Berkeley Vale: Oliver Jovanovic Dedich, 41, pleads guilty to drug and firearm offences after Strike Force Spartan raids

A ringleader of an alleged high volume drug syndicate has pleaded guilty to supplying 3.66kg of cocaine, 4.72kg of cannabis and dealing in $34,930 illegal cash. Read how he was taken down.

A trip to Adelaide, a rented storage shed and a secret police search — new details have emerged about the workings of an alleged Central Coast drug syndicate and the joint police sting which has brought down at least one of the main players.

Oliver Jovanovic Dedich, 41, of Berkeley Vale, appeared via video link at Wyong Local Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs, recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime and possessing unauthorised, replica pistols.

The court heard Dedich also admitted his guilt in participating in a criminal group and other drug supply and firearms offences, which will be taken into account when he is sentenced.

It comes more than two years after detectives from the National Anti-Gangs Squad (NAGS) — comprising officers from the State Crime Command’s Criminal Groups Squad and Australian Federal Police — commenced an investigation under Strike Force Spartan into an alleged organised criminal syndicate facilitating the supply of prohibited drugs on the Central Coast.

Dedich was among four men arrested in a series of coordinated raids on March 30, 2023, at homes in Ourimbah, Empire Bay, Berkeley Vale and Chittaway Bay.

General duties police and Raptor Squad members raid a house at Ourimbah. Picture: NewsCorp

An agreed set of facts states strike force police had Dedich and four other men under surveillance when they discovered they had been renting a storage shed at Blade Close, Berkeley Vale, from November 2022.

Officers tracked the men and two others on a trip to Adelaide from February 6-8, 2023, before setting up a police surveillance camera above the storage shed to track the comings and goings of everyone including Dedich who was identified accessing the shed 23 times between January 6 and March 13.

The self-storage shed facility at Blade Close, Berkeley Vale. Picture: Google

“The offender was seen carrying in and/or taking out bags and boxes containing items on almost every occasion,” the facts state.

“The offender’s role in the criminal group was that he attended the shared storage unit on a regular basis, where he collected and stored drugs before collecting them again.”

The facts state he participated in the supply of cocaine, cannabis, and 1,4-Butanediol, an industrial solvent that was classified as a border controlled drug in March last year.

At 5.37pm on March 14, 2023, Dedich was seen entering the unit and leaving a short time later with police carrying out a “covert search warrant” at 10pm that night.

Police found a Best & Less bag containing a block of pressed cocaine with the imprint of the number “9” on it along with Dedich’s DNA.

They also found a black plastic storage tub with large vacuum sealed bags containing 3.826kg of cannabis and a bottle of 1,4-Butanediol weighing 321g.

AFP and NSW Police raid four homes in the early hours of March 30, 2023.

The court heard three days later one of Dedich’s co-accuseds was captured on camera going to the shed and removing everything a trolley, which he took to his car.

The facts state the man returned and began cleaning up cocaine that had been spilt on the floor.

On March 30, 2023, police raided Dedich’s home on Cygnet Drive, Berkeley Vale, as well as the homes of his co-accuseds at Ourimbah, Chittaway Bay and Empire Bay.

During the search of Dedich’s property police found 130.42g of cocaine in a wardrobe and a chest of drawers in the basement along with 893.7g of cannabis.

Police seized two plastic replica air pistols, two bottles of 1,4-Butanediol weighing a total of 579.4g and 0.38g of heroin.

They also found $34,930 cash, 3.2g of MDMA and a hydroponic cannabis plant growing in the basement along with 2531 rounds of ammunition not kept securely as per his firearms licence.

He was taken to Wyong Police Station where he took part in a recorded interview in which he said he was his grandmother’s carer and shared the storage shed with others where he kept some “camping equipment”.

He denied knowing anything about the drugs in the shed but declined to say anything about the drugs at his house.

Dedich was adjourned to face Gosford District Court on May 2.

His three co-accuseds remain before the courts.