Chris Arfanis: Man busted allegedly dealing meth from Thirroul house
A Thirroul man has been charged over the alleged supply of the drug ice, with police claiming he was operating a “drug house” fortified with tall fences, CCTV surveillance and “pigging” dogs.
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A Thirroul man has been charged over the alleged supply of meth, with police claiming he was operating a “drug house” fortified with tall fences, CCTV surveillance and a number of hunting dogs.
Chris Arfanis, 55, was arrested on Wednesday, after police allege he was dealing the drug ice from his George Street home.
He has been charged with four counts of supply prohibited drug, one count of supply prohibited drug on ongoing basis and organise, conduct or assist in drug premises and faced Wollongong Local Court on Thursday morning, where Magistrate Claire Girotto agreed to grant him bail.
In court documents, it is alleged from May 14 to June 4, Arfanis made four sales of the drug ‘ice’ to a man, who was a police witness.
Despite the court hearing he shared the home with his wife who suffers from multiple sclerosis, it’s alleged Arfanis conducted each of the deals at the Thirroul address, either inside the residence or in the garage.
In total, police allege over the three-week period, Arfanis supplied a total of 1.64g of ice to the police witness, charging him $200 for each of the four sales.
In the documents police also allege Arfanis had an extensive CCTV system installed at his home, with cameras monitoring the front fence which was locked and secured.
Two large hunting dogs were also in the backyard which police allege he used as deterrents to “assist him with his drug supply activities from the residence”, according to court documents after police arrived to arrest his son Dylan on June 22 for an unrelated matter.
It’s alleged that as police arrived at the George Street home they noticed “a number of large pigging dogs”, before Arfanis climbed on top of the front fence and began speaking to police.
After continued discussion with Arfanis, police allege the 55-year-old picked up a jerry can and said “I’ll light it all up if you come into this yard”, court documents read.
Police used a battering ram to force their way through the front gate and used capsicum spray to try and stop Arfanis.
After a continued struggle, Arfanis was finally arrested by police and charged with three counts of assault police, one count of resist police and one count of use offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention. Dylan was also apprehended and charged with several break and enter offences.
He was granted bail on these charges before being arrested again on Wednesday.
During his court appearance on Thursday, police prosecutor Sergeant Dave Weaver argued against Arfanis’s release, noting his “attitude toward police”.
His defence lawyer told the court that Arfanis’ home “was not some drug den” and that he felt he’d been “set-up” by the police.
Despite noting the drug supply matters were very serious and the police had a “strong case”, Magistrate Girotto agreed to grant bail on the condition he report to police twice daily.
He will return to court in September.