http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/stor ... 52,00.html



Greg Stolz

February 02, 2010 11:00pm

THE biggest corruption scandal since the Fitzgerald inquiry, involving claims of police involvement in major drug trafficking on the Gold Coast, is set to rock the Queensland Police Service.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission is tipped to call a public inquiry into allegations Gold Coast police have been involved with organised crime gangs, including outlaw bikies, importing drugs and dealing them through some of the Glitter Strip's nightclubs.

More than 20 officers are understood to have been hauled before secret CMC hearings to forcibly answer questions or give evidence against allegedly crooked colleagues. Phone taps, listening devices and covert surveillance are believed to have been used to gather evidence.

"This will be the biggest corruption scandal since Fitzgerald," a senior police source said.

"It will unfortunately drag down the reputation of the police service once again."



For more on this story get today's copy of The Courier-Mail



A multimillion-dollar cocaine bust on the Gold Coast last year is believed to have helped spark the CMC probe, which has been running for several months.

The CMC is investigating allegations cocaine went missing from a Gold Coast police station.

The Surfers Paradise police station was raided on Sunday, as well as another Coast station.

On Monday, in a separate incident, a Surfers Paradise constable was stood down on full pay pending an investigation after a drug bust in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley.

The scandal follows last year's Operation Capri which resulted in the damning CMC report Dangerous Liaisons.

"This will make Capri look very small," the police source said. "We're talking about allegations of police involvement in importing drugs into Australia and distributing them through the Gold Coast nightclub scene.

"Police on the Coast, by nature, work pretty closely with the seedier side of the tourism industry and it would seem some may have fallen for temptation and dragged the rest of their colleagues down with them."

Another source said drug dealers were blatantly plying their trade in nightclubs – with off-duty police present.

It is believed key players have not been questioned by the CMC, leading to speculation a public inquiry was imminent. Yesterday, the CMC said suggestions of a "major drug trafficking investigation" were "incorrect".

But a spokeswoman said illegal drugs were part of an ongoing police misconduct probe, Operation Tesco, and would not rule out a public inquiry.

The CMC spokeswoman might not rule out a public enquiry but GoAnna the Blight certainly will, as she and her sorry tribe of incompetent dumbclucks have done with demands for inquiries into DOCs, QPS, Queensland politics, Transport, Main Roads, Queensland Rail, Infrastructure & Planning etc etc. Some recent news I've discovered about Cameron Dick(head) suggests he's even more bent and twisted than the wicked witch. Anyone who thinks he can become premier after only a few months in politics obviously has a severe case of megalomania.