AFP unable to rule out whether users are visiting modern opium dens to buy and consume the drug
One of Australia’s emerging niche drugs in 2023 happens to be one of the country’s oldest.
About 180 years after opium was first imported into the country, the Australian federal police seized more than double the amount of the drug this year than in 2022. It is also almost six times the amount seized in 2021.
Continue reading...About 39kg of the drug was found by a fisherman on Tuesday, before a similar amount was discovered in Newcastle
A fisherman on Sydney’s northern beaches is one of several members of the public to discover packages containing 124kg of cocaine that have washed up on the New South Wales coast, sparking a police investigation.
NSW police on Wednesday confirmed its state crime command were investigating after the packages were discovered on beaches between Sydney and Newcastle from Friday. The initial barnacle-encrusted discoveries sparked a warning against removing or opening any more that were discovered.
Continue reading...Emergency services called to Penrith Beach on Boxing Day after a man was seen going underwater and not resurfacing
A man’s body has been found after a search at a newly opened beach in Sydney’s west.
Emergency services were called to Penrith Beach just after 2.30pm on Boxing Day after a man was seen going underwater and not resurfacing.
Continue reading...NSW police say no one should open or remove any of the packages after finding seven washed ashore
New South Wales police have issued a warning to the public about packages suspected of containing cocaine washing up on beaches between Sydney and Newcastle.
At least seven packages – with “significant barnacle growth” on the outer plastic wrapping – have been found on beaches since Friday night, and police on Sunday warned people not to open or remove any further finds.
Continue reading...‘Very disappointing results, it is no wonder that so many Australians remain fed up with our major airlines,’ Catherine King says. Follow today’s news updates live
‘Very, very clear’ renewables are the cheapest form of energy, Bowen says
Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, including its storage and transmission costs, the energy minister told ABC RN.
Its conclusions this year are unimpeachable and very, very clear.
The cheapest form of energy is renewable energy, even including the costs that go with renewable energy around storage and transmission.
Continue reading...Officer, who cannot be identified, was charged in November with driving under the influence and high-range drink driving
A senior New South Wales police officer charged with allegedly crashing a work car in Sydney’s NorthConnex tunnel after getting drunk at a work function earlier this year has pleaded not guilty.
The high-ranking detective, whose identity is being kept secret under a court order, was charged in November with driving under influence of alcohol and high-range drink-driving, nearly six months after the May incident.
Continue reading...The 2020 blunder, whereby more than 400 Australian public servants received the photo, revealed in annual report of former corruption watchdog
A criminal syndicate was tipped off to a covert operation after federal law enforcement staff shared photos of an intercepted shipping container with more than 400 public servants across multiple agencies.
The blunder compromised the investigation, prompted a multi-agency corruption investigation and led to written warnings to the heads of the Department of Home Affairs, the federal police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
Continue reading...Jones strongly denies allegations as NSW police confirm there is no current investigation into Jones but say sex crimes squad will try to contact complainant this week
New South Wales police say they will this week try to speak to a person who made a complaint about Alan Jones to officers in 2017, after the police commissioner, Karen Webb, said last week that no complaints had been made about the broadcaster.
She made the comments during a press conference on Friday after allegations of indecent assault were published in the Sydney Morning Herald the day before. Jones has strongly denied the allegations and has threatened legal action.
Continue reading...Five patrons at the Royal Daylesford Hotel about an hour’s drive from Melbourne were killed after a car crashed into the beer garden
A man charged over the Daylesford beer garden crash that killed five people received multiple alerts on his phone suggesting his blood glucose levels were low shortly before the incident, a Melbourne court has heard.
On Monday morning, Victoria police charged William Swale, 66, with five counts of culpable driving causing death, two counts of negligently causing serious injury and seven counts of reckless conduct endangering life over the 5 November crash.
Continue reading...Officers interviewed people who wished to remain silent despite court judgments finding practice was improper, law enforcement commission says
New South Wales police officers have been interviewing young people in custody in a way that compromises their right to silence, with a report by the state’s law enforcement watchdog finding it is a “systemic problem”.
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) found that NSW police had also failed to act with any urgency to prevent officers interviewing vulnerable people, including Aboriginal people and young people, after they had received legal advice and said that they did not wish to be interviewed.
Continue reading...Victoria police say theft may not be only motive of two men who targeted coffin of Meshilin Marrogi, the sister of George Marrogi
An attempt to remove a body from a Melbourne mausoleum was part of a plot by an underworld figure to disturb a gangland rival, police believe.
Detectives confirmed on Friday that it was suspected two men who committed the offence had been trying to remove the corpse of Meshilin Marrogi to cause “friction and hurt” to her imprisoned brother, George Marrogi.
Continue reading...Tarrin-Macen O’Sullivan’s mother charged with murder more than two years after son found dead in back yard pool in Munbura near Mackay
The mother of a four-year-old boy found dead in a back yard pool in regional Queensland has been charged with murder.
Tarrin-Macen O’Sullivan was discovered after emergency services responded to a call about a child drowning in August 2021.
Continue reading...Judicial inquiry reviewing convictions of group jailed in 1981 over alleged terror plot to blow up Sydney targets
The testimony of a key witness and actions of a corrupt New South Wales police officer will be probed during an inquiry into the 1981 terror plot convictions of a group known as the ‘Croatian Six’.
The judicial inquiry, which began on Monday, will examine the possibility that Crown witness Vico Virkez may have been working for Yugoslavian intelligence services.
Continue reading...Foster parents of missing William Tyrrell facing court on assault and intimidation charges of another child who was in their care
William Tyrrell’s foster father rejects claims he grabbed a child by the neck as his lawyers argue he applied medium force to push the youngster down as they tried to get out of a timeout.
The 56-year-old foster father and 58-year-old foster mother returned to Parramatta local court on Monday.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
The NSW Australian Paramedics Association will take part in a 12-hour strike today, from 7am to 7pm, despite the threat of legal action.
Members will still attend emergency “lights and sirens” jobs as part of an ongoing pay dispute.
We want to assure the public that emergencies will still be attended to, with our focus intensifying on life-threatening cases.
Our decision to limit responses to non-emergency jobs enhances our capacity to manage critical cases.
Facing potential legal repercussions and a substantial fine of up to $20,000 per day, our commitment remains firm.
Continue reading...Sr Const Kristian White, 33, was previously charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm and common assault
The New South Wales police officer accused of Tasering 95-year-old Clare Nowland who later died has been charged with manslaughter after advice from the state’s director of public prosecutions.
Police announced the upgraded charges for Sr Const Kristian White on Wednesday morning.
Continue reading...Angela Pucci Love says she believes police failed to understand ‘the level of risk’ her sister, 28-year-old Bridget Flack, faced
One of Victoria’s top police officers says he is concerned to hear the sister of a missing transgender woman was told to call the fire brigade to search her apartment, saying it is not “proper process”.
Angela Pucci Love, the sister of 28-year-old Bridget Flack who died in 2020, gave evidence on Monday at a coronial inquiry investigating the deaths of five transgender and gender-diverse young people who died of suspected suicide between 2020 and 2021.
Continue reading...Greens MP and Australian Festival Association say NSW force charging much more than other states to patrol equivalent events
New South Wales police have been accused of “price gouging” and operating a “rort” that threatens the viability of music festivals, by charging tens of thousands of dollars more than their counterparts in other states to patrol the events.
The Greens MP Cate Faehrmann told NSW parliament this week that a recent festival that played across three states paid $107,852 for policing for 16,000 people in NSW, but just $45,000 for 14,000 people in both Victoria and Queensland.
Continue reading...Statistical dashboard with up-to-date figures on victims is ‘crucial’ in helping police and policymakers tackle domestic violence, minister for women says
A new intimate partner homicide dashboard offering more up-to-date figures will soon be available after the deaths of four South Australian women in one week.
The government will introduce the federal statistical dashboard by mid-2024 to provide more timely reporting on intimate partner homicide. The new dashboard will enable police, governments, policymakers and all those who are working to end violence against women and children, to better understand what is happening and when. It will initially provide quarterly updates but is expected to provide more up-to-date figures as the initiative develops.
Continue reading...Jordan Shanks-Markovina is being provided with police protection due to suspected gang links to fire attacks
A YouTube personality whose home was targeted in a suspected arson case is being given police protection as detectives hunt the organised criminals believed to be behind the attack.
Investigators hope CCTV footage, released on Wednesday, could spark a breakthrough as they try to find those responsible for the fire at the Bondi house of Jordan Shanks-Markovina, known online as Friendlyjordies.
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