Charges after cash, guns and drugs haul
TWENTY people have been charged and $140,000 cash and illegal firearms and drugs seized after a major joint police operation with the Australian Federal Police targeting Launceston criminal networks.
Tasmania Police in collaboration with the Australian Federal Police National AntiGangs Squad (NAGS) targeted criminal networks in the Launceston area during a five-week operation, Operation Coat.
Operation Coat was established in late August to investigate the criminal and drug offending of organised criminal networks in the Launceston area. Speaking with the ABC, Acting Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Higgins said it built on the work of the firearms taskforce established earlier this year.
“The (firearms) taskforce charged a large number of people, seized an enormous amount of firearms,’’ he said.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Higgins said the 20 people charged were not all from the same criminal network.
He was asked if the charges related to an incident involving a sex worker who was potentially taken hostage, that the Scarlet Alliance had posted about five weeks ago.
“The charges do form part of that taskforce, whilst I won’t comment specifically on the actual incident itself because it is before the court, what I can say is anybody that feels unsafe in any profession or in their homes or otherwise, we encourage them to contact police so we can help them.”