Police have revealed more details about a recent five-week operation that resulted in 20 people being arrested and charged.
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Australian Federal Police's National Anti-Gangs Squad Tasmanian Sergeant Nick Gibson said a man had recently been raided by both AFP officers and Tasmania Police.
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During the raid, the man allegedly tried to flush cash down the toilet, and was later charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Stephen James Williams, 40, of Waverley, has since fronted court and pleaded not guilty to the charge. He will now face the Launceston Supreme Court next month. Sergeant Gibson said a woman - also detained during the raid - had been charged with defrauding the Commonwealth of $170,000.
He said police would allege the woman, who had yet to appear in court, had been receiving a carer's payment from Services Australia since 2016, for a woman who does not live in Tasmania.
Mr Williams, and the woman, are among a number of people to be investigated by Operation Coat, which was the work of about 12 dedicated police from Launceston CIB, Tasmania's Crime and Intelligence Command and AFP.
A total of 15 searches were conducted at properties across Launceston as part of the operation, with $143,000 in cash, four firearms, 40 grams of ice, and 91 ecstasy tablets seized.
Charges laid against a number of persons included aggravated armed robbery, aggravated burglary, trafficking in a controlled substance, dealing in the proceeds of crime, breaching a consorting notice, breaching home detention, breaching bail, and firearms offences.
The seizure of illicit drugs and firearms during this operation is of particular importance.
- Sergeant Nick Gibson
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