Pubdate: Tue, 21 Sept 1999 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Contact: http://www.smh.com.au/ Author: Les Kennedy, Chief Police Reporter $312M DRUG GANG BUSTED IN DAWN RAIDS, SAY POLICE Police claim they have smashed a drug syndicate behind the manufacture of a record $312 million worth of amphetamines after arresting 10 people in dawn raids in NSW and Queensland yesterday. The NSW Police Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan, said the raids netted ammunition and firearms, including three sawn-off shotguns, pistols and two military rifles, plus police radio scanners and disguises, including a pill-stamping press used to manufacture drugs. As those arrested faced courts in Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane, Mr Ryan said heroin and 25,000 ecstasy pills had also been seized. It was the forth major raid by Internal Affairs Police and Special Crime Squad detectives in an 18-month investigation codenamed Gymea. The investigation, which originally targeted police and criminal connections, has led to 110 arrests, including four former and serving police officers. Those arrested in yesterday's raids included a fitness instructor with the South Sydney Rugby League Club, Richard John "Harry" Harris. The others were two Sydney women, aged 30 and 39, a horse breeder from Williamtown, a 58-year-old Brisbane businessman, four Sydney men and a 42-year-old director of a fitness company from Umina on the Central Coast. The Umina businessman, Glenn Roderick Flack, who was named in a statement of facts presented to Central Local Court as a principalin the syndicate with Richard Harris, 38, of Punchbowl,also made a separate appearance before a Central Local Court magistrate, Mr Alan Moore. Flack, who police alleged was a convicted armed robber with an "extensive criminal history", including firearm, property, assault and malicious wounding offences, was charged by Operation Gymea detectives on August 25 last year with possession of 2.5 kilograms of cannabis. Police alleged Flack had been directly implicated as "having constructive control and knowledge" of a Five Dock garage used as a safe house where hydriodic acid, which is used in the manufacture of methylamphetamine, was stored with 12 prohibited firearms, ammunition, scanners and cannabis. "On June 9, 1998, police discovered 2.5 kilograms of methylamphetamine in the Drummoyne garage which was manufactured through associates of Flack and Harris." Police said legal listening devices and telephone intercepts "recorded conversations between Flack, Harris and others which confirmed Flack's criminal involvement". Flack, a father of two children, who was charged with three counts of supplying a prohibited drug and one count of manufacturing a prohibited drug and 13 firearm offences, denied through his legal counsel any involvement with the drugs or weapons. He was remanded to reappear today for a bail hearing. Harris did not enter any plea. He was charged with a variety of drug matters, including conspiring to supply 2.5 kilograms of methylamphetamine, 260 kilograms of psuedophedrine hydrochloride and 35 kilograms of cannabis and conspiring to make a prohibited drug. Harris was also charged with possession of illegal firearms. In a statement of facts presented to the court, police alleged that Flack, Harris and Williamtown horse breeder Ronald Wayne Jordan, 52, "and others conspired to make and supply methylamphetamine and supply 260 kilograms of psuedophedrine hydrochloride (HCL). "This amount of psuedophedrine hydrochloride HCL is capable of being manufactured into in excess of one tonne of street level methylamphetamine valued at over $100 million," police alleged. Harris did not enter a plea and was remanded to reappear on October 18. Jordan appeared before Newcastle Local Court yesterday charged with conspiring with Flack and Harris to manufacture and supply $100 million worth of methylamphetamine. He was refused bail and will reappear on September 28. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea