Police have charged eight more people as part of region-wide drug busts taking the total number of arrests to 17.
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Officers from the Shoalhaven and Far South Coast Local Area Commands teamed up to form Strike Force Idlewild in December last year to investigate alleged drug supply across the two commands.
Nine people were charged following raids in Worrigee, Ulladulla, Burrill Lake, Batemans Bay, Moruya, Surfside and Catalina on Tuesday. Four have appeared in Bega Local Court and were refused bail.
Following further investigations another eight people from Nowra, Ulladulla, Kiola, Batemans Bay, Catalina and Moruya were arrested on Wednesday.
Strike Force Idlewild investigators arrested four men and four women who were all charged with drug supply matters.
A 28-year-old Batemans Bay woman was charged with three counts of supplying prohibited drugs and taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug.
A 36-year-old Denhams Beach woman was charged with supplying a prohibited drug and taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug.
A 29-year-old Kiola man was charged with two counts of supplying a prohibited drug.
A 40-year-old Catalina woman was charged with supplying a prohibited drug.
A 39-year-old Moruya man was charged with two counts of supplying a prohibited drug and taking part in the supply prohibited drug.
They were all granted conditional bail to appear at Batemans Bay Local Court on June 20.
A 29-year-old Ulladulla man was charged with supplying a prohibited drug and granted conditional bail to appear at Nowra Local Court on June 20.
A 19-year-old Ulladulla man was charged with supplying a prohibited drug and taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug, while a 30-year-old Nowra woman was charged with supplying a prohibited drug.
They were both granted conditional bail to appear at Milton Local Court on July 28.
Four men were refused bail when they appeared before Magistrate Doug Dick in Bega Local Court on Wednesday after being arrested in Tuesday’s raids.
Stephen Brian Ecclestone, 52, from Catalina was charged with three counts of taking part in supplying a prohibited drug, possessing a prohibited drug, having goods suspected of being stolen in custody and dealing with property expected to be from proceeds of crime.
Ecclestone applied for bail but it was refused, the prosecution opposed bail, saying there was a risk Ecclestone would fail to appear.
Dressed in a faded green prison tracksuit, Ecclestone asked “so what happens about my dog and house?”.
William Arthur Holmes, 31, of Moruya was charged with four counts of supplying a prohibited drug.
He did not apply for bail, which was formally refused.
Prospect man Benjamin Fagalilo, 25, was charged with not disclosing the identity of a driver and taking part in supplying a prohibited drug.
Fagalilo did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.
Samuel Leilua, 23, of Hoxton Park was charged with 12 counts of supplying a prohibited drug and did not apply for bail. It was formally refused.
All four men will reappear before Batemans Bay Local Court on July 11 via video link.
Police executed 12 simultaneous search warrants across the South Coast and Sydney on Tuesday, with other charged in the raids including -
A 39-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman from Worrigee were each charged with multiple counts of supplying a prohibited drug and taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug.
They have been granted conditional bail to appear at Nowra Local Court on Monday, June 6.
Two men, aged 36 and 52, from Ulladulla were charged with multiple counts of supplying a prohibited drug.
A 38-year-old man from Burrill Lake was charged with four counts of supplying a prohibited drug and supplying a prohibited drug on an ongoing basis.
They have been granted conditional bail to appear at Milton Local Court on Thursday, June 16.
Police said further arrests and charges are anticipated over the coming days and weeks as Strike Force Idlewild continues.