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Police have laid almost 500 charges following an eight-month investigation into alleged drug trafficking in south-west Queensland.
Investigators allege significant amounts of drugs were moved between Miles and Jondaryan – roughly 170 kilometres along the Warrego Highway, north-west of Toowoomba – seizing cocaine, methylamphetamine, cannabis, and more than $100,000 in cash.
Thirty-eight people have been charged with 496 offences, seven of them with drug trafficking.
Local police worked with the Brisbane Major Organised Drug Squad and the dog squad on the operation, executing 18 search warrants on Friday and Saturday.
Footage from the raids showed drugs hidden in various places around rural properties.
One shot showed a bucket containing a bag of white crystal substance jammed in a hollowed-out log and covered with bark. In another, an officer pulls a vacuum-sealed bag of what appears to be cannabis from a washing machine.
In a third, officers count stacks of $50 notes on a bed.
South West District Detective Inspector Andrew Trenerry said information given to police through CrimeStoppers was pivotal to the operation.
Of the seven people charged with drug trafficking, five are from Chinchilla – a 36-year-old man, a 34-year-old man, a 48-year-old man, a 32-year-old man, and a 32-year-old woman – while a 35-year-old Harristown man and a 22-year-old Jondaryan man are also facing the charge.
All seven have various court dates throughout May and June at the Chinchilla and Dalby magistrates courts.
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