Police have made dozens of arrests in recent weeks and seized several weapons, including a machete, as well as drugs and cash, as part of an ongoing safety blitz at Westfield Shopping Centre in Airport West.
Moonee Valley police have been running targeted operations in the shopping centre in recent weeks, with a two-day operation in June, and another two-day weapons operation last week.
This is in addition to Operation Valleysafe, an ongoing proactive operation which sees police patrolling key popular locations in the area, such as shopping centres and strips.
Busy community locations such as shopping centres and transport hubs remain key priorities for police to ensure safety and public order.
Uniform police, the Public Order Response Team, Mounted Branch and the Dog Squad deployed to the area last week as part of a two-day weapons operation, which led to:
- 19 arrests for outstanding warrants, weapons, drug trafficking and possession
- Seized seven controlled weapons including pocket knives, box cutters and multitools
- Nearly 70 searches of people in the area
- Over 250 vehicles scanned through ANPR, with 31 searched
- Cleared eight outstanding arrest warrants
Among those arrested were:
- Police located quantities of 1,4 Butanediol on two men across the two days last week. One of the men had his vehicle searched on Friday after allegedly driving disqualified, which uncovered the drugs, and a further search of the driver uncovered $8,000 in cash. One of the men was charged with drug trafficking, and the other was charged for driving disqualified, drug possession and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
- Another man was arrested after allegedly assaulting a police officer inside the shopping centre. Police observed the man allegedly smoking inside the shopping centre, and when officers approached him, he allegedly pushed the police officer and resisted arrest. The 20-year-old man from Ardeer was charged with assault police, resist police and smoking in an enclosed workplace.
Under the Control of Weapons Act, the area was declared a designated area for weapon searches from 10-11 July.
It follows a recent operation where police worked closely with Loss Prevention Officers to identify shop thieves, resulting in the arrest of 12 people.
- Two 14-year-old males were also arrested outside of the shopping centre on Sunday 22 June after bystanders stepped in during an alleged attempted armed robbery. It's alleged that about 11.40am on Sunday 22 June, two males entered a tobacco store located at the shopping centre. The males allegedly grabbed a number of items from the store, with one of the males approaching a staff member and brandishing a large machete. Bystanders nearby intervened, and both males allegedly returned the items before they ran off. Police were nearby on a foot patrol and responded immediately, arresting the two males near a bus stop on Louis Street. A search of the two males uncovered a large machete and knuckle dusters. One of the 14-year-olds was charged with armed robbery, possess prohibited weapon and going equipped to steal. He was bailed to appear at a children's court at a later date. The other male was released and is expected to be charged on summons.
Police will continue to run operations in the area to target weapon offences, theft and shop steal and overall improve community safety.
Quotes attributable to Moonee Valley Local Area Commander, Acting Inspector Raj Tillekeratne:
"There are significant benefits to running these operations which sees an influx of dedicated police resources to our local area.
"Not only are we able to catch offenders and those carrying weapons, we are also engaging with the community, preventing crime and helping build our intelligence to assist our efforts in the future.
"While we always have police patrolling our local busy shopping centres, this operation is about sending a clear message to offenders and the local community that we simply won't tolerate any weapons offences.
"We'll continue to run regular operations in the area, so you never know when police might be present."
