Druggie cops?

A GOLD Coast policeman at the centre of a mystery misconduct probe joined the police force because he wanted to fight crime, not commit it, his mother says. Wendy Daniels defended her son Daniel yesterday after he was suspended from duty as part of a Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation.

Constable Daniels, 27, was picked up during co-ordinated CMC raids across Brisbane and the Gold Coast early on Sunday. The Surfers Paradise and Burleigh Heads police stations were among premises raided by teams of corruption fighters.

Constable Daniels, a uniformed officer based at Surfers Paradise, was reportedly detained after drugs were found in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley where he spent the weekend with friends.

However, The Courier-Mail understands more than a dozen officers may be under CMC scrutiny as part of a long-running investigation codenamed Operation Tesco.

It is believed a Fortitude Valley unit where Constable Daniels was staying was raided simultaneously with his Gold Coast home, along with other addresses.

The CMC's Director of Misconduct Investigations, Russell Pearce, yesterday confirmed the raids were "part of an ongoing police misconduct investigation that, until yesterday, was being progressed by the CMC in a covert manner".

Although Constable Daniels was stood down yesterday, Mr Pearce said speculation that charges were imminent was "ill-founded". "The activities undertaken on Sunday were part of an investigation that is likely to be continued for some time," he said.

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