SWOOP ON HEROIN

Charges After City Drug Raid

More than 100 police swooped on The Block at Redfern yesterday in an
attempt to stamp out heroin dealing in the area.The raid 96 the fourth
in Sydney in 10 days 96 resulted in 54 charges against 16 people, four
of whom appeared in court yesterday.

Craig Clinton Williams, 25, Robert Victor Murray, 33, both of Redfern,
Jamie Edward May, 24, of Chippendale, and Lesley Frances Tighe, 40, of
Marrickville were all granted bail to reappear in Central Local Court
on October 24.

Police said a "significant amount" of heroin had been seized from the
five homes.

However, critics say the raids are aimed at cleaning up Sydney for the
Olympic Games.

Aboriginal activist Lyall Munro berated police at The Block yesterday,
warning of protests during the Olympics.

"We're coming after your mob in two weeks' time," he told a group of
police officers.

"We're going to come after you mob en masse and we'll march on your
headquarters down there, too."

He later said he felt betrayed after the Aboriginal community made
efforts to meet regularly with police to discuss the problems in the
area.

"We have meetings with the Redfern patrol once a month to stop this
sort of thing. We were making progress here."

Other locals, however, were more supportive. A neighbour of a house
raided in Eveleigh St said she was pleased at the police presence.

"It is good that the police have come. It is not all a bad area. People
think it is all drug deals here all the time, but it is not true," the
woman said.

Detectives, Operations Support Group officers and other specialised
police from the Redfern and City East patrols gathered at the Sydney
Police Centre in Surry Hills before dawn, then proceeded to Redfern in
convoy at 7am.

They sealed off The Block and raided five houses in Eveleigh, Caroline,
Louis and Hudson Sts.

At one home in Eveleigh St, police used an angle grinder to cut through
a metal security door to get in.

Throughout the morning police made arrests from houses in The Block and
on nearby streets.

The operation, code-named Recco, was co-ordinated by the Redfern patrol
after two months of planning.

Redfern commander Supt Peter Parsons denied it was an effort to clean
up The Block before the Olympic Games.

"This is the culmination of a long-running investigation into the
supply and distribution of heroin in the area," he said.