War on dealers nabs up to 300
OPERATIONS targeting midlevel drug dealers have resulted in nearly 300 arrests since August last year.
The Townsville Tactical Crime squad was given a new focus after the death of Wulguru grandmother Elizabeth “Beth” Kippin on July 26, 2016, during an alleged drug- fuelled stabbing spree by Anthony O’Keefe, 32.
He was charged with murder and attempted murder after Mrs Kippin, 81, was found dead in her Wulguru home and two other people were hospitalised with stab wounds last July.
Operations Skirr and Carom, which are ongoing, arrested 159 people on 466 drug- related offences and 139 people on 319 charges, respectively.
Tactical Crime Squad officer- incharge Senior Sergeant Jason Shepherd said: “We’re dealing with the mid- level drug offences, the stuff that is outside of the scope of the Drug Squad, they’re dealing with it on a major level.
“We are investigating the more complex crimes that require a bit more investigation than what the general duties officers can do. We sort of fit in the middle.
“Operation Skirr started following the death of Beth Kippin and that was trying to give us a bit more focus on drug crime … and in 2017 we’ve continued on with it, but renamed the operation to Operation Carom. Principally the squad is focusing on drug possession, produce and supply, whether it is equipment relating to hydroponic setups or pipes.”
He said information from the public had led to a lot of the arrests over the past 10 months.
“We do get a lot of Crime Stopper files. We have them sent to us and a good portion of those relate to cannabis and ice dealing.
“Search warrants are then conducted based on that information, but then we also focus on people we believe are dealing.
“We may intercept vehicles in the streets and search them and the people with them and we are still finding drugs that way.”
Sen- Sgt Shepherd said police were seeing more ice on the streets, although they had still been seizing large amounts of marijuana.
“We still seize more cannabis than anything else,” he said.
“Over the last couple of years it has been relatively consistent, the ice seizures we get compared to cannabis.
“Anecdotally, we have seized over the last couple of years more smoking utensils for ice, which we did not see as often before.”
If you have information that may help police catch drug dealers, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.