With incredible cars comes incredible prices, and with incredible prices often comes an interesting mix of clientele.
Most of the time of course, the people who buy high-price classics and supercars are law abiding people; business owners, celebrities, and the like. But sometimes that's not necessarily the case — as underlined by a fresh story from over the ditch.
Drug raids that took place earlier this morning around Newcastle and Dubbo have seen AU$900,000 of marijuana and AU$140,000 of cash seized, as well as seven motorbikes and pair of collector cars. Those vehicles are a 1969 Holden HT Monaro GTS, and a Ford BA Falcon V8 Supercar.
Reportedly seized from the Newcastle raids, the Supercar is an interesting inclusion to the mix. While it's dressed up as a Triple Eight Race Engineering Betta Electrical Falcon from either 2005 or 2006, it's been reported that it is not the 2006 Bathurst-winning machine.
These were formative years for the Triple Eight squad, and — assuming the car is a legitimate restoration (minus those inaccurate wheels perhaps) — it's likely worth a pretty penny.
As the numbers would dictate, this was no small-fry drug raid. The eight-month investigation resulted in not only over a million dollars worth of seizures, but also in eight arrests.
"During the operation police have seized approximately $900,000 worth of cannabis (40 kilograms) and we will allege this will be the dismantling of an ongoing criminal syndicate involved in the supply of illegal drugs," said Orana Mid-Western Police District commander Superintendent Peter McKenna, speaking to Daily Liberal.
"We will allege that these persons involved in this criminal syndicate come not only from Dubbo but also the Hunter Valley and Newcastle areas as well. They were all involved together in the ongoing supply of a commercial quantity of prohibited drugs."
Of course, motorsport and crooked behavior have long walked hand-in-hand. The Vic Lee Racing British Touring Car tale of the early '90s is well worth researching, while more recently Netflix show Dirty Money detailed the rise and fall of American race driver Scott Tucker.