Two men have been charged in relation to the theft of five firearms from a rural residential property in Dunach, near Maryborough, which occurred earlier this month.
The two men are accused of gaining access to the property on Ballarat-Maryborough Road on Monday 3 October, before ransacking the main bedroom stealing jewellery and antique coins.
It is then alleged the pair located keys to a firearms safe located in the bedroom, and subsequently stole five firearms located inside the safe.
On Wednesday 5 October, Maryborough Uniform Police spotted two men towing an allegedly stolen vehicle on High Street at Maryborough.
They intercepted the vehicle and upon searching it recovered two of the allegedly stolen firearms – a shot gun and a rifle, which were both loaded at the time of intercept.
A 33-year-old man and 21-year-old man both from Melton West were arrested at the scene and later charged with multiple offences including burglary, theft of firearm, theft, possess a traffickable quantity of firearms, and theft of motor vehicle.
The 33-year-old man has been remanded to face Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on 11 January 2023.
The 21-year-old man has been remanded to face Bendigo Magistrates’ Court at a later date.
Following further enquiries, Western Region Crime Squad detectives executed a search warrant at a residence on Peter Place in Melton West on Thursday 6 October, seizing the three remaining allegedly stolen firearms, consisting of three shot guns.
Police also seized firearm related material belonging to the first two firearms located in the vehicle at Maryborough.
All five firearms allegedly stolen from the Dunach property have now been recovered, along with the allegedly stolen jewellery and antique coins.
Quotes attributed to Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Jade Gercovich – Western Region Crime Squad:
“There is no doubt arrests such as these have a dramatic impact in relation to enhancing overall community safety across the Maryborough region and the wider community.
“Illicit firearms have a devastating impact on the community. We know they are a great enabler of serious and organised crime – they feature strongly in a range of offending such as drug manufacture and trafficking, homicides, armed robberies, extortions, aggravated burglaries, car jackings and family violence.
“We are absolutely committed to reducing harm caused by illicit firearms across Western Victoria. Our team will continue to target firearm-related crime to keep the community safe.
