Dragnet hauls in racing figures
FAR North Queensland’s racing industry has come under scrutiny after a police blitz uncovered thousands of dollars of stolen items and led to five people being charged with 33 drug and property offences.
Over the past week, officers from the Queensland Racing Crime Squad and the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission conducted a series of collaborative investigations in the Innisfail and Cairns region.
There was also an increased presence at the Cairns Amateurs event at the weekend as a result of the operation.
“It was disappointing to see that racing industry participants were allegedly involved in property theft and drug offences,” Cairns Amateurs chief executive Graham Thornton said.
“We are grateful for the support from the Queensland Police and the Queensland Racing Integrity Police for their quick response.”
Searches in the Innisfail area resulted in 17 drug charges against a 32-year-old former Innisfail track rider, 16 of which were offences of supplying methylamphetamine.
A 38-year-old former jockey from Innisfail was also charged with nine drug offen- ces, including supply methamphetamine. They are due to appear in the Innisfail Magistrates Court next month.
A 37-year-old Innisfail man, unrelated to the racing industry, was also charged with two drug offences and is due to appear in court the same day.
Searches in the Woree area allegedly uncovered items stolen in a burglary at the Cairns Jockey Club last month. Two racing industry participants, a 33-year-old man and 35-yearold man, were charged and are to appear in Cairns Magistrates Court on September 24.
A 30-year-old woman and a 33-year old man, both racing participants, were also allegedly found in possession of cannabis. They were ordered to attend health counselling.
Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner Ross Barnett said there were no breaches of the rules of racing or criminal activities detected at Cairns Amateurs.
“If you have any information about wrong doing in the racing industry including the mistreatment of racing animals, I urge you to report it through the report something portal on the QRIC website,” he said.
Cairns Jockey Club boss John Cannon said the local racing industry, was currently “in very good shape”.
editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost