Six arrested in ice drug raids in Sydney

Police have arrested five men and one women, aged between 18 and 26, during raids targeting a drug ice syndicate operating across Sydney. Cash, electronic devices, drugs and paraphernalia were seized from homes in Yagoona, Sefton and Mount Pritchard, and from a hotel room in Sydney’s south west on Tuesday morning.

The State Crime Command’s Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS) detectives also seized a Lexus SUV from one of the houses.

Two of the men arrested, 26 and 19, were apprehended at a Yagoona home and taken to Bankstown Police Station. They were charged with supply commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and direct criminal group. The younger man was also charged with resisting police in the execution of duty. Both are expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

The other two men, a 26-year-old and a 23-year-old, were taken from a hotel and charged with supply commercial quantity of prohibited drugs and money laundering at the Bankstown Police Station. Another 26-year-old man, arrested from a Mount Pritchard home, was taken to Burwood Police Station and charged with supplying prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis. He appeared in court on the same day.

The only woman arrested, 18, was from Sefton. She was taken to Auburn Police Station and charged with supply prohibited drugs on ongoing basis, deal in the process of crime, and participate in a criminal group. She will appear in court Wednesday.

All six arrested were refused bail.

Ice, a highly addictive stimulant drug, is also known as crystal meth. Alhough it has been around for decades, ice use has surged in last couple of years in Australia. Last year, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced an $18 million budget over four years for the Australian Crime Commission to tackle drug syndicates.