‘Could drive’: Bikie’s dad notches up 5000km in 48 hours in wild drive
The father of a Mongol bikie drove to Townsville, the Gold Coast and Sydney before crossing the border back into Cobram where police swooped, triggering mass raids in the border town.
Police & Courts
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The detectives who investigated Mongols bikie Josh Eddy’s operation decided to show their hand in the cold early hours of July 18, 2021.
Such inquiries can’t last forever and, with a bank of evidence already accumulated over the past year, the time was right for Operation Serpere to come out of the shadows.
David Eddy, the father of Josh, had left their hometown of Cobram to do some business under close police surveillance. That became what Detective Sergeant Ciaran Duryea of the Echo Taskforce called the “resolution trigger”.
In the space of 48 hours, Eddy drove to Townsville in north Queensland, stopped off on the Gold Coast and Sydney and was just crossing the Murray River into Cobram when he was intercepted at about 1.50am.
His vehicle was in the last few minutes of a 5000km-plus journey which had been completed in just two days.
“Could drive,” Sgt Duyrea quipped.
A search of the car revealed a loaded revolver, among other things, hidden in its airbag housing.
Echo detectives immediately notified the local crime investigation unit who sent several crews to simultaneously raid five properties just after 2am that morning.
“A decision had been made,” Sgt Duryea added.
“That was our key point as our resolution trigger, him entering Victoria.
“We knew as soon as David got picked up, it would be a matter of moments before someone found out about it and then everyone would be disposing of evidence.
“We weren’t going to go softly with these individuals. It sent a message loud and clear that night that we had strategic locations.”
Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Dave Shannon said his detectives had been feeling the pressure ahead of the co-ordinated raids and arrests.
“We put a lot of resources into this, doing 24-hour days,” he said.
“You get to a point where management wants to see results because it had been running for a long time. It was time to go.”
The raid on David’s home in the early hours would eventually uncover what the syndicate had dubbed the “medicine cabinet” hidden in a wall behind a kitchen fridge.
Having forced entry into Eddy’s home in the early hours of that morning, Victorian investigators were eager to uncover evidence quickly.
But a search of the home and backyard revealed little, with members even digging backyard holes in an attempt to locate anything of substance.
“We searched the address and were very sad when we didn’t find anything,” Sgt Shannon said.
An Australian Federal Police officer was also there and began pointing out places of interest, including a section of the wall behind the fridge.
“We had an AFP team with us who are excellent searchers. It’s their bread and butter. They see things that we don’t see,” Sgt Shannon added.
“They worked it all out just by looking at it and the next minute we pull the fridge out and press a little button and hear a beep. And then that wall comes out.
“And we weren’t so sad anymore.”
The “medicine cabinet” with the suction grip handle contained cocaine, vacuum-sealed bags of white powder, ziplock bags and scales.
Messages on David Eddy’s phone showed evidence of his interstate runs on encrypted apps including Signal, WhatsApp and Wickr.
For detectives, it was the motherlode.
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