The Australian/NZ Drug Busts Mega-Thread Part Deux

[JoshE]

Guns, drugs seized during police raid

POLICE have charged a 29-year-old man with a range of firearm and drug offences after a "smorgasbord" of illegal items were discovered at a northern suburbs home.

Weapons, including six unlicensed firearms, explosives and throwing knives, were found by police during a search of the man’s Ballajura property yesterday after he had alerted authorities to three intruders at his house about 11.30am.

While the occupant and the intruders had left the Park View house by the time police arrived, officers spotted a number of drug items and paraphernalia and obtained a search warrant for the property.

Two shotguns, two pen guns, a modified lever action rifle, a 9mm handgun and 226 rounds of ammunition were recovered, as well as a double-edged blade, a throwing star and a set of knuckle dusters.

Police also found a number of tablets believed to be MDMA, Dexamphetamine and LSD. The 29-year-old man was due to appear at Perth Magistrates Court today.

Detective Sergeant Troy Kendall, from East Metropolitan District Crime Team, said the man was believed to have links with at least two organised motorcycle gangs.

“We’d be very concerned that this arsenal is based in a suburban street, especially when you consider the amount of drugs that were located with it,” he said.

“If you’re dealing drugs and you’ve got access to this amount of illegal weapons, then you’re obviously dealing in circles where it’s an occupational hazard.”

He said police believed the man had been involved in the sale and distribution of drugs.

The initial call to police was sparked by three intruders, who had their faces disguised, entering the house through an unlocked door and causing the occupant to flee through a back door before calling police.

Investigating into the robbery are continuing after the occupant told officers the intruders had taken a number of items from the house.

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Alleged dealer in court over sale to minister's husband

An alleged drug dealer accused of selling ecstasy to the husband of a New South Wales Government minister has faced court in Sydney.

Gerald Gordon, 30, is accused of selling an ecstasy tablet to the New South Wales Education Minister Verity Firth's husband, Matthew Chesher.

The pair were arrested by police who were following Gordon on a street in Glebe on Friday night.

Chesher was charged with drug possession and quit his job as the Chief of Staff to the Roads Minister over the incident.

Police say they also found nearly $17,000 worth of drugs at Gordon's house and he was charged with a string of drug related offences.

Appearing via video link at Sydney's Central Local Court today, Gordon did not make an application for bail.

He is due to face court again next month.

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$1m of drugs seized in raids

VICTORIAN police have seized drugs with a street value of more than $1 million during raids on three properties in Melbourne overnight.

Officers searched properties in Hawthorn, in the city's east, and Mentone and Moorabbin in the southeast seizing about 500 ecstasy tablets, 140 grams of methylamphetamine and more than $50,000 cash.

The search warrants were executed by Moorabbin police members after officers intercepted a package about 1pm (AEDT) yesterday containing 2kg of a crystal substance believed to be methylamphetamine.

Police arrested a 34-year-old Hawthorn man and searched his car, uncovering about six grams of suspected methylamphetamine, cash and drug paraphernalia, before searching the three properties.

The man has been charged with 12 offences including trafficking a commercial quantity of ecstasy and methylamphetamine, and possessing proceeds of crime.

He was remanded in custody to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates court today.

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Pharmacist on drug charges refused bail change

A pharmacist alleged to have sold prescription medication for use in the illicit drug industry has been refused permission to attend his business without police accompanying him.

John Jelfs, 73, of Normanville is facing more than 75 charges relating to the alleged illegal sale of medication, including morphine and methadone.

His lawyer told Christies Beach Magistrates Court in Adelaide Jelfs was selling the business and needed to do a stocktake.

The lawyer said current bail conditions restricted Jelfs because he was allowed only to return to the pharmacy with a police officer.

The court heard police had sometimes refused to accompany him.

The magistrate refused to relax the bail conditions.

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Sawtell man faces Sydney court on drug charges

A mid north coast man has appeared at a Sydney court over drug charges.

Anthony John Pinkstone, 52, was arrested in Sydney in December, as part of a crackdown on drug-related crime across the state.

Detectives then seized his multi-million dollar Sawtell home, along with luxury cars and motorcycles.

Pinkstone and his 43-year-old girlfriend, Kellie Maree Murray, were refused bail yesterday when they appeared at the Central Local Court.

They are both charged with supplying a commercial quantity of prohibited drugs.

Their matter has been adjourned for mention until March 31.

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Police seize $1m in drug raids

A man is facing drugs charges after police allegedly found a stash worth more than $1 million in raids across Melbourne.

They say they found about 500 ecstasy tablets, what is thought to be methylamphetamine and more than $50,000 cash in raids in Hawthorn, Mentone and Bonbeach overnight.

The 34-year-old man will appear in court today on a dozen charges, including commercial drug trafficking.

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Drugs seized ahead of Adelaide BDO

Adelaide police have arrested two men for allegedly trying to take drugs to the Wayville Showgrounds, ahead of the Big Day Out music festival on Friday.

Thousands of people will be at the day-long festival and about 140 police will be there to watch for any drug use or drunken behaviour.

Superintendent Tom Rieniets says men aged 42 and 41 have been arrested in possession of several hundred ecstasy tablets, methamphetamine and cannabis.

"It was destined to come to the Big Day Out by their admission so we are very keen, as are the organisers, to prevent that happening," he said.

"It's to have a good, safe event, drug free, come here, enjoy yourselves, have a good time, that's what it's about."

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Police discover underground drug lab

Victoria Police believe they have discovered an underground drug lab operating out of buried shipping containers near Warragul, in the south-east.

Using a backhoe, detectives found four shipping containers buried in the ground of a farming property.

They found a sophisticated drug operation inside the containers, including a make-shift lab.

Police say the property owners are not being treated as suspects and investigations are continuing.

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[NZ] Major NZ world drug kingpin jailed

An Auckland man at the centre of an international drug ring which brought millions of dollars worth of drugs into New Zealand has been sentenced to 11-1/2 years' imprisonment.

Ronald Terrence Brown, 65, earlier admitted eight charges related to the importation and supply of ecstasy, methamphetamine and LSD, and also charges of using a false passport and laundering more than $4 million over three years.

Brown organised for the class A and B drugs to be smuggled into New Zealand from Europe in granite statues, and co-ordinated with alleged drug world kingpins Rokas Karpavicius who is believed to be at large in Lithuania, and Silvio Blazevich, believed to be in either Serbia or Slovakia.

Brown's fingerprints were also found on a Harry Potter book couriered in from Spain which had LSD hidden in the spine.

Brown was on unemployment and sickness benefits for about 20 years, yet part-owned a bar on Auckland's Karangahape Rd and owned six vehicles - including a Porsche and BMWs - valued at $440,000.

In the High Court at Auckland this morning, Justice Mark Woolford said if Brown was not right at the top of the syndicate hierarchy, he was very close to it.


He had some 50 previous convictions, including conspiracy to supply heroin, for which he was previously sentenced to seven years in jail, rape, theft, and numerous assault and drug-related convictions.

Justice Woolford sentenced Brown to 11-1/2 years' imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of five years.

A three-week trial of Brown's co-accused Zvonko Dzomba, 49, Blair Aaron Bidois, 39, and Kellie Sheree Simanu, 33, ended in November.

The jury found all three not guilty, by majority verdicts 11-1, of conspiracy to import a class A drug. Simanu and Anna Keziah Sauer, 31, were found guilty of money-laundering charges.

- NZPA

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[NZ] Pharmacist claims to be fraud victim

An Auckland pharmacist who was allegedly unable to account for tens of thousands of tablets that can be used to make illegal drugs has been charged with professional misconduct.

Arief Katamat was the proprietor and charge pharmacist of three White Swan pharmacies, in Mt Roskill, Mt Eden and Balmoral. He was also the sole responsible pharmacist at the Mt Roskill store. The chain is now in liquidation.

Discrepancies were found in the records for pseudoephedrine, a precursor chemical of the illegal drug P, and for codeine, which can be made into home-bake heroin substitute.

The charge against Mr Katamat by a Pharmacy Council professional conduct committee covers the sale of prescription medicines without prescriptions, including Viagra for impotence, PrOpecia for hair-loss and Reductil for weight-loss.

He denies this and many other allegations and claims that he is the victim of fraud by several people, including staff members.

The council suspended his practising certificate in July 2009.

Health Ministry official David Sinclair yesterday told the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal hearing, which is scheduled to conclude tomorrow, that a report was sought from medicines supplier Pharmacy Retailing on the three pharmacies' purchases in the 12 months to April 30, 2009, after a White Swan employee's complaint.


It indicated large purchases of Sudomyl, Viagra, Cialis, Reductil, codeine phosphate and PrOpecia.

Mr Sinclair said that during unannounced visits, numerous discrepancies were found in the Mt Roskill store's controlled drugs register.

Asked by prosecuting lawyer Hayden Wilson to rate the register, Mr Sinclair said: "This would be one of the worst I have seen.

"At Mt Roskill pharmacy alone 19,456 Sudomyl tablets were unable to be accounted for stock purchased and dispensed during the period June 3, 2008 to June 3, 2009. This was of particular concern to us due to the size of the discrepancy and the fact that the pseudoephedrine contained in Sudomyl is a precursor to other illegal drugs."

"The inspections of the [three] pharmacies showed that 26,261 Sudomyl tablets were unaccounted for. Mr Katamat did not hold a wholesale licence."

But Mr Katamat's lawyer, Seth Dalgleish, dismissed many of the allegations against his client and said all the evidence against him was circumstantial.

The case would leave a misplaced stigma on Mr Katamat that he had supplied gangs. "He knows no gang persons ... he's very much the victim of fraud."

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Eight men arrested by police investigating alleged Central Coast drug supply ring

Editors Note: Vision of yesterday’s police operation will be distributed to television newsrooms later today via the YouSendIt link. Still images will be available via email by contacting NSW Police Force’s Media Unit on (02) 8263 6100.

Police on the state’s Central Coast have smashed an amphetamine supply syndicate – arresting eight men during a series of co-ordinated raids yesterday.

Investigators attached to Tuggerah Lakes Local Area Command’s Drug and Anti-Theft Unit formed Strike Force Anconia last October to probe the ongoing supply of methylamphetamine in the local area.

Following extensive inquiries, local police – assisted by officers from neighbouring local area commands and the Dog Unit – executed search warrants on six properties in Killarney Vale and The Entrance.

Eight men, aged between 22 and 43, were arrested during the operation and taken to The Entrance Police Station. They have now been charged with a total of 44 offences.

Five men were refused bail and are due to appear in Wyong Local Court today.

A 39-year-old Killarney vale man has been charged with 14 offences:
• Eight counts of supply a prohibited drug (indictable quantity);
• Three counts of supply a prohibited drug;
• One count of sell a prohibited drug;
• One count of supply a prohibited drug on an on-going basis; and
• One count of deal with the property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

A 39-year-old man also from Killarney Vale was charged with 10 offences:
• Five counts of supply a prohibited drug (indictable quantity); and
• Five counts of supply a prohibited drug.

A 43-year-old man also from Killarney Vale was charged with seven offences:
• Three counts of supply a prohibited drug;
• Two counts of possess a prohibited drug;
• One count of cultivate a prohibited drug; and.
• One count of having goods in custody suspected of being stolen.

A 38-year-old man from Ourimbah was charged with two offences:
• One count of supply a prohibited drug; and
• One count of possess a prohibited drug.

A 30-year-old man from The Entrance was charged with four offences:
• Two counts of supply a prohibited drug (indictable quantity);
• One count of possess a prohibited drug; and
• Possess drugs (steroids).

Three men were granted bail.

A 26-year-old man from Bateau Bay was charged with two offences:
• One count of supply a prohibited drug (indictable quantity); and,
• One count of deal with the property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
• He is due to appear in Wyong Local Court on 23 March.

A 23-year-old man from The Entrance was charged with four counts of possess a prohibited drug. He was granted conditional bail to appear in Wyong Local Court on 6 April.

A 22-year-old man from Scone was charged with one count of possess a prohibited drug. He is due to appear in Muswellbrook Local Court on 7 March.

Police also seized cash, drugs believed to be methamphetamine, cannabis, ecstasy, steroids, prohibited weapons, a motorbike, laptop computers, and jewellery.

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Police weed out $4m in drugs op

POLICE already have seized $4 million of drugs in an operation on the Mid-North Coast that ends today.
Officers from Strike Force Unwin, established to target cannabis cultivation in the region, so far have found and unearthed drug crops that contained almost 1400 plants.

On Wednesday alone, the 23 officers in the “seek-and-destroy mission” discovered 965 plants in four crops near a base at Taylors Arm, 110km north of Port Macquarie.

Late yesterday, police had uncovered a further 625 plants west of Bowraville, in the command’s north.

The man in charge of the investigation, NSW State Crime Command Drug Squad commander Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham, said the Cannabis Eradication Program would continue today.

“Wednesday and yesterday were big days in terms of detections, and we are confident we will continue to do well.”

Officers from the Mid North Coast Local Area Command joined with police from the Drug Squad and other elite forces, including the airwing helicopter Polair 1, in the annual eradication program.

Each plant removed from the clutches of the growers has an estimated street value of $2000.

Strike Force Unwin targeted cannabis crops in state forests and national parks in the Mid North Coast Local Area Command.

The aim of the operation is to disrupt the drug supply chain.

Det Supt Bingham said arrests were unlikely and unanticipated during the sting as cultivators were rarely found with their crops.

Officers from the strike force will plot sites discovered this year for future operations.

“We will take these sites out of the [growing] equation,” Det Supt Bingham said.

Police will target 62 sites throughout the week-long operation.

Intelligence gained during the past 12 months has helped determine the search zones.

Crew aboard Polair 1 direct officers on the ground to the crops.

The command, with an area of 8558km2, extends from Passionfruit Creek in the south, north to Valla.

The confiscated drugs will be destroyed today.

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Man in court after 14kg cannabis seized – Berkeley

A man is due to appear in Wollongong Local Court later today charged after 14kg of cannabis was seized when a car was searched early this morning.

The 49-year-old man was stopped on the F6 at Berkeley shortly after midnight by police from Lake Illawarra Local Area Command.

Police will allege when the Ford XR6 was searched 14kg of cannabis was found in the boot. A small quantity of another drug – alleged to be amphetamines– was also seized.

Acting on information supplied by Sutherland Police, Lake Illawarra Highway Patrol stopped a second vehicle, a silver Holden Commodore sedan. It was also searched and a bag containing a further 478g of cannabis was seized.

Three men were arrested and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station.

A 49-year-old man, from Nowra, was charged with possess a prohibited drug (deemed supply). He was refused bail and will appear in Wollongong Local Court later today.

A 32-year-old man, also from Nowra, was charged with possess a trafficable quantity of a prohibited drug. He was granted conditional bail to appear in Wollongong Local Court on 1 March.

A third man was released without charge pending further investigation.

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Two people arrested for attempting to import methamphetamine

23-year-old-man and a 22-year-old-woman, both from Hong Kong, were arrested last night at Sydney International Airport for attempting to import methamphetamine into Australia.

The man and woman are scheduled to appear in the Sydney Central Local Court today.

Customs and Border Protection officers stopped the man and woman for questioning when they arrived at Sydney International Airport on a flight from Hong Kong yesterday (31 January).

During a search, officers found a crystalline powder substance in a number of packages inside the lining of each of the couple’s suitcases. Each suitcase contained over 1.5 kilograms of a substance which initial testing indicated was methamphetamine.

Further forensic testing will be undertaken to confirm the exact weight and purity of the substance.

The couple were referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), and charged with importing a marketable quantity of border controlled drug, namely Methamphetamine contrary to section 307.2(1) of the Criminal Code Act (Cth) 1995.

It will be alleged the couple attempted to import a collective amount of approximately 3 kilograms of methamphetamines.

The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years imprisonment and/or a $550,000 fine.

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Drug dealers may win freedom if High Court challenge is successful

THOUSANDS of Victorian drug convictions could be overturned if a High Court appeal beginning next week is successful.
Former high-flying lawyer - now convicted drug criminal - Vera Momcilovic is set to argue before the highest court in the land that Victoria's Charter of Human Rights, introduced by the previous attorney-general, Rob Hulls, in 2006, means the state's drug laws are invalid.
Experts say that if she succeeds in her appeal, hundreds of drug cases before the courts will be thrown into jeopardy.
Some are even convinced a successful appeal could throw into jeopardy thousands of drug convictions dating back to the 1980s.
If the High Court decides against that interpretation it could have the effect of making the controversial human rights charter basically toothless.
Momcilovic was convicted in 2008 of drug trafficking after police found 400g of ice with a street value of $300,000 in a fridge in her luxury Exhibition St apartment. Momcilovic claimed the drugs -- along with $169,500 in cash -- belonged to Velimir Markovski, her drug-dealer boyfriend of 18 years.


Momcilovic was not a target of the police investigation and Markovski confessed to trafficking the drugs -- claiming she knew nothing about them.
But since 1983, Victoria's drug laws have relied on a "reverse onus of proof" meaning it is up to a defendant to prove drugs found in their premises do not belong to them. And because the quantity involved was so big, Momcilovic was deemed to be trafficking.
That meant Momcilovic needed to convince a jury the drugs did not belong to her and that she knew nothing about them.
She failed and in August 2008 was sentenced in the County Court to 27 months' jail for trafficking methamphetamine. Momcilovic appealed against her conviction, claiming the Charter of Human Rights meant laws that removed the presumption of innocence should be declared invalid.
In March last year, the Victorian Court of Appeal found the drug laws were incompatible with the charter because they violated the right to a fair trial, but declined to overturn the conviction.
Next week, Momcilovic's lawyers will ask the High Court to quash her conviction on the grounds the charter should take precedence over the drug laws.
Momcilovic's jail term was suspended by the Court of Appeal, taking into account time served.
But she will not be able to practise as a solicitor again unless her conviction is overturned.
She will also lose her Exhibition St apartment, which will be forfeited under proceeds of crime laws.
The case is being watched closely by legal observers. Most states and territories will be represented because the decision will have major implications for the powers of states.
Labor argued earlier in the Court of Appeal that the judges could and should use the charter to overturn laws.
But the Baillieu Government is set to argue that the charter should not be used to override other laws.
A legal observer close to the case said if the conviction was overturned there would be "anarchy".
"Thousands and thousands of drug convictions will be voided," he said.
The High Court will begin hearing the matter on Tuesday.

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SA police swoop on drug crops

Police on Eyre Peninsula have seized more than 200 marijuana plants, some up to four metres high.

Officers in a helicopter flew over national parks and crown land in the Coffin Bay to Sheringa region, searching for illegal crops.

Two people have been charged.

Police will allege one of them, a Port Lincoln man, 45, was growing 47 marijuana plants on private property.

Adelaide police have reported or charged six people over a series of drug raids in the western suburbs.

A Seaton man, 44, was charged after police found eight marijuana plants and hydroponic equipment at a house.

A man, 37, and a woman, 26, were reported for allegedly cultivating cannabis at another house at Seaton.

Cannabis and cash were allegedly found at a third Seaton home, where police arrested a 23-year-old man.

An Ottoway man was reported and a Semaphore Park man charged over cannabis allegedly found at their homes.

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Detectives charge three men, woman after drug seizure – Illawarra Region

Tuesday, 08 Feb 2011 06:29pm

Detectives have charged four people after seizing drugs and cash during simultaneous raids in the Illawarra.

About 8am today, police from Lake Illawarra Local Area Command, along with Wollongong and Shoalhaven Detectives, executed simultaneous search warrants on six properties in Unanderra and Berkeley.

They allegedly seized three cannabis plants; approximately 2.5kg of cannabis leaf; a quantity of methylamphetamine; a replica firearm; a stun gun; ammunition; a stolen $30,000 motorcycle; and other suspected stolen goods.

The drugs have an estimated potential street value of more than $28,500.

Three men and a woman were arrested by officers and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station.

A 38-year-old Unanderra man was charged with supplying indictable quantity of prohibited drug and possess prohibited drug

A 31-year-old Berkeley man was charged with supply prohibited drug and deal with property suspected proceeds of crime and possess ammunition without authority.

Both have been refused bail to appear in Wollongong Local Court tomorrow (Wednesday 9 February).

Meanwhile, a 41-year-old Berkeley man and 38-year-old Unanderra woman will appear in Port Kembla Local Court on 2 March this year on a string of other offences.

Today’s operation follows a three-month investigation by the Lake Illawarra Drug Unit into the cultivation and supply of cannabis in the local area.

Investigations are ongoing and further arrests have not been ruled out.

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Airline catering staff face cocaine trial

Two former airline catering company employees are standing trial in Sydney, accused of conspiring to smuggle cocaine.

Matthew Hay and Wayne Williams were arrested after the seizure of packages of cocaine in rubbish taken off a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles in 2009.

At the time Hay was employed by Gate Gourmet at Sydney Airport and Williams was a former colleague.

Their arrests followed an 18-month investigation by the Australian Federal Police and Customs.

In his opening address, the prosecutor told Downing Centre District Court the drugs were taken off flight UA839 which landed at Sydney Airport just after 6:00am on September 20, 2009.

The Crown case is that packages of cocaine were taken on board by a third person who had flown to the US a week earlier and who put them in the bin of a rear toilet.

The prosecutor said the bin was later loaded onto a Gate Gourmet truck.

Williams and Hay have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to import cocaine.

Hay has also pleaded not guilty to a possession charge.

Their trial continues before Judge Peter Zahra.

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Seized drug assets valued at more than a million

Assets confiscated from a drug trafficker are set to reap about $1.1 million for the Office of the WA Director of Public Prosecutions.

50-year-old Steven John Atherton was charged in 2004 after police found ecstasy, amphetamines, cannabis and more than $190,000 cash buried at a trucking premises in Maddington.

He was declared a drug trafficker in 2008 and jailed for eight years.

Atherton owned eight properties and while they were heavily mortgaged, the state is expected to gain more than $1 million from their sale.

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Men charged with importing cocaine

A 28-year-old Parramatta man is scheduled to appear in Sydney Central Local Court today after being charged in relation to an attempt to import approximately 1.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in cardboard rolls covered in fabric.

A 33-year-old Homebush Bay man has also been charged in relation to this matter and will appear in court at a later date.

Customs and Border Protection officers identified a substance believed to be cocaine in an air consignment from Thailand on 2 February 2011 and referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The cocaine was substituted with an inert substance and the AFP began a controlled delivery.

On 8 February 2011, the AFP executed a search warrant at a unit in Homebush Bay and arrested both men. An additional $44,500 and approximately 20 grams of cocaine were seized during this warrant.

The two men have been charged with the attempt to possess a marketable quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug, namely cocaine, pursuant to Section 307.6 of the Criminal Code Act 1995.

The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years imprisonment and/or a $550,000 fine.

Also in relation to this investigation, the 33-year-old man has been charged with possessing suspected proceeds of crime pursuant to Section 400.9 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

The maximum penalty for this offence is 2 years imprisonment and/or a $13,200 fine.

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