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THIS is a tale of epic proportions.
Like the $6million in cash and assets.
Or the shipping container filled with precursor drugs set to be converted into hundreds of kilograms of drugs.
There are the diamond encrusted watches worth $70,000 a pop. A gold-plated pistol and Uzi machinegun. Luxury cars. Mansions.
And a clandestine laboratory that has been nicknamed The Mega Lab.
All were seized by police during a continuing investigation into what drug squad detectives say was a major and highly professional supply network based in Newcastle and the Central Coast that had tentacles reaching to Sydney and interstate.
It’s the Breaking Bad of the Hunter and Central Coast.
Six people, including the alleged kingpin, are in front of the courts.
Strike Force Gingera, set up to investigate the alleged drug ring, has been going for two years and is not ready to stop just yet.
Detective Inspector Jason Smith said on Friday that there was more to investigate across the Hunter.
‘‘What we are hoping is that with the passing of time, people who may have been fearful of coming forward originally may now feel a little more comfortable in talking to us now,’’ Detective Inspector Smith said.
Strike Force Gingera detectives worked quietly for nearly a year before they allegedly found $1.2million in a car in November 2013, and then conducted a search warrant on a rural Central Coast property the following month.
They allegedly seized 37kilograms of ice, estimated to be worth more than $40million.
But it was the ‘‘clan lab’’ that raised the eyebrows as high as the amount of alleged drugs and precursors.
The 20-litre reaction vessels and condensers were alleged to have been used to cook up large quantities of the drug.
Some of the drug was allegedly in liquid form and in water bottles, for easy transportation and allegedly to make it a little more camouflaged.
But there was a brick of crystal.
And then there were the weapons. The gold-plated Desert Eagle pistol, the .357 Magnum handgun, the Uzi machinegun, the Kel-Tec 9mm handgun, a .22 revolver and a few rifles.
Motorbikes and cars were also taken.
On another property nearby, police allegedly seized $5million in assets. There was also the Mercedes C63 car and weapons, including a stun gun and capsicum spray.
The following month, a property in the Upper Hunter was searched and a shipping container unlocked.
Allegedly inside was thousands of litres of precursor chemicals and glassware that police say was going to be used in cook methamphetamine and ecstasy.
And only last month, on receiving fresh information, detectives raided a Bolton Point home and seized two watches worth about $70,000 each and a diamond necklace not yet valued.