Mount Louisa man, 23, dies in crash
A young Mount Louisa man has died after crashing into a power pole in the early hours of Monday morning south of Townsville.
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Targeted raids were taken out at properties in Brisbane and Townsville yesterday as officers seized about 5.5kg of methamphetamine, 23kg of cannabis and cocaine and ecstasy.
It followed a major and protracted investigation in which detectives will allege couriers in the state’s capital were moving cannabis and ice by road to North Queensland.
5.5kg of methylamphetamine and 23kg of cannabis was seized.
Police swooped on a car as it arrived at a Hermit Park property yesterday and allegedly found 5kg of ice stashed in a cooler bag, which has an approximate street value of more than $5 million.
Townsville’s Major and Organised Crime Squad officer-in-charge detective Senior Sergeant Brad Phelps said $880,000 was also found during the raids. In one house, officers were finding cash “here, there and everywhere”.
“That would be by far the biggest seizure of methamphetamine that we’ve had in Townsville in the last 20 years, so it’s certainly significant, and combined with that over $880,000,” he said.
Sen-Sgt Phelps said the alleged suppliers would have been major players in the region’s drug market.
Police have charged 16 people with 95 offences, including nine people for drug trafficking.
$850,000 in cash was seized.
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Sen-Sgt Phelps said it would be alleged the drugs were being couriered every one or two weeks.
“The quantity involved is very, very significant and it will be alleged that these particular persons have been involved in this ongoing activity for some time,” he said.
“This isn’t, it will be alleged, their first trip to North Queensland and the sums of money involved in bringing these drugs to North Queensland are also highly significant.”
Sen-Sgt Phelps said it would be alleged there was a very strong customer base in Townsville and there was a co-ordinator in the city arranging the transportation.
“The Townsville-based offenders, it will be alleged, there was a principal offender who was bringing these drugs in and then there will be a number of people that we will allege were underlings to that principal offender, who were traffickers in their own right,” he said.
Detectives are still investigating how long the syndicate was operating for and just how much drugs they were bringing into North Queensland.
A taser and gel blaster weapons were also discovered during the raids.
Sen-Sgt Phelps said more people were likely to be charged in the future.