Ecstasy haul seized ahead of Schoolies

[The_Great_Refusal]

Ecstasy haul seized ahead of Schoolies
21:51 AEDT Thu Nov 18 2004


A car loaded with almost 100,000 ecstasy tablets, believed to be bound for Schoolies on the Gold Coast, has been intercepted by police at Gosford on the NSW central coast.

Four men have been arrested and face trafficking charges over the seizure of 91,800 ecstasy tablets valued at $3.7 million.

The 22kg of pills was to have arrived on the Gold Coast, a day before the official start of the annual school leavers' celebrations in Surfers Paradise.

The haul equates to three ecstasy pills for every Schoolie.

Queensland drug investigation group superintendent Steve Grant said there was no direct intelligence the drugs were for high school graduates, but it seemed likely they would be sold during the festival.

"One is fairly confident in knowing they would have been available for the event and as a result of this seizure the Queensland police is confident there will be a drop in the availability of ecstasy during this festive occasion," he said.




"Schoolies certainly was in the mindset (when we intercepted the drugs).

"There is significant evidence that indicate these drugs were due to arrive in Queensland, specifically the Gold Coast."

The drug investigation, code-named Operation Charlie Yield, was launched in April and involved Queensland police, Australian Federal Police and the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC).

The investigation culminated when police tracked a vehicle from Victoria to Gosford where the driver allegedly met two Queensland drug dealers in another car.

"Both vehicles then drove to a quiet location in Gosford. Those vehicles parted and were subsequently intercepted," Supt Grant said.

The ecstasy was found in the Queensland car while the Victorian vehicle contained $200,000, believed to be a down payment for the drugs, police said.

Search warrants were executed at homes on the Gold Coast and in Tweed Heads where $36,000 in cash and a small amount of drugs was found.

The CMC will seek to seize several properties and personal assets on the Gold Coast under proceeds of crime laws.

Police said the criminal connections to the drug ring extended Australia-wide and overseas.


http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=4520

 

[silvia saint]

Queensland drug investigation group superintendent Steve Grant said there was no direct intelligence the drugs were for high school graduates, but it seemed likely they would be sold during the festival.

wow, i thought they would have used the "keeping the kids safe" rhetoric a bit more.

The CMC will seek to seize several properties and personal assets on the Gold Coast under proceeds of crime laws.

of course they will, top 3 reason for continuing an unwinnable war, support the infrastructure set up to fight it

 

[-Raver-]

In todays Gold Coast Bulletin, they mentioned that the seized pills had a "crown motif" on them....

Dammit... quality crowns on their way up here to the Gold Coast

 

[silvia saint]

"...in other news, a huge haul of the new deadly designer drug known as crown was picked up by police today..."

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

^ I think that comment sum's up the media pretty well
It will be interesting to see how all the recent busts will affect supply on the coast/brissi...

 

[BigTrancer]

... or whether 100k fewer pills adds up to 30k more excessively drunken Schoolies and everything that comes with that...

BigTrancer

 

[pill_jockey]

^^^ Or worse. The crown pills seem to be good quality MDMA from reports, with a bust of this size the proportion of dodgy pills must increase with respect to MDMA pills. Anyway, everyone going to schoolies keep safe.

 

[hdang]

ah crap another bust. i hate hearing bout these, seems they r becoming more frequent too..
i can vouch for the crowns too...

 

[Doooofus]

Fuck, this is close to home. Wonder whether a bust of 90,000 will have much of an effect on availability. Will have to wait and see....! It's a damn shame they were crowns too, all that precious MDMA will be destroyed or gobbled up by corrupt little piggies

 

[Tsunami1]

I think assuming they were all high quality MDMA pills is something no one in the public will ever no for sure.

Also from what I read in these 'bust threads' I think if the cops were as corrupt as people seem to think they are we should be very very worried.

 

[miss_c]

NEWS: Alleged ecstasy ring boss denied bail

Alleged ecstasy ring boss denied bail
07:28 AEDT Fri Nov 26 2004


A father of two accused of being a key figure in the importation of more than $15 million worth of ecstasy tablets has been denied bail in a Gold Coast court.

Jason Edward Brophy, 38, was charged with trafficking a dangerous drug, conspiracy to import a prohibited import and conspiracy to possess a prohibited import relating to two large seizures of ecstasy in NSW in the past week.

The trafficking and conspiracy charges follow the interception of a car carrying 91,800 MDMA pills near Gosford on the NSW central coast last Thursday.

Police claimed the operation prevented the ecstasy from reaching the Gold Coast a day before the start of Schoolies.

Police alleged Brophy also was involved in a conspiracy to import a further 298,272 pills found in a Sydney house on Monday.

The combined value of the seizures was $15.6 million.

Opposing bail, commonwealth prosecutor Rebecca Bellamy told the Southport Magistrates Court Brophy played an organising role in the shipment and faced a possible life sentence if convicted.

"He has a very good reason to disappear considering what he's facing."

Ms Bellamy said evidence against Brophy included an intercepted phone call in which he gives "an accomplice the time and place to collect the MDMA".

In the brief of evidence handed to the court, Brophy was said to have lived an extremely luxurious lifestyle.

He was arrested this week after returning from Thailand.

Lawyer Chris Nyst said Brophy was a father of two who owned his own roofing business and lived in a stable relationship with his wife on the Gold Coast.

He said the allegations were "bald assertions" and would be denied.

Refusing bail, Magistrate George Wilkie said the case against Brophy relied on taped telephone calls which had resulted in two people being caught in possession of drugs.

Brophy is to appear again on February 15 next year.

SOURCE: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=23490

 

[NickyJ]

Just out of curiosity, did this bust have a significant effect on the pill supply at schoolies on the gold coast?

 

[Killing_time]

The drug investigation, code-named Operation Charlie Yield, was launched in April and involved Queensland police, Australian Federal Police and the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC).

Operation Charlie Yield.. but I thought they were targetting Ecstacy.

PEACE

 

[chemical freak]

Just got back from schoolies. what a week! I still had no problems getting my filthy little hands on some quallity crowns. But on the other hand i did know others who had trouble getting good pills.

 

[Wide_Eyed_Wog]

im back from schoolies as well, sick week . seeing as though we actually planed our stuff and took a nice stash down we didnt have too many problems. but i saw ALOT of people being sold speed bombs as over priced eccies. dealers would have made a fortune down there. think i might need a career change

 

[bRiSvEgAs4lIfE]

I just got back from schoolies too, I had no problem at all getting a fair few decent pills, at cheapers prices then I pay locally to boot. A lot of people I met were paying incredibly inflated prices for speed bombs though.

 

[fcuking_in_heaven]

Its all a matter of supply and demand, some of the fundamentals of economics. Something Mr Howard prides himself on in Aus. It still applies to illegal drugs. Classic examples above. Three cases where it is reported that kiddies were supplied with over priced, speed bombs. Therefore supply goes down, price goes up, quality drops. Simple.

So in effect what the police have done is intercept a supply of decent quality MDMA (if the reports of them being crowns are true), take it off the streets and leave the shitty homemade speed bombs to fuck up mostly younger, less harm minimisation focused pill poppers. Lets face it, their all going up there to get fucked up.

Its a damn shame that quality MDMA is being busted as that leaves us with a lot of shitty local product, made in small batches by small time DD's who arent't ever caught because they dont make any more than a few hundred/thousand. The cops arent going to bother spending budget money on busting little local cooks when they can work with international authorities, get their name in the paper and maybe make a nice little earner themselves (who hasnt heard of numerous stories of copious amounts of 'federally' owned pills ending up on the streets).

If only someone would listen....

fcuk in heaven

 

[Flipmo]

the guys who got done over were very good friends of my "Friend" all in the slammer

 

[mr king]

i just think the media and cops are so full of bs it just seems they pick the right time to make a bust dont they in other words tellin people what they wanna hear at the right time of the year. so new years eve another bust im guessing

my 2cents anyway

by the way every ones on a payrole i guess other like to make a little tax free so a brown paper bag every now and then to turn a blind eye hard work if u ask me

 

[Tony Montana 8 )]

All i can say is the king is quite right.
But u telling me that the police are going to release the real figures of ecstacy tablets? i dunno bout u but i wouldnt wanna be counting every lil pill.
Just like the bust in adelaide, cant remember the figure of what was found in the pizza oven but they said it themselves they intercepted the freight before it hit Australia and put placebos in the oven. they would have bumped up the figure by a few to make themselves look good.
all about propaganda thats all i can say.
But its all good if they can bust a 91,ooo pills then we can get another 91,ooo pills.!!!!
later %)