May 26, 2020
Police have charged a total of 66 people during an eight-month operation targeting the supply of dangerous drugs in Blackbutt, Yarraman, Nanango and Kingaroy.
Operation Butza officially closed on Sunday night.
During the operation, which commenced in September 2019, police executed multiple search warrants, conducted vehicle intercepts, utilised covert surveillance and other tactical actions.
This resulted in 443 drug, property and weapon-related charges.
The operation culminated on Sunday with the arrest of a 25-year-old Kingaroy man in Blackbutt.
He was charged with 59 offences, including 57 counts of supplying dangerous drugs, and one count each of trafficking dangerous drugs and receiving or possessing property obtained from trafficking or supplying.
He was due to appear in Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Monday.
During Operation Butza, police say they seized drugs to the value of more than $237,000, including more than $21,000 of methamphetamine and $215,000 of cannabis, as well as stolen property and illegal firearms.
Detective Acting Superintendent Mat Kelly said the results reinforced the need to employ a joint approach between regional and specialist practitioners that target drug supply, demand and harm reduction.
“The Queensland community continues to consume illicit drugs at concerning levels, particularly in regional areas, which is empirically supported by waste water analysis and evident in the outcomes of this operation,” he said.
“Operation Butza has proven a great win for police and the community.”
Well done to the Police services in fighting drug crimes in the South Burnett.
Our Police forces do their job “above and beyond”. God bless them, they do a wonderful job but it is the courts and our magistrates that continually let us down with minimal sentences or letting out crims way early in their sentences, and the usual “slap on the wrists”, especially for young repeat offenders, seems to be the norm.
The Police, bless them, do everything possible to protect the community and catch the crims yet our magistrates sitting in their white towers like royalty dispense their brand of justice and do not carry out the laws of the state and country to the letter. This beggars the question, “Are our magistrates out of touch with society”?
If these magistrates ever becomes victims of crimes themselves, as I have, their court justice will take a new turn for the better, you can bet, where Magistrates actually protect the community from repeat criminal offenders. Until then we must put up with these magistrates and their leniency to criminals and being out of touch with society.
Hey magistrates, how about doing something out of the ordinary and actually listen to the police advice when they say “Don’t release this person into the community or they will re-offend and breach their DVO again and go beat up their ex again, just like they did when you let him go last time!”
The Police know what they are talking about. The community have already found that out long ago in our praise and admiration for them. Maybe magistrates need to listen to the Police, too, just for a change.