Chau To, 41, charged with drug trafficking allegedly linked to organised crime
A woman with alleged links to organised crime has been charged with trafficking a large quantity of meth following a police bust at her Albion home.
Police & Courts
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A woman charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of meth following a year-long police probe into organised crime has been denied bail.
Chau To, 41, was arrested on Wednesday following a raid at an Albion residence early on Wednesday morning.
Ms To was charged with trafficking commercial quantities of methylamphetamine, possessing proceeds of crime and possessing a prohibited weapon.
She fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday evening where she unsuccessfully applied for bail.
The court heard that police apprehended Ms To and a man believed to be living at the residence after finding a locked room that allegedly contained a contraband of Ziploc bags containing white, crystalline powder and prescription drugs.
Police allegedly found a brown powder hidden in a small giraffe toy which is yet to be identified.
It is alleged that Ms To was carrying large quantities of cash, multiple phones and had a taser located in her vehicle at the property.
Magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano said his decision to refuse bail was due to the serious nature of the charges.
“I have concluded that you have not shown that exceptional circumstances are laid out in this case,” Mr Caltabiano said.
A 47-year-old Albion man was also arrested on Wednesday morning but he was released pending further inquiries into drug offences.
He was bailed to appear at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on September 11 over three outstanding warrants.
The arrests come after police last month arrested three men in unrelated cases, including a 58-year-old Thomastown man believed to be a patched member of the Mongols OMCG as part of the year-long probe into organised crime syndicates.
Investigators in February raided three properties across Lalor, Wollert and Thomastown.
The 58-year-old was charged with a prohibited person possessing a firearm, handling stolen goods, knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime, possessing a firearm with no serial number, possessing an imitation firearm and two counts of possessing a prohibited weapon without exemption.
A 23-year-old Lalor man faces a string of charges, including eight counts of trafficking cocaine, trafficking methylamphetamine, a prohibited person possessing firearm, acquiring a traffickable quantity of firearms, attempting to dispose of traffickable quantity of firearms, possessing a firearm with no serial number, unlicensed person failing to store a firearm in secure manner, driving while suspended and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
Police also charged a 23-year-old Wollert man with two counts of trafficking cocaine, possessing cocaine and committing an indictable offence while out on bail.
A stolen Harley Davidson motorcycle and two samurai swords were also allegedly seized during the raid at the Thomastown property.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Ms To will next appear in court on June 7.
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