WA police seize 30 tonnes of gold-bearing ore at back yard refinery allegedly linked to bikies

A police operation targets the stealing of gold-bearing ore in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Photograph: Western Australia police force

Western Australian police say they have busted a backyard gold refinery in Kalgoorlie, seizing more than 30 tonnes of gold-bearing ore that was allegedly stolen from the region’s mines.

Investigators believe the alleged racket was connected with outlaw motorcycle gangs, and the gold-bearing ore was stolen with the intention of refining and laundering the gold to gain cash to purchase illicit drugs that would be sold to the community.

Police arrested and charged 20 people with a total of 56 offences over three days, including alleging they possessed stolen or unlawfully obtained gold-bearing ore and were in possession of a firearm and illicit drugs.

The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, ChemCentre and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services assisted police in the Kalgoorlie operation. Photograph: Western Australia police force

It comes amid a broader crackdown in the state on bikie gangs after the state government said at the end of last year it planned to toughen anti-bikie laws introduced in 2021 that are already the strictest in the country.

The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, ChemCentre and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services assisted police due to the dangers of processing gold-bearing ore in residential homes, police said.

Det Insp Adrian Vuleta said while businesses involved in gold extraction had established safe processes and control measures, those engaged in back yard improvised extraction processes exposed themselves and neighbours to increased health risks from chemicals.

“This operation was not only important to protect the community from those extraction-related risks, but to prevent the stealing of the end gold product which we believe was being laundered to obtain cash to fund the purchase of illicit drugs such as methylamphetamine to sell in the community,” Vuleta said.

WA’s minister for police, Paul Papalia, accused outlaw motorcycle gangs of “greed” and said this particular case was “selfish and idiotic”.

“We’re committed to disrupting and dismantling [outlaw motorcycle gang] activity across WA. That’s why the government introduced the toughest bikie laws in the country,” he said of the laws which ban bikies from publicly showing their gang colours.