THE continuing good work of Bathurst police is shining a light on an underbelly of our local community few of us would be aware existed.
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Just last week police charged five people in relation to the alleged supply of the deadly drug ice in Bathurst and other Central West towns.
Those arrests came after a series of raids at homes and workplaces in Bathurst last Thursday following a nine-month investigation by Strike Force Garnier.
Those five people will each have their day in court where their guilt or otherwise will be determined.
But what is certain even now is that last week’s raids have had a significant impact on the current supply of ice in the community.
In speaking to the media last week, Detective Superintendent Paul McDonald said last Thursday’s raids netted around 700 grams of the drug methamphetamine (ice), equivalent to 70,000 single hit of the drugs.
That single seizure was worth an estimated $1.4 million on the street, money that would otherwise have ended up in the pocket of drug suppliers.
But while most in the community would happily applaud the police for their good work with these arrests, many would also be shocked by the size of the seizure.
Police have made it clear they believe the seizure would dramatically disrupt the supply of drugs in our region, but so many hits of ice in a single haul would suggest the local drugs scourge runs much deeper than most us would have realised.
Over the weekend, police followed up the initial raids with a second ice seizure, this time around 500 grams.
That’s another $1 million worth of drugs that officers say would otherwise have been sold on local streets. We wonder where it will end.
Few of us would have been so naive to have believed there was no methamphetamine in our city, but how many would have guessed there could be that much?
At the same time as these arrests were taking place, two Bathurst people were jailed for supplying a significant amount of heroin in the city.
That case involved around 160 grams of heroin and more than $100,000 in cash – again, frightening figures.
Every day, local police tackle Bathurst’s drug problem but only rarely do the rest of us get an insight into that world. It makes for uncomfortable viewing.