Luxury cars, $1 million worth of drugs, a racing go-kart, a semi-automatic firearm and thousands of coins suspected of being stolen from the Royal Australian Mint were among the property seized following the arrest of a 37-year-old man facing the ACT Magistrates Court this morning.
ACT Policing Detective Sergeant John Giles, leading the Major Crime team on this case, said the accused was charged with trafficking methamphetamine and the possession of suspected proceeds of crime yesterday, 8 December.
“These people [who deal in illicit substances] are making huge amounts of money out of other people’s unhappiness, and we’re gunning for them,” he said.
Yesterday’s warrants were executed in a storage shed in Hume and four houses “full of luxury items” across the south of Canberra in Gordon, Chisolm and Calwell.
“The cars, the motorbikes, memorabilia, tools, the semi-automatic firearm – they were all found in the storage shed in Hume,” Detective Sergeant Giles said.
“We expect further charges to be laid in relation to those.”
He said the owners of the other properties were not currently under investigation.
Police seized 800 grams of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $1.2 million, and over $130,000 cash found in a backpack following a traffic stop, which was part of a coordinated resolution to the investigation.
Detective Sergeant Giles said the street value of methamphetamine varied greatly, and it was dealt in ‘points’ worth between $80 to $100.
He said it was very difficult to say where the drugs that entered the ACT came from and investigations were continuing.
ACT Policing found no strong links with outlaw motorcycle gangs or organised crime.
Detective Sergeant Giles said the 37-year-old man’s arrest was the result of one arm of an investigation that was running for a number of months, and other linked investigations were still active.
Regarding the bags of coins, Detective Sergeant Giles said police spoke to staff at the Royal Australian Mint this morning.
“The coins from the Mint are an interesting one; they are still subject to an ongoing investigation.
“We’ll have a bit of clarity around those in the coming days.”
The luxury vehicles were a Holden GTS Commodore, a Ford Raptor, and three “brand new” motorbikes that were Suzuki, Harley-Davidson and KTM models.
Detective Sergeant Giles said there was a rise in methamphetamine use in the ACT.
“Wherever there’s a demand there’s a supply, and that’s where we need to be on our game.”
He said there were some good seizures in the ACT recently and, given the amount of property seized, today’s case meant police were making an impact on the local drug trade.
“There needs to be a line in the sand and we’re hoping we’re starting to draw it.”
