Cannabis crackdown continues with third arrest this month
Plus police lay charges over a road chase which led them through Murray Bridge.
Police are continuing a crackdown on cannabis growers in Murray Bridge.
Officers reported a 61-year-old local man last Thursday after a search of his house.
They allegedly found two mature cannabis plants growing in the garden, plus a kilogram of dried cannabis in various containers.
The man will face cultivation and possession charges at Murray Bridge Magistrates’ Court, on a date yet to be determined.
Police had already arrested two other Murray Bridge men, aged 63 and 42, over backyard cannabis finds earlier in March.
Murray Mallee Superintendent Scott Denny warned last November that police planned to use a new tactical unit to target the illicit drug trade.
“Some people’s perception can be that cannabis is not a serious drug, but that’s not correct,” he said at the time.
He reported this week that police had seized 142 cannabis plants, 21 kilograms of cannabis, weapons and drug equipment across the Murray Mallee local service area during the past month.
- Report information about the growth, manufacture, supply or sale of illicit drugs: Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or www.crimestopperssa.com.au.
Two charged after rural road chase around Murray Bridge
Meanwhile, police have charged a man and woman who allegedly led them on a road chase from Kepa, through Murray Bridge and back onto the east side last week.
It was only by chance that police pulled over a black Ford on Boundary Road at Kepa around 8pm last Tuesday.
The car came to a stop, then allegedly reversed into a police car, causing minor damage, and sped away.
Officers gave pursuit but lost sight of the vehicle.
Patrols glimpsed it a couple more times after that, once heading out towards Mannum, then on a series of back roads through rural areas on the east side.
A helicopter soon spotted it on the Karoonda Highway, heading east.
The car then stopped and its driver allegedly ran off into a paddock, where he was arrested.
The 37-year-old man of no fixed address was charged with engaging in a pursuit, acts likely to cause harm, driving while unlicensed and bearing unassigned numberplates.
A passenger in the car, a 32-year-old Strathalbyn woman, did not try to escape but was charged with failing to answer officers’ questions.
He faced court in Murray Bridge the next day; she will do the same on May 23.
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