A number of knives have been seized during a high visibility operation in the state's Orana region over the weekend – the second of its kind in regional New South Wales.
Operation Ares is a high visibility operation in which officers used handheld scanners – or electronic metal-detecting 'wands' – in Orana Mid-Western Police District, to reduce knife crime and boost community safety.
Between 4pm on Saturday 8 February 2025 and 12am on Sunday 9 February 2025, police from Proactive Crime Team North-West, North Central and South-West, with the assistance of Orana Mid-Western Proactive Crime Team, carried out a knife scanning operation in the Dubbo CBD.
During the operation, the following was carried out:
- 72 people were stopped and scanned;
- 12 people were searched;
- Eight people were arrested;
- 10 charges were laid; and
- Eight knives and one offensive implement were detected and seized.
The operation follows the first of its kind taking place in regional NSW, which occurred in Wollongong on Thursday 19 December 2024.
