Commander Catherine Burn of the Redfern Local Area Command says
there have been 72 drug related charges made against eighth offenders.
The arrests were for the serious offence of ‘supplying drugs
on an ongoing basis’. “This has been a long-term operation, targeting drug dealers
and the manufacturers of hard drugs such as ecstasy, ice, heroin and cocaine,
which we have recently seized large quantities of,” Commander Burn said.
The arrests took place after police raided residences they
believed were being used to manufacture illegal drugs in homemade laboratories.
One such venue was the Foundry apartment complex at 181 Lawson Street,
Redfern. A number of residents of the Foundry witnessed the Police operation
being carried out, along with the removal of the illegal substances from the
premises.
A Foundry resident told the Herald that on arriving home at 7:30pm
he witnessed a number of police wearing protective gloves and masks. They were
removing buckets filled with an unknown substance. “I then entered my flat and
for about an hour I heard voices and noises that were disruptive.
I opened my door and a police officer told me everything was
under control. The activity lasted for another hour. After that I opened the
door and saw that everyone had left but there was what looked like white powder
all over the floor”, the resident said.
A detective with the New South Wales Drug Squad, Mark Ancic
said the raids in Redfern and Operation Edgewater were part of a larger drug investigation
being carried out by the Wollongong Police Department.
It is believed a number of police targets in Wollongong had links to those
arrested for manufacturing drugs in Redfern.
According to Mr Ancic, the Drug Squad became involved once
police learned that drugs were not only being sold but also manufactured using
potentially dangerous ingredients such as pseudo-ephadiem.
“The Drug Squad were involved in a number of warrants. We
are there to determine if the manufacture of drugs has taken place, which then assists
police in laying the appropriate charges. Essentially we are a crime scene
unit, there to gather drug evidence”, said Mr Ancic.
[Source – South Sydney Herald October 2006]