A former NSW Police officer turned Kembla Grange racehorse trainer has appeared in court accused of participating in a gun ring operating out of Tamworth.
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Shane Alan Kember is one of several charged by officers attached to Strike Force Burril – a massive undercover operation by Oxley detectives investigating the supply of firearms and drugs in the Gunnedah and Liverpool Plains areas.
The operation saw 38 firearms as well as explosives, a grenade and pre-cursor chemicals seized during coordinated raids carried out at addresses in the Tamworth region, Lake Macquarie and at Kember’s home in Kembla Grange last September.
The 45-year-old fronted Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday on 11 charges stemming from police operation.
They include six counts of possessing an unauthorised firearm, one count of supplying a pistol to a person without authority and one count of possessing ammunition without a licence.
Police will allege they discovered two .22 calibre rifles, two .308 calibre rifles, one of which was shortened, one .308 rifle and one .300 rifle during a search of Kember’s Farm Road home on September 1.
Police will also allege sometime between June 11 and his arrest date, Kember supplied an unknown person with a Ruger Mark One semi-automatic pistol.
Kember is also charged with dealing with proceeds of crime – namely a Toyota Landcruiser – with the intention of concealing the item as a proceed of crime and drug possession and supply relating to cannabis allegedly found at his house during the police search.
In court on Wednesday, a lawyer for the Director of Public Prosecutions said the brief of evidence for all co-accused was due to be served on defence lawyers in the coming days.
It is understood any trial may eventually occur in Newcastle.
Kember, who is on conditional bail, will return to court on May 24.
