Over the past 5 weeks, Police have seized and removed approximately 20 illegal firearms from the community and charged 9 people with firearms related offences.
Detective Inspector Nathan Johnston from Northern CIB said, “Tasmania Police are committed to removing illegal firearms from our community.”
Yesterday, in a joint operation involving members from Southern District, Western District, Northern District and the Dog Handler Unit, police seized 7 firearms during multiple searches. As a result, a 52-year-old man from Punchbowl was charged with firearms and drug charges and a 36-year-old man from Sidmouth was charged with family violence, firearms and drugs related offences.
On May 13th, police intercepted the vehicle of a person of interest in the Kings Meadows area. Officers located and seized a number of items including a sawn-off shotgun, a quantity of ammunition, 200 MDMA tablets and a quantity of cash. A 33-year-old man from West Launceston was charged with several firearms and drug related offences.
And on the 9th of May, police seized eleven illegal firearms and a quantity of ammunition during a search at a Nunamara property. Investigations into this matter are ongoing.
“Every illegal firearm in our community is a concern – of those seized in the last few weeks many of the firearms were stolen,” said DI Johnston.
“Illegal and unregistered firearms are a risk to our communities, and I urge anyone with information about these firearms to come forward – your information can help police to remove these items from our streets.”
Information can be provided anonymously to police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 330 000.
