OFF THE WIRE
BY: Aja Styles
Source: watoday.com.au
Police have charged two men after uncovering drugs and weapons in the vehicle at The Lakes this week.
Police have charged the Gypsy Joker's South Kalgoorlie President and a fellow gang member after allegedly finding 1.36 kilograms of methylamphetamine hidden in their car.
Officers from the gang crime squad and Kalgoorlie detectives made the arrest after a joint operation targeting drug running into the Goldfields mining region.
The officers intercepted the car on the Great Southern Highway, at the The Lakes, on the way to Kalgoorlie just before 6pm yesterday.
Chapter president Ralph Kometer, 43, and Austin James Doig, 22, were each charged with possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell and/or supply. They have both faced the Midland Magistrates Court today.
Police also raided a property in Ryde Street, Gosnells, where a World War II Carbine assault rifle and 417 rounds of ammunition and a bayonet was seized. Investigations into the firearms are continuing.
The drugs would have made a "significant" impact had they reached the streets, gang crime Detective Inspector Paul McMurtrie said.
"It has clearly demonstrated several members of the Gypsy Joker outlaw motorcycle gang are involved in organised crime and involved in the upper echelon of drug distribution and will also resort to bearing arms to defend their industry," he said.
The drugs were estimated to be worth about $600,000 if sold by the ounce.
