A Melbourne man has been arrested after police allegedly found a gun hidden inside a children’s playroom and a stash of drugs in his home.
The 32-year-old was arrested when the Australian Federal Police raided his Rowville home in eastern Melbourne on Friday.
Police allege the man is a former member of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang who had about 3kg of cocaine and 1kg of methamphetamine on his property during the search.
In addition to the drugs, police say they also seized a loaded handgun which was found in an ottoman inside a child’s playroom.
“This loaded firearm was found by police in a child’s playroom, which is hard to imagine what may have occurred if a young person managed to find it,” AFP Detective Inspector Chris Salmon said.
“This arrest should serve as a warning to anyone possessing an illicit firearm.
This isn’t just a case of alleged criminals possessing firearms to target each other – innocent bystanders, including family members are at serious risk of being harmed or killed.”
Officers claim they confiscated cash and electronic devices during the extensive raid. The AFP alleges the cash is the proceeds of crime.
The man was charged with a string of offences, including possessing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, dealing in money reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of crime, and possessing an unregistered handgun.
The man faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.