.

“What comes with organised crime? Violence and death,” Supt McErlain said.