A 32-year-old man has been extradited from Victoria today on serious drug trafficking charges following a drug operation that became a cross-border manhunt, Queensland Police say.
In 2013, police from State Crime Command, Metropolitan North Region and Southern Region closed two major operations focused on the trafficking of methylamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine and cannabis across Brisbane and Logan.
Operations Juliet Cheshire and Juliet Cheshire 2 commenced in 2011 and 2012 by the State Drug Investigation Unit in conjunction with Fortitude Valley CIB. The operations focused on a network of drug traffickers operating out of the Brisbane metropolitan and Logan areas. The key focus of the operation was to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs into the Fortitude Valley entertainment precinct.
In 2013, the principal offender was arrested, allegedly responsible for the distribution of approximately $4million worth of methylamphetamine (ice) and cannabis to a customer base throughout Brisbane and as far afield as Broome, Western Australia. At the time of his arrest, the man was located with 380 grams of ice and was charged with trafficking dangerous drugs (alleged to have occurred between October 2012 and February 2013).
The man was due to be sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court on July 18, 2016, however failed to appear.
Since that time, police have made sustained efforts to locate the man which culminated in the apprehension and arrest by members of the Victoria Police Fugitives Taskforce in Melbourne on May 22.
The man has been extradited to Brisbane and is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court tomorrow morning.
