Operation Topography: WA police make more arrests in huge cattle rustling operation

WA police have made further arrests in their ongoing operation to crack down on cattle rustling in the State’s north — charging one man with stealing cattle worth as much as $200,000. Rural Crime Squad officers said they had charged a 64-year-old man from Brunswick as part of Operation Topography to combat an established criminal network involved in the theft and sale of cattle across the State. It is alleged that between May and September 2020, the 64-year-old man was part of a syndicate that stole more than 186 cattle valued at between $130,000 and $200,000. The man is due to appear before the Karratha Magistrates Court on March 31, charged with four counts of stealing as a servant and four counts of laundering property or money. Detectives also arrested a 37-year-old man from Carnarvon after he allegedly stole cattle and sold them for approximately $60,000. He has been charged with two counts of stealing and one count of property laundering. Another 41-year-old man from Woodbridge was also arrested after allegedly using his position as a stock agent to sell stolen cattle. He has been charged with five counts of property/money laundering. The 37-year-old man and 41-year-old man are both due to appear before the Carnarvon Magistrates Court on March 29. The arrests announced today come after upper Gascoyne pastoralists Richard Bernard Arends and his partner Rachael Elizabeth Third of Edmund Station, were charged in relation to the alleged theft and sale of 803 cattle worth about $800,000. The pair appeared in the Carnarvon court on Monday, but the case was adjourned until April 12. It is understood the charges against Mr Arends and Ms Third relate to 500 cattle being stolen from an unknown property in Perth. Approximately a quarter of the 803 cattle were stolen from Maroonah and Mangaroon cattle stations, owned by Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation, which border Edmund station where the co-accused are from. Those stations are in the process of being sold after the corporation was placed into special administration last year. Magistrate Deen Potter, when reading out charges on Monday, also said it was alleged 93 head of cattle were taken from Mardie Station. That station is owned by mining company Citic Pacific Mining, which owns Sino Iron.