Police located drugs and firearms during an early morning traffic stop in Mount Gambier last week.
In the early hours of Thursday morning police received information from Hamilton Police in Victoria regarding a Holden Captiva speeding towards the South Australian border.
Victoria Police suspected the car had been travelling in convoy with another vehicle which they had stopped and then located drugs and weapons in.
Mount Gambier patrols saw the vehicle in Orr Street just before 3am and stopped the driver.
The vehicle was subsequently searched and police located 62 grams of a crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine, an unregistered prescribed firearm and a hand held Taser.
The driver, a 49-year-old man from Mount Gambier, was arrested for trafficking in a controlled drug, possessing a prescribed firearm and possessing a dangerous article.
Police subsequently searched the man’s home and located another quantity of methamphetamine, numerous other items to suggest trafficking in controlled drugs, a small amount of cannabis and two unregistered gel blaster firearms.
As a result of investigations, police arrested a second man, a 37-year-old from Mount Gambier and charged him with trafficking in a controlled drug and possessing an unregistered firearm.
Both men were refused bail and appeared in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on Thursday where they were remanded in custody.
A police spokesperson said the message was simple, “if you have a gel blaster, you have a firearm.”
“Gel blasters are subject to the same licensing, registration and security conditions as other firearms,” the spokesperson said.
“Any person not licensed to have a gel blaster or any person with a gel blaster that is not registered can surrender it to police or a participating licensed firearms dealer as part of the firearms amnesty.”
Meanwhile, Mount Gambier police have arrested a man following the theft of a trailer, two motorcycles and a fridge.
Sometime between 8pm on Friday and 11am the following day, a trailer with two motorcycles and a camping fridge was stolen from the driveway of a house in Mount Gambier.
Following investigations, police attended a unit complex in Mount Gambier and located the stolen trailer, one of the motorcycles and the camping fridge.
The occupant, a 29-year-old local man, was charged with theft.
Further enquiries revealed the same man was wanted in connection with an alleged aggravated assault in Adelaide the previous month.
Police will allege the man was exiting past the security gates of a CBD sports store on September 15, when the alarms activated.
When staff approached, the man allegedly threatened them with a hammer before leaving.
The accused was further charged with aggravated assault and has been bailed to appear in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on November 22.
Police are still looking for one of the stolen motorcycles – a red 2007 Honda CRF450X registration YZO528.
Anyone who spots the motorcycle or has any information about its whereabouts, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au or call 1800 333 000.
The recovered property was returned to the owner.
