Artarmon, Chatswood: Police step up operations into drug syndicates
Drug syndicates and ‘hydro houses’ operating across the north shore have prompted a series of police raids and arrests with detectives warning the region’s leafy suburbs are ‘not immune’ to criminal networks. SEE THE VIDEO.
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Drugs syndicates operating across Sydney’s north shore have prompted a string of raids and arrests with detectives warning the region’s leafy suburbs are not immune to criminal networks operating in residential streets.
A three-month strike force targeting the supply of ‘ice’ across the region resulted in the alleged seizure of more than $10,000 worth of drugs and five people arrested at three homes in Artarmon last month.
Along with methylamphetamine, detectives also allegedly seized heroin, cannabis, pills, a replica pistol, bank cards, mobile phones, SIM cards, cash, a slingshot and other items from the properties.
Police said some of the ice and cocaine allegedly found at the homes was stashed within a kettle with other drugs concealed inside a box containing headphones.
The raids came after a string of other high profile police operations in other parts of the region, including the dismantling of “hydro houses” in suburbs including Chatswood and three men charged with drug supply in a separate operation in Lane Cove.
North Shore Police crime manager Det Chief Insp Simon Jones said the Artarmon operation was launched in April after detectives received a tip-off into a syndicate operating in the local area.
He said Artarmon’s proximity to public transport links and the Pacific Hwy were among factors contributing to drug syndicates operating in the community.
“The transport corridor between St Leonards and Chatswood, with Artarmon being in the middle makes it very easy for people to come in, buy drugs and leave via public transport,” he said.
“The dynamics and demographics of the area are also different to what you might find around Mosman.
“There are a lot of industrial estates and factories and a reasonable amount of housing commission properties, and we also have the methadone clinic at the back of Royal North Shore Hospital which is an area of focus in St Leonards.
“These types of syndicates can operate in any suburb across Sydney and we’re certainly not immune on the north shore.”
Insp Jones said the arrests were followed-up by a week-long operation involving 91 officers patrolling public areas of Artarmon, Chatswood and St Leonards.
Eleven people were arrested in the campaign along with three cannabis cautions issued, one person charged following a random drug test, six drug possession/supply offences detected and information pamphlets delivered to 300 homes.
Insp Jones said challenges in dismantling syndicates including the transient population of the north shore
He said sophisticated “hydro houses” involving the cultivation of marijuana plants often if rental properties can also go unnoticed from street-view.
Insp Jones encouraged any residents to report information, no matter “how small it may seem”.
“People look at the north shore as the quiet leafy part of Sydney but were not immune to people taking advantage of that and establishing criminal enterprises here,” he said.
“We rely heavily on the community to report things that seem different – it may seem nothing at the time but later on may prove quite pivotal to an investigation.”