Officers from the VIPER Taskforce have charged a man and seized three vehicles, a Rolex watch, cash and drugs as part of a targeted investigation.
A Firearm Prohibition Order (FPO) compliance search was initially conducted on Tuesday, 10 January at a residential address in Tullamarine.
Police seized a Range Rover Sport, a RAM Laramie and a Mazda 3 (previously stolen from an address in Essendon in December), a radio frequency jammer, a Rolex watch, approximately $28,000 cash and what appears to be cocaine.
A further search of the seized vehicles was conducted over the following week, and on Wednesday, 18 January approximately 1kg of what appears to be ketamine was found concealed inside the Range Rover.
A 36-year-old Tullamarine man, who was not home when the initial FPO search was executed, was arrested by VIPER on Friday afternoon (20 January).
He was subsequently charged with traffick large commercial quantity - ketamine, two counts of deal property suspected proceeds of crimes, traffick cocaine, possess cannabis, possess radio frequency jammer and theft of motor vehicle.
The man was remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 14 April.
The VIPER Taskforce is a tactical and investigative unit based within Crime Command focused on preventing, detecting, deterring, disrupting and dismantling the criminal activities of groups such as outlaw motorcycle gangs, organised crime networks and street gangs.
The taskforce, which commenced in July 2022, supports the work of specialist investigation units and regional police by providing further investigation tactics and enforcement actions.
VIPER is an acronym for visibility, intelligence, prevention, enforcement and reassurance.
Anyone with information about organised criminal or illicit drug activity is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.auExternal Link
