‘Not your average drug bust’: Raids smash alleged syndicate
Police claim to have arrested the ‘king pins’ of a large drug syndicate they allege was pushing ice to the far corners of NSW, with commissioner Mick Fuller personally overseeing some of the dawn raids this morning.
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Police have busted what they claim is a 31-person crime syndicate trafficking huge amounts of drugs from Sydney to towns in the state’s west.
NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller went to Wellington to personally oversee dawn raids this morning – 10 properties were searched there and in the town of Montefiores.
Simultaneously five properties in Bankstown, Bass Hill, Condell Park and two in Yagoona, in south western Sydney were raided.
Officers claim to have arrested the “king pins” of the syndicate which they will allege was pushing ice and other drugs to far corners of the state including Walgett, Coonable and Bourke.
At Yagoona, a man was arrested shortly after leaving his home around 6am, as police raided the weatherboard property on Wenke Crescent, leaving with large amounts of cash, a Mercedes 4WD and a Mack truck which was parked outside.
Western region detectives began investigating the syndicate’s supply lines in February 2019, when they realised MDMA, ice and heroin were allegedly being sourced in Sydney.
The State Crime Command’s Strike Force Laverick began looking into the syndicate’s Sydney links. Before today’s raids 15 people had already been arrested and a number remain before the courts.
“Prior to today’s search warrants, inquiries have also resulted in the seizure of approximately 14kg of methylamphetamine with an estimated street value of $10.5 million, 2.4kg of heroin, 80 litres of GHB, 5.4kg of cannabis leaf, 550g of cocaine, 74 MDMA pills, 21 firearms and more than $215,000 in cash,” police announced today.
Today 10 people were arrested in Wellington and Montefiores – seven men aged 28 to 44 and three woman aged 23 to 35. Six men aged 23 to 53 were arrested in Sydney.
“The people who supply ice and other prohibited drugs to regional areas deal not only in drugs but in human misery, and as Commissioner, I will continue to ensure we keep up the fight against anyone who thinks they can profit from the destruction of other people’s lives,” Mr Fuller said.
Western Region Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said the alleged leaders of the syndicate were among the arrested.
“We will be alleging individuals in Wellington had supply links in Sydney, and distributed to the far corners of NSW, reaching towns such as Bourke, Coonamble and Walgett, in the state’s central north, and various remote indigenous communities too,” Mr McKenna said.
“Our investigation has now completely smashed this syndicate, netting not just low level distributors, but the ‘kingpins’ at the top.
“This is more than just your average drug bust.”