Officers from across the NSW Police Force have seized over $14 million worth of prohibited drugs, disrupting significant sources of large-scale drug supply and organised crime activity as part of Operation Vitreus national week of action.
Operation Vitreus is a joint initiative between all Australian state and territory police agencies, the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, AUSTRAC, Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and New Zealand Police, which ran between Monday 19 August 2024 and Friday 23 August 2024.
During the operation, 1,611 people were arrested, resulting in 2,962 charges and the seizure of over 7kg of heroine, 107kg of methylamphetamine, 42kg of cocaine, 12kg of MDMA, 2.5kg of ketamine, 2512 cannabis plants and 247kg of cannabis, as well as 71 firearms and over $2.2 million in cash.
The estimated combined street value of all drugs seized during the operation is $93 million.
The NSW Police operation – led by State Crime Command’s Organised Crime Squad – saw over 311 arrests, resulting in 456 charges, and the seizure of over 1.4kg of heroine, 18.6kg of methylamphetamine, 3.6kg of cocaine, 287g of MDMA, 132 Cannabis plants and 4.8kg of cannabis and 23 firearms.
The estimated combined street value of all drugs seized in NSW is over $14 million.
Detective Superintendent Peter Faux, Commander of NSW Police Force’s Organised Crime Squad and national chair of Operation Vitreus, has praised the combined efforts of all agencies involved in this year’s operation.
“The national week of action, involving representatives from all law enforcement and intelligence agencies across Australia and New Zealand, has resulted in the significant seizures of prohibited drugs, both at the border and within our communities.
“Collaboration between all agencies is vital to the success of this operation and we will continue to work together to prevent these harmful drugs from entering our communities,” Det Supt Faux said.
“The week of action has seen over 1600 people charged and put before the courts around the country for drug related offences. The message is: if you use prohibited drugs, supply prohibited drugs or import prohibited drugs, these arrests are warning to you that there is a high likelihood that you will come to the attention of law enforcement,” he said.
