Police raided properties and made car stops throughout the Riverina and the Albury-Wodonga border areas from Monday to yesterday in Operation Blue Ember.
NSW Police carried out 24 Firearms Prohibition Order (FPO) searches, served 18 FPOs, made 19 arrests and seized three firearms and quantities of ammunition.
Victoria Police seized one firearm and eight prohibited weapons and arrested eight individuals.
Other gadgets seized by officers included imitation firearms, prohibited weapons, explosives and medicines.
Victoria Police’s Viper taskforce and NSW’s Raptor South Squad have been concerned within the operation.
NSW State Crime Command director of crime operations, Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Weinstein, stated outlaw motorbike gangs couldn’t evade the legislation in the event that they moved to regional cities.
“Cross-border crime is ever present in our society, with the attraction of the drug trade pushing organised criminal figures out of the city and into regional towns, believing they are safe from being targeted and out of constant law enforcement attention,” he stated.
“This couldn’t be further from the truth – particularly with the establishment of our Raptor South Squad, we continue to gather intelligence and information about what groups are active and their activities, which are potentially linked to organised crime.”
Victoria Police’s Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly flagged extra joint operations between the police forces to focus on OMG exercise.
“This week of joint action between Viper and Raptor is significant in many ways. It’s the first time we’ve worked together on an operation like this, but it certainly won’t be the last,” he stated.
“The message is simple: if you are involved in serious and or organised crime, we will be unrelenting in our mission to disrupt your activities and protect our community.”
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Source: www.9news.com.au
