NEWS: [The Age] 28/07/2005 - 'Fifteen arrested in drug raids'

[hoptis]

I like the map in the first article. Basically means metropolitan Melbourne likes drugs. Lots of them.

Fifteen arrested in drug raids
By Julia Medew
July 28, 2005 - 5:32PM

Photo: Nathaneal Scott

Police who have arrested 13 men in connection with a multimillion-dollar drug syndicate believe they may also have foiled a kidnapping attempt of one of the gang's members.

Detective Acting Superintendent Bob Hill, from the major drug investigation division, said a team of 100 police officers arrested the men after simultaneous raids on properties across Melbourne at 5am.

They are being interviewed at St Kilda Road police complex.

Superintendent Hill said all the men, who are aged between 22 and 44, were expected to be charged with drug trafficking tonight.

Three men would also be charged with conspiracy to kidnap.

"It will be alleged that there was a recent dispute amongst the group, a faction of three were planning to kidnap one of their accomplices and hold him for $500,000 ransom," he said.

Superintendent Hill said the drugs had a total street value of $500,000 and included substantial quantities of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis and amphetamines.

"At one address police also located a hydroponic cannabis crop, at another, a pill press," he said.

Police also seized $400,000 worth of property alleged to have been bought with drug profits, including four luxury cars, home entertainment units, jewellery and watches.

Numerous weapons, including a loaded colt automatic pistol, a crossbow and swords were also seized, he said.

The raids took place in the Docklands, Yarraville, South Melbourne, Prahran, Northcote, Sydenham, Delahey, St Albans, Bundoora, Glen Waverley, Bentleigh East, Oakleigh South and Rowville.

Superintendent Hill said he hoped the dismantling of the group would dent the illicit drug trade in Victoria and act as a deterrent to other drug traffickers.

"This operation serves as a warning that Victoria Police will not tolerate the distribution and use of illicit drugs including those that some may perceive as safe, for example ecstasy, the incorrectly labelled 'recreational drug'," he said.

The raids were the culmination of Operation Rakus - a major drug investigation division operation targeting high-level drug syndicates that began in January.

From The Age

Police blitz finds drugs, guns
July 28, 2005
From: AAP

ABOUT 100 police officers swooped on properties across Melbourne early today in a drugs blitz that netted luxury cars, guns and stolen property.
Heroin, cocaine and amphetamines were also seized in the raids on 16 properties across the city and suburbs.

There had been 15 arrests already with more expected to follow, police said.

A "reasonable amount" of drugs were seized in the raids, Police Commissioner Christine Nixon told ABC radio.

Police also said a Lotus sports car was towed from a property in Glen Waverley this morning.

Suspected stolen electrical equipment and computer gear has also been taken by police from a Docklands property early today.

"These raids have seized large amounts of property and now people are in custody, and often that will lead us to more information and more policing activity," Mrs Nixon said.

"We've also seized drugs – cocaine, heroin, amphetamines – so it is a fairly major investigation that we have been running, and this is the culmination of that."

The raids, involving the elite Special Operations Group, followed an investigation which started in January.

Mrs Nixon praised the leading role played by Victoria Police in the war against drugs drugs.

"The drug issue is still a major one for Victoria, particularly around the amphetamines and growth in that area, to a lesser extent cocaine and perhaps a lesser extent heroin."

Police confirmed the number of arrests had increased to 15, a total four luxury cars were seized and other significant items taken include cash, illicit drugs and firearms.

The raids were conducted in The Docklands, Prahran, Sydenham, Bundoora Delahey, St Albans, Yarraville, Glen Waverley, Bentleigh, East Northcote, South Melbourne, Rowville and Oakleigh South.

From News.com.au/AAP

 

[hoptis]

Updates

13 arrested in drug raids across city
By Selma Milovanovic
July 29, 2005

An alleged kidnap plot by three suspected drug dealers yesterday prompted police to raid 16 properties across Melbourne and claim they had smashed a $1 million drug ring.

About 100 police, including members of the special operations group, arrested 13 men in the dawn raids. A plan by a trio of men to allegedly kidnap an accomplice and hold him for a $500,000 ransom after a fallout among the gang, prompted the raids which followed a six-month investigation.

Detectives seized drugs worth about $500,000, including 1500 ecstasy tablets, large quantities of heroin, amphetamine, cocaine and cannabis. They also recovered four luxury cars, home entertainment systems, jewellery, computers, mobile phones, furniture, power tools and other items valued at about $400,000.

Weapons, including a loaded Colt automatic pistol, a crossbow and swords were seized in the raids.

Three men were last night expected to face an out-of-sessions hearing charged over the attempted kidnapping and drug trafficking. Another 10 members of the syndicate were being questioned by detectives and were expected to be charged with various drug trafficking offences.

Detective Acting Superintendent Bob Hill from the major drug investigation division said the arrests would significantly disrupt the distribution of illicit drugs across Victoria.

"We believe these persons are involved in a high-level, large-scale drug network," he said.

Mr Hill said while the investigation, codenamed Operation Rakus, was continuing, detectives had arrested the main players in the syndicate.

The raids, conducted simultaneously at 5am, targeted houses in Docklands, Glen Waverley, Prahran, Bundoora and St Albans. Police also raided addresses in Yarraville, Oakleigh, Rowville, Berwick, Northcote, Bentleigh and South Melbourne.

The suspects, aged between 22 and 40, are all believed to be part of the same syndicate.

In one of the raids, police seized a Lotus sports car and arrested its owner at a Glen Waverley house.

Meanwhile, the raid on a Docklands apartment allegedly netted drugs, computers and a home entertainment system.

Police will allege the suspects bought the property with the profits of drug trafficking.

Mr Hill said the syndicate members were not involved in drug manufacturing. He said the drugs seized could have been distributed anywhere in Victoria.

"This operation will impact on the sale and distribution of illicit drugs in Victoria," he said.

"We believe this sends a clear message Victoria Police will not tolerate the sale, use and distribution of illicit drugs."

From The Age

Eight to face court over drug raids
July 29, 2005 - 8:08AM

Eight men will face a Melbourne court today to answer charges flowing from yesterday's major police operation in which 16 properties were raided.

The men were remanded into custody in a late sitting of a Melbourne court yesterday, following the pre-dawn raids conducted across the city as part of Victoria Police's "Operation Rakus".

The men, who will appear at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court, face charges including trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs.

Police have announced a further three men will also be charged by summons, while a fourth man arrested yesterday has been released without charge.

More than 100 police were involved in the Operation Rakus raids, which police say was the culmination of a seven-month investigation.

Drugs, weapons and luxury cars were seized by police.

- AAP

From The Age

 

[hoptis]

Nine drug accused in court
By Jesse Hogan
July 29, 2005 - 4:28PM

Nine men have faced court following a series of drug raids across Melbourne yesterday morning.

The men, alleged to be part of the same drug syndicate, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court this afternoon on charges including drug trafficking and plotting a kidnapping.

The raids, which occurred simultaneously at 16 properties at 5am yesterday, were prompted by an alleged kidnap bid by three of the men.

Police believe a dispute within the gang was the motivation for their plan to kidnap an accomplice and hold him for a $500,000 ransom.

Matavai Ah-Ta - the only one of the nine who was bailed after yesterday's raids - were charged with conspiring to kidnap, along with a second man, George Cancer.

The third suspect has not been charged.

Cancer, 32, of Docklands, is also facing charges of trafficking drugs of dependence, as are Alex Vasic, 28, of St Albans; Wallace Rodrigues-Rios, 31, of Prahran; Pepe Velevski, 31, of Delahey; Michael Tzitzidis, 40, of South Melbourne; Emre Basturk, 23, of Glen Waverley; Tannar Stevens, 22, of Bentleigh East and Konstanios Theodorellos, 34, of Oakleigh.

The charges involve cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamines and cannabis.

Ah-Ta, 34, of Northcote, is not facing drugs charges.

Drugs valued at $500,000 were seized in the raids, along with luxury cars, jewellery and other property - believed to bought with drug money - valued at $400,000.

Detective Senior Constable John Hunter told magistrate Peter Couzens that officers from the major drug investigation unit had been investigating the men since January.

He said that undercover officers bought ecstasy and cocaine from group members on 14 separate occasions, with more drugs seized during the raids.

"Yesterday alone there were 5000 ecstasy tablets," he said.

Detective Senior Constable Hunter said they had intercepted about 10,000 telephone calls, as well three months' worth of taped conversations in one of the apartments raided.

But he said much of the evidence was in Serbian and needed to be translated.

As a result of this, as well as drug and DNA evidence that needed testing, Detective Senior Constable Hunter said police needed 12 months to gather all the evidence for a trial.

"There are a number of arms to that operation," he said.

Mr Couzens agreed to the prosecution's request.

"This is a massive operation which is going to take a lot of time," he said.

Tzatzidis was granted bail on a $25,000 deposit, while Ah-Ta successfully applied for a bail extension. None of the other seven men applied for bail and were remanded in custody.

All are due in court again to face the charges on September 29 next year.

- theage.com.au, with Selma Milovanovic

From The Age

What I find interesting is what this tells us about the Major Drug Investigation Division. It looks like this has been their "big" investigation since the start of the year, they've obviously put a lot of time and resources into it.

All of this is also an important PR exercise to improve the profile of the MDID who have inherited the legacy and smear of the old, disbanded drug squad.

Also, you want to talk about fighting a losing battle, since this investigation started in January, how many similar-sized syndicates have established themselves in Melbourne? By the time it wraps up and prosecutions are finalised these guys would be have been replaced ten-fold across Melbourne.

Don't mind me, just chatting with myself. lol...

 

[mongman]

I agree with hoptis regarding the degree to which the new MDID group must to be completely outnumbered.
I don't know anything about syndicates of that size but Im sure that there are many many more groups distributing drugs at the same level as this syndicate.
Its simply beyond the scope of such a small task force to stop such a distributed and decentralised network of high level dealing.
The quote of 5000 pills is alone enough to suggest that these guys are relatively close to the bottom end of the food chain as well. Thats only around 2 levels above your average neighborhood dealer. Many groups will be just waiting to just straight into the gap left by this groups demise. . . Ironically such entrepreneurs will most likely have closely related supply chains to the group now arrested.

 

[Oceanboy]

Who is wrong?, Who is right?, Who is left; loving Empathy.

"This operation serves as a warning that Victoria Police will not tolerate the distribution and use of illicit drugs including those that some may perceive as safe, for example ecstasy, the incorrectly labelled 'recreational drug'," he said.

How can it be incorrectly labelled when pure doses have shown to be safe when correct administration procedures have been enacted; in recreational settings.

Ecstacy has been shown to be a therapeutic medicine in healing relationships and Family issues. Why will Victoria Police not tolerate that while they tolerate the smoking of tobacco and drinking of alcohol;-(the cause of more than 90% of drug deaths in Australia.) and also gambling which is also a corruption of families in Australia and elsewhere????????

Ecstacy provides a state of ecstacy. Surely that is more beneficial than the misery caused by alcohol,tobacco and gambling.

Dear Government you say "Ecstacy you don't know what it will do to you"; well why don't you make it for us so that we can safely live happily ever after, even sooner than it's going to happen.
The is the supreme invincible blueprint that shall not die, for it is eternal, divine and immortal and it exists within every substance and being in the universe. So when you deny Empathy/Ecstacy/, you are only denying yourselves.
Peace be with you.

O.

[Edit: Off-topic material removed. BigTrancer]