A man has been charged after two firearms were seized during a vehicle stop in the state’s Hunter region.
About 6.20pm yesterday (Monday 10 June 2024) officers attached to the Hunter Valley Traffic and Highway Patrol Command stopped a ute on Macqueen Street, Aberdeen, for the purposes of random testing.
The driver – a 37-year-old man – was subjected to a roadside breath test, which returned a negative result.
The man was then subjected to a roadside drug test, which allegedly returned a positive reading.
Police also subsequently searched the vehicle and seized two rifles, one of which was allegedly loaded, ammunition and a substance, believed to be methylamphetamine.
The man was arrested and taken to Muswellbrook Police Station for the purposes of a secondary drug test, which allegedly returned a positive reading to methylamphetamine.
He was charged with 14 offences, including:
Three counts of not keep firearm safely- not pistol/ prohibited firearm
Two counts of possess unregistered firearm – not pistol prohibited firearm
Two counts of unauthorised person fail to surrender firearm
Two counts of possess ammunition without holding licence/permit/ authority
Two counts of acquire unregistered firearm – not pistol/prohibited firearm
One count of possess loaded firearm public place
One count of possess firearm not stamped/engraved with allotted number
One count of possess unauthorised firearm
The 37-year-old was refused bail to appear before Muswellbrook Local Court today (Tuesday 11 June 2024), where he was granted conditional bail to appear before the same court on Tuesday 2 July 2024.