A Dandenong woman has applied for bail after police seized high-powered guns and explosive material from an alleged stolen car.
Bee Hong Goh, 32, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 24 September on charges including possessing a traffickable quantity of unregistered firearms, possessing an explosive substance, and car theft.
Police allege that they found seven guns as well as “highly explosive” unmilled titanium in a stolen Nissan X-Trail at a Campbellfield factory on 15 August.
Inside the car were a Remington 30-06 bolt action rifle, a Predator 12-gauge shotgun, a loaded automatic ‘AR’ style rifle, a Remington 30-06 pump action rifle, a loaded .44 calibre revolver handgun, two semi-automatic handguns, and several types of ammunition, according to police.
The unmilled titanium was “extremely flammable when exposed to air”, Detective Acting Sergeant Emma Moran of Victoria Police’s Lunar Taskforce told the court.
If exploded, it would potentially cause significant damage to a building, she said.
Goh was arrested on 23 September. In a police interview, she allegedly admitted to collecting the X-Trail, being provided the keys and driving it to the Campbellfield warehouse, Det Act Sgt Moran told the court.
Goh also allegedly admitted to collecting large wrapped items – which she said said she thought were possibly knives and sticks – in a Mercedes from another location and depositing them inside the X-Trail, according to police.
Police allege the wrapped items included firearms and explosives.
Goh was transporting and storing the items on behalf of a serious organised crime group with links to offshore organised entities, according to police.
No one else had so far been arrested on the matter, the court heard.
Goh had no prior convictions, and no bail history. But she was said to be a gambler who couldn’t work because of a back injury and financially supported her sick mother in Malaysia.
She had no income but for criminal activities, Det Act Sgt Moran said, adding that police believed Goh would complete “any task” for financial gain, and so was “almost certain” to reoffend on bail.
Goh’s alleged offending was part of a “pattern of behaviour” in committing crime on behalf of “these syndicates”.
Det Act Sgt Moran told the court that Goh had been arrested as a passenger in an intercepted car with $1.2 million in a secret compartment in WA last year.
She was not charged, but it showed her association with “serious organised-crime figures”, the court heard.
Goh was assessed as unsuitable for an intensive CISP bail program, and suitable for a short-term intervention only, a prosecutor told the court.
A defence lawyer argued Goh met the “compelling reasons” bail test, given her absence of priors, her vulnerability in custody and stable accommodation.
He said the prosecution case appeared strong, but may turn on Goh’s knowledge of what the wrapped items were.
The lawyer argued for bail with “strict” and “stringent” conditions including a curfew, and a ban on interstate and international travel.
The magistrate adjourned the matter to further consider the submissions as well as a CISP report.
