Schoolies drug ring smashed

NINE people have been arrested after police targeting Gold Coast cocaine and MDMA trafficking smashed what they allege was a major drug operation ahead of Schoolies.

Operation Sierra BANCHA – with assistance of the Gold Coast Major and Organised Crime Squad and other agencies – was launched in February from the Gold Coast Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) at Nerang.

Search warrants were executed from 7am on Thursday at houses in Coomera, Helensvale, Robina, Carrara, Bundall and a premises at Burleigh allegedly linked to the Black Uhlans outlaw motorcycle gang.

During the searches police allegedly located firearms, a “substantial amount” of cash, and drugs including cocaine, MDMA and steroids.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Procter said police have “arrested nine p people at this stage on 53 charges of drug trafficking”.

“We believe today is a large success for us dismantling a network of drug traffickers on the Gold Coast,” he said. “It’s very timely because we are a month out of Schoolies and we have no doubt this is where those drugs would have ended up.

“It will be alleged one of the persons arrested was an outlaw motorcycle gang member, however we do not believe this network is working with an outlaw motorcycle gang.

“This is not a bikie-related syndicate.

“Half of the people have some serious history with police but we also have three or four people who have never come to the attention of police.

“We actually don’t have the quantity of drugs seized just yet, we expect to have that later.

“There is a large quantity of white powder which we believe is most likely to be cocaine.

“However in the past eight months we’ve seized 14 ounces of cocaine relating to this.

“I’m not going to stand here and say we’ve stopped all the drug problems, but we have certainly made a dent in a syndicate.”