Wollstonecraft raid: Riot police make arrests at Milner Crescent raid

Residents have described a quaint lower north shore suburb as resembling a “war zone” on Wednesday morning as dozens of riot police raided a property and made several arrests.

More than a dozen officers were involved in the raid around 7am.

Police have arrested a fifth man following “war zone” like raids on properties across NSW where officers seized heroin, ice and cash.

Heavily armed officers executed search warrants at six properties in Wollstonecraft, Epping and Kempsey.

Four people, three men and a woman, aged 40,48, 49 and 27, were arrested and are before the courts.

A fifth person, a 44-year-old man, was arrested at Hurstville Police Station about 7.45pm on Wednesday.

He was charged with supply prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis and possessing a restricted substance. The Hurstville man was refused bail and is expected to appear at Sutherland Local Court today.

During their search of four units at Milner Crescent, Wollstonecraft, police seized prohibited drugs including cannabis as well as drug supply paraphernalia.

The raids are the culmination of investigation by Strike Force Callide which was established to investigate the supply of heroin and ice.

Two men were arrested, aged 40 and 49, at the units and taken to Chatswood Police Station for questioning just before 9am.

Police were seen searching a car on the street. Picture: Toby Zerna

Less than an hour later another search was executed at a property on Barton Rd, Artarmon.

A 49-year-old man was arrested by detectives and taken to Chatswood Police Station for questioning.

There was another raid at a property in Kempsey where police seized cash.

Residents in the usually quaint suburb of Wollstonecraft were left doing a double take as dozens of police descending on a block of flats.

Officers were dressed in bulletproof vests and armed with battering rams.

Shortly after, a crew began emptying out apartments, bagging up evidence and removing large items including desks and a two piece lounge setting.

A witness, Susan, who requested her last name be kept anonymous, said she could not believe what she was seeing when police marched by.

“I had just come back from my coffee and they all started coming down Shirley Lane where I live,” she said.

Police removed furniture from the apartment complex. Picture: Toby Zerna

“I’d never seen anything like it before and they were completely fitted out with the helmets and vests and one guy in the front even had a battering ram.

“I’ve lived here for eight years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Wollstonecraft is an otherwise affluent suburb of the North Shore, home to former Prime Minister John Howard who locals regularly see on his morning walk.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she was parking her car in a nearby laneway when she saw a procession of “massive black undercover cop cars” park on the street.

“As I walked down there were at least 30 police with their masks on and they went into the building,” she said.

“It felt like a bit of a war zone – it’s not something you would ever see happen in Wollstonecraft.”