Upper Gascoyne station owners to appear in court over cattle rustling allegations

Upper Gascoyne pastoralists Richard Arends and his partner Rachel Third, of Edmund Station, have been charged as part of an alleged elaborate cattle rustling network in the State’s north. The WA Police Rural Crime Squad announced last week a 43-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman from the Upper Gascoyne region had been charged with offences relating to the alleged theft and sale of 803 cattle valued at approximately $800,000, but did not reveal their names. Court searches show Mr Arends and Ms Third will appear in the Carnarvon Magistrates Court on March 15 on six charges of stealing, six charges of property laundering and one charge of receiving. Edmund Station neighbours the Maroonah and Mangaroon cattle stations, which were recently sold after collapsing into administration under the Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation. The WA Police Rural Crime Squad is conducting Operation Topography to investigate what they say is an established criminal network involved in the theft and subsequent sale of cattle from the Mid-West Gascoyne and Pilbara Districts. Police said the operation was ongoing and would continue.