Charges follow drug raids

By Kath Gannaway
A MAN from Millgrove and two men from Launching Place face drug charges after police from the Divisional Tasking Unit based in Croydon made a pre-Christmas visit to the Yarra Valley.
The DTU’s Senior Sergeant Jo Parker said a number of warrants were executed along the Warburton Highway and in Healesville, Yarra Glen and Mount Evelyn, following information given to Crime Stoppers.
The Launching Place men, both in their early 40s, will face Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on 3 March charged with cultivating and possessing cannabis. This followed a raid on 23 December.
A 26-year-old Millgrove man will also be at court that day after a Christmas Eve raid in which DTU officers found five cannabis plants.
As well, a 47-year-old man from Mount Evelyn will face charges of possession and use of an illegal substance after cannabis was found in his house, and with having an unregistered firearm.
A 47-year-old Yarra Glen man was bailed to Ringwood Magistrates’ Court following a raid on a shop in Healesville on 29 December. Sen Sgt Parker said police found amphetamines at the shop and a further warrant was executed on a house in Yarra Glen where cannabis was found.
On the same day, the five-member DTU squad raided a house on the Maroondah Highway, finding packaged amphetamines and cannabis.
A 57-year-old Healesville man has been charged with trafficking a drug of dependence. Both men were bailed to appear at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on 6 March.
Sen Sgt Parker urged people who have information about drug use, or dealing, to phone Crime Stoppers, where information can be given anonymously on 1800 333 000.