14 arrested during major operation
18th November 2010
CHARGES are being finalised and seized drugs and lab equipment have been sealed and sent to Brisbane for analysis as Hervey Bay CIB officers step up the fight to bring down local drug rings.
In the past month police have found three meth labs during raids across Hervey Bay as part of Operation Ice Bobcat.
Since its inception in July the operation, which targets organised crime relating to outlaw motorcycle gangs in Hervey Bay, has resulted in 101 charges.
Equipment used in the production of methamphetamine and a variety of dangerous drugs were seized, sealed in bags and sent to a special investigation unit in Brisbane where they will be analysed and eventually used as evidence.
A number of firearms and ammunition which were allegedly found during raids on a Honiton Street home and a boat believed to be linked to the Torquay resident living in the home will also be used as evidence.
Yesterday police confirmed 14 people had been arrested following the raids.
Of those, seven have faced court.
Scott William Hayes was the first to appear.
The 37-year-old Toogoom father faces a number of serious charges including possessing, producing and supplying methamphetamine and obstructing police.
He will re-appear next month.
Rebels Motorcycle Club member Gary Wayne Hyland and associate Constandinos Vasilios Dacolias have been charged with trafficking methamphetamine.
Eli Waters mum Tina Louise Nunns and 34-year-old Booral man Christopher Anthony Dinte face possession charges.
Also facing drug-related charges are Point Vernon resident Kim Buckley Beech and 56-year-old Eli Waters man James Cecil Norman Campbell.