NSW cops furious as feds keep dangerous drug job in Strathfield secret
NSW Police are furious with their federal colleagues for keeping them in the dark about a major drug arrest in Strathfield last week which resulted in shots being fired.
NSW
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NSW Police are investigating whether an undercover drug arrest in a Sydney car park last week could have ended up in a “blue on blue” – or cop on cop – shootout with Federal police.
Claims the federal force kept their operation secret from NSW cops until the last second have fuelled criticism of the AFP sting gone wrong.
Police sources warned it could have been disastrous if local police had been around the area and thought it was a gangster shootout.
“It’s lucky no one was killed,” said a senior NSW officer. Another said: “The whole operation from the start to the end was amateurish”.
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An undercover federal police officer shot at a vehicle driven by an alleged drug dealer as it attempted to run over his colleague at Strathfield Plaza car park at about 7pm last Friday.
No one in the NSW Police of any rank was aware of the operation to arrest three alleged Colombian drug dealers until moments before the shooting.
“We will look at the shooting which happened in NSW and work with the Federal Police professional standards but we will look separately at the protocols leading up to the shooting,’’ a senior NSW police officer said.
The AFP, investigating an alleged drug cartel distributing cocaine in Sydney, organised a sting where they were to buy 15kg of coke with $1.5m cash.
Not only did the arrest go pear-shaped but the drugs turned out to be sugar.
The Daily Telegraph has been told the AFP only informed the NSW local area police as the drug deal was about to go down. The AFP refused to comment.
“It would be funny except someone could have been shot. They had two tactical officers and two undercovers to try and arrest what they allege is a Colombian drug cartel,’’ said a NSW officer.
“We would have had a full tactical operations unit involved in that sort of job. Why they didn't ask for our support is a bit of a mystery. And really a drug dealing syndicate operating in Sydney should be our turf, or at least a joint operation, not a secret,’’ he said.
Three Colombians faced court on Saturday charged with commercial drug supply.
A spokesman for the AFP said the force was “able to commence criminal proceedings for NSW state offences … the AFP will not comment on the specifics of a matter that is currently before the court and subject to ongoing investigation,” he said.
Former NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Ken McKay said it had the potential for a blue on blue shootout and could have been highly dangerous for state police.