Two men will appear in court today charged after counterfeit designer products worth $500,000 were seized at properties in Merrylands, Chester Hill and South Granville.
In December 2022, officers attached to Cumberland Police Area Command established Strike Force Pinanpinga to investigate the illegal sale of cannabis products online.
Following extensive inquiries, detectives executed search warrants at properties in Merrylands, Chester Hill and South Granville about 7.30am on Thursday, April 27.
During the searches, investigators seized counterfeit designer products worth about $500,000, two firearms, a gel blaster rifle, gold bullion, nine mobile phones, 1.5l of cannabis oil and over $60,000 cash.
Two men, both aged 22, were arrested – one at the Chester Hill address and one in Merrylands.
They were taken to Granville Police Station, where the Merrylands man was charged with ‘supply prohibited drug greater than or equal to large commercial quantity’, ‘knowingly deal in the proceeds of crime’, and ‘sell etc/possess/import goods with false trademarks’.
The Chester Hill man was charged with ‘knowingly deal in the proceeds of crime’, ‘sell etc/possess/import goods with false trademarks’, ‘possess unauthorised firearm’, ‘holder of category A or B licence not have approved storage’, and ‘failure to comply with digital evidence access order’.
They were refused bail to appear before Parramatta Local Court today.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.