More than 300 charges following drug, theft operations

They may be small, but a Lockyer Valley crime fighting team is punching well above their weight

THEY may be small, but a Lockyer Valley crime fighting team is punching well above their weight.

The four-person team at Gatton CIB have being running two operations since August targeting drug offences and property crime, which has resulted in more than 300 charges being laid and 80 arrests.

Officer-in-charge detective-sergeant Brett Richard told the Gatton Star Operation Greenstone had been highly successful, targeting drug suppliers in the Lockyer Valley.

"As a result of this operation we have made 49 arrests on 187 charges which include 2 persons arrested and in custody for trafficking in dangerous drugs, locating an illicit drug laboratory," Det-Sgt Richard said.

READ MORE: Police raid on Lockyer Valley drug lab nabs three

Operation Utility was launched and ran concurrently with the Greenstone, targeting property offenders.

The team so far had made 31 arrests on 146 charges of burglary and stolen property related offences.

"As a result of that we've solved quite a few break and enters and returned an amount of property back to their owners" he said.

The two operations are heavily linked, with the Det-Sgt saying there was a correlation between drug and property offences.

"During the execution of drug search warrants we have been able to identify a large quantity of stolen property that has resulted in the identification of property offenders which has resulted in further arrest and the solving of break and enter offences," he said.

Despite the high number of property charges, Det-Sgt Richard said the prevalence of property crime was on the decline presently.

READ MORE: REVEALED: Lockyer Valley's property crime hotspot

The success of the two operations was down to community assistance and old fashioned police work.

Det-Sgt Richard said information "was key" for the team, and community reports had made the difference in many of the arrest relating to drugs in the region

For property crime, it had been man-hours put in by the team that got the results.

"We've focused on our property offenders - putting significant resources into doing everything we can to identify offenders," he said.

He expected the operations to continue into next year.

If you have any information relating to crime, you can report it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

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