Drugs in the mail

Three kilograms of cannabis was seized in a coordinated police operation in Nhulunbuy last week.

In the biggest bust a search at a freight holding yard last Friday with a drug sniffer dog uncovered 1.5kg of cannabis in cryovaced (sic) packages.

Police then searched the home of the alleged 42-year-old recipient of the package, finding an unregistered firearm and $9050 cash.

Another freight check by police at Nhulunbuy on Monday found a package containing about 1.3kg of cannabis.

Police later raided the home of the alleged intended recipient and found a further 40g of cannabis and two turtle shells.

A 42-year-old man was subsequently charged with possessing a commercial quantity of cannabis and possessing protected wildlife.

A 33-year old man was charged with supplying cannabis.

In other seizures at Nhulunbuy, police intercepted a mail package containing two containers of talcum power (sic) last Thursday with 45g of cannabis inside.

In a separate mail package on the same day, sniffer dogs discovered 120g of cannabis packed inside a coffee tin.

Last Thursday evening a Tasmanian man arriving at Nhulunbuy on a charter flight from Darwin was caught with 34g of cannabis in his possession.

Acting Superintendent of the Drug Enforcement Section Les Martin said the busts were an indication that the movement of drugs into remote communities were high priority to police and would not be tolerated.

“We will continue to conduct operations both covertly and overtly in remote communities to intercept the supply of illicit drugs,” he said. “Anyone thinking of trafficking drugs into these communities should think again.”

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 10 Aug 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283