A man has been charged in a cross-border police operation targeting drug and alcohol trafficking, after a surge in family violence and other crimes in Aboriginal communities.
West Australian police said that several communities in the remote Ngaanyatjarra Lands area had experienced increased crime rates this year, including offences such as burglary, theft, criminal damage, drug possession, assault and fraud.
WA acting Detective Inspector Shayne Knox said cannabis use was a key contributing factor to the prevalence of family violence in the communities "and it is critical that we target the root cause".
"The Lands may be 1500km from Perth, but the way we respond to family violence in our outback communities is just as important as our response to the same incidents in our main regional centres and the Perth metropolitan area," he said.
"Our Police Air Wing fleet, and advances in our targeting capabilities, mean we can target perpetrators regardless of how remote the location is."
A cross-border partnership between police from WA, South Australia and the Northern Territory led to a raid on a home in the Docker River community, 670km south west of Alice Springs, on August 30.
A 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply, ten counts of offering to supply a prohibited drug, possession of stolen or unlawfully obtained property (cash) and possession of drug paraphernalia.
He was refused bail and appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on August 31. He will reappear in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on October 7.
A second person was also arrested and charged in relation to the possession of illicit drugs and the taking of alcohol onto community land.
