VICTORIA. — Detectives from Operation Eclipse have charged a teenage boy as part of their investigation into notes instructing shop owners to ‘call the Commission’ left on shop fronts.
Investigators have linked 19 reported incidents of handwritten or typed notes across Melbourne and regional locations, Detective Inspector Graham Banks told the media.
“In targeting every level of the syndicate responsible for this criminality, we are quite often arresting youths who were not previously known to police and who have had no prior police contact,” Det. Insp. Banks said.
A search warrant was executed yesterday, Friday, August 7, at a residential address in the Moonee Valley area.
A 17-year-old boy was charged with a range of offences, including:
- Trafficking cocaine;
- Trafficking amphetamine;
- Trafficking ketamine;
- Possession [of] cocaine;
- Possession [of] amphetamine;
- Possessing other drug[s] of dependence;
- Possessing cannabis;
- Deal[ing ]in property suspected proceeds of crime;
- Possessing counterfeit money; and
- Failing to provide information/assistance – data under warrant
He will appear at a children’s court at a later date.
“Lured by the prospect of what they are told is some easy cash and anonymity behind encrypted devices, young people are committing serious criminal offences which have grave or life-changing ramifications,” Det. Insp. Banks said.
Detectives believe he may have been involved in the tasking of crimes on behalf of an offshore syndicate and those investigations are continuing.
“The outcomes can be devastating for their own family members, and for our wider community. This is not easy cash – these threats are playing with people’s livelihoods and their own sense of safety and it will not be tolerated,” Det. Insp. Banks said.
Police seized eight mobile phones, a large number of SIM cards, traffickable quantities of drugs of dependence, counterfeit currency, and cash believed to be the proceeds of crime from his address.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Operation Eclipse was established in April to target the organised crime syndicate responsible for attacks on licensed venues in central Melbourne, as well as against people associated to those businesses.
This operation has now expanded its focus to include other acts of violence directed by this syndicate. Violence, which has been undertaken to extort other business types and seek to control the illicit drug and tobacco markets.
The operation is led by specialist detectives including the Gang Crime Squad and Arson and Explosives Squad who continue to work closely with local police, in particular regional detectives who continue to respond to and investigate these incidents.
Police continue to have an increased presence in both an overt and covert capacity throughout these entertainment precincts, including increased patrols of these areas and visits to licensed premises.
“I’d urge all parents and caregivers to have conversations with the young people in their lives about what they may be up to online. They will be caught, and they will be held to account.”
Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
