OFF THE WIRE
Chalpat Sonti
watoday.com.au
The suspected head of the WA chapter of the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle club and five others will finally stand trial over charges of trying to supply about eight kilograms of methylamphetamine.
Steve Milenkovski, 33, of Tuart Hill, has been in jail since February last year after being arrested following police raids of 12 properties across Perth and one in NSW.
The Perth properties included the Comancheros clubhouse at a Northbridge gymnasium during the raids, dubbed Operation Baystone.
Police - who claim Mr Milenkovski was the head of the club's fledgling Perth chapter - seized 5kg of the drug from the spare tyre of a a car transported from Sydney, and 2.7kg two months earlier at a Stirling house.
Mr Milenkovski was charged with two conspiracy offences relating to the drugs, as was a NSW man, Yuvaz Ozan, 32.
Four other men were also charged with the offences.
It was claimed one man flew to Perth, collected the car, drove it to a Bayswater address, before meeting another of the arrested men in North Perth.
Police also seized cash or property valued at $3.6m during the raids.
They claim Mr Milenkovski and his associates were using code words in text messages and phone conversations to move and sell the drugs.
Mr Milenkovski and Mr Ozan appeared in the District Court in Perth on Friday, where Chief Judge Peter Martino set a tentative trial date in July for the pair and their four co-accused.
The trial is expected to take five weeks but the date is dependent on agreement with counsel for the four co-accused.
Mr Milenkovski has been refused bail, but is appealing that decision, with a hearing due in February.
