Operation Avalon Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Operation Avalon is the 4th Cache in the Crooks and Justice Series.
Check out the other caches in this series under the following names Operation Swiss Operation Bitalli Operation Uadjet Operation Wespe
The information supplied concerning this cache is freely available through the NT Supreme Court public domain website.
The Cache is located at the front of the tourist park and there is no need to enter the grounds.
Operation Avalon commenced in June 2007 targeting the illicit drug dealing activities of Mr Jesson.
On 15 August 2007 Drug Enforcement Section (DES) detectives conducted a traffic apprehension on Mr Jesson as he drove north along the Stuart Highway from Adelaide. Mr Jesson’s vehicle was searched and a large fibre glass esky was located in the back of the vehicle. The esky drew attention to itself as it had 7cm fibre glass walls and floor with a thin plywood lid.
The esky was empty but further investigations revealed that the esky contained some very expensive insulation. Thirty-two cryovac bags of cannabis, weighing 19 pounds, were located inside the walls of the esky. A follow-up search of his Marrakai residence located $8500 in cash and 4 additional fibre glass eskies that had been cut open and contained no insulation.
Mr Jesson was arrested and later charged and bailed in relation to the 19 pounds of cannabis. Investigations continued into Mr Jesson and information was soon received that Mr Jesson was continuing to offend whilst on bail for the offences committed on 15 August 2007.
In October 2007 information indicated that Mr Jesson was expecting a shipment of cannabis from South Australia. The shipment had been arranged by Mr Jesson’s younger brother, Mr Jesson (Junior) a resident of Adelaide. Mr Jesson (Junior) recruited Mr Shillito to drive a white Holden Commodore V8 ute to Darwin.
Mr Shillito arrived in Darwin on 25 October 2007 and booked a cabin at the Hidden Valley Caravan Park. He parked the Commodore ute in a small gap between his cabin and the next. Unknown to Mr Shillito his “neighbours” in the next cabin where undercover DES officers.
Later that evening Mr Shillito caught a taxi to the Darwin airport where he collected Mr Jesson (Junior) who had just flown up from Adelaide to oversee the deal. Mr Shillito and Mr Jesson next caught a taxi to the casino where they started celebrating until the early hours of the following morning.
Shortly after they arrived back at the cabin where they were joined by Mr Jesson (Senior). It was at this stage that the DES officers made their presence known and search warrants where executed on the cabin and the Commodore ute. Nothing of interest was located in the cabin.
The ute however proved more of a challenge. The rear tray of the ute had a black plastic lining and contained a small quantity of the usual travel items. After checking the items and finding nothing out of the ordinary the DES officers removed the plastic tray liner and then opened the access panels to the internal compartments in the walls of ute tray and above the petrol tank.
Located in the internal compartments of the Commodore were 30 pounds of cannabis.
Mr Jesson (Senior) was later sentenced to 9 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 5 years. Mr Jesson (Senior) had some interesting things to say about his sentencing. (See the extract below, courtesy of the NT News)
Mr Jesson (Junior) was later sentenced to 8 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 5 years.
Mr Shillito was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years.
The cache is located almost on the spot where Mr Shillito unknowingly said “G'day” to one of the undercover investigators as he walked up to the Hidden Valley Tavern to by some takeaway beers.
The Hidden Valley Tourist Resort staff had no knowledge of and were in no way involved in the illicit drug shipment.
The cache is small with no room for swaps and you will need to bring your own pencil. For the FTF there is a DES stubbie cooler in a nearby Besser Block.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Trg gur ybj qbja va gur Inyyrl