TWELVE people have now been charged with more than 60 offences as part of a police sting targeting the 'party drug' scene in Tamworth.
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Hunter Ford, 20, Corey Cutmore, Stephanie Lorraine Jackson and Kosta Sakellariou are behind bars after Strike Force Heyward swooped in Tamworth, Muswellbrook and the Hunter, earlier this month.
Two other women have now been in charged, in addition to the five men and a 15-year-old boy who were already on conditional bail ahead of court appearances in the new year for a raft of drug charges.
Together the 12 are facing a combined 64 offences, including ongoing supply and large commercial supply of MDMA, or ecstasy as it's commonly known.
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Oxley Detective acting Inspector Jason Darcy told the Leader there was still more to come.
"This has been an extensive investigation that has seen 12 men, women and a juvenile charged with more than 60 drug-related offences," he said on Monday.
"This was an operation led by the Oxley Target Action Group that was set-up to target the party drug scene in and around licensed premises in Tamworth.
"That investigation has widened and we have seen people charged as far down as the Hunter, Port Stephens and Armidale, and there is still more arrests to come."
How the arrests unfolded
When the operation unfolded on December 5, 23-year-old Cutmore - the alleged ringleader - was arrested, along with two others in a car stop in Muswellbrook.
Two Tamworth men were arrested on the same day during raids on their homes on Armidale Road and in Westdale's Mayne Drive.
Then on December 9, police pounced again, arresting Sakellariou, while a 15-year-old co-accused spent one night in custody before he was released on bail in Tamworth Children's Court.
Two days later, officers arrested a an 18-year-old man in Armidale on allegations of ecstasy supply and conspiracy to deal MDMA. He remains on bail.
On December 12, Jackson was arrested after handing herself into police in Tamworth. She's accused of supplying 277 ecstasy pills in the Tamworth and Armidale areas and has been denied bail after the magistrate found it was "a strong case" against her.
On December 13, a 21-year-old Tamworth woman was charged with ecstasy supply, and participating in a criminal group. She remains on bail ahead of her first court date in mid-January.
On the same day, 20-year-old Ford, a promising motorbike rider, was charged with commercial MDMA supply.
Police from Port Stephens, working with Strike Force Heyward, raided Ford's Anna Bay home and seized 11.9g of what they allege is MDMA. He's been refused bail on nine drug supply and possession charges.
It's the police case that Ford was an upper-level supplier, allegedly supplying hundreds of ecstasy pills.
On December 17, a woman from Pitnacree in the Maitland area was arrested in connection to the Heyward investigation. She is charged with commercial supply of MDMA and breaching her bail.
She was granted bail to front court next week.
Breanna Chillingworth
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
