FORSTER-Tuncurry Hawks captain-coach and former police officer Troy Hilder has been charged with supplying an indictable quantity of speed, the third drug arrest linked to Group 3 rugby league in a month.
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Mr Hilder on Friday became the fourth person charged by Operation Carpet, following the high-profile arrest of retired Taree City Bulls captain-coach Dean Simpson earlier this month.
Two women have also been charged in the operation.
It’s alleged Mr Hilder supplied his players with the drug following a trial game against the Kotara Bears in Kotara on February 27.
Mr Hilder is well-known in the Great Lakes area and was named life member of the Forster-Tuncurry club in 2012.
He also briefly worked as a police officer attached to Manning Great Lakes local area command and represented the NSW Police rugby league team.
Mr Hilder took over the reins at Forster-Tuncurry in late 2014, but it’s believed the club held a meeting on Tuesday to appoint someone else.
A spokesman for Group 3 rugby league declined to comment on the arrests when contacted by the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday.
A Manning Great Lakes police spokesman confirmed a 42-year-old man from Forster was arrested on Friday.
He said he was granted conditional bail to appear at Forster Local Court on April 6.
The arrest comes after retired Taree City Bulls captain coach and well-known Taree businessman Dean Simpson was caught in a drug sting on March 1.
Operation Carpet detectives will allege Mr Simpson supplied methamphetamine, more commonly known as speed, at least 70 times between November 23 and his arrest.
Meanwhile, Wauchope Blues captain coach Aaron Luke Ison, another well-known rugby league player from Group 3, has been charged with supplying a prohibited drug and possession of a prohibited drug.
Mr Ison, 35, was arrested at a licensed venue in Walcha on February 5 after police allegedly found him with 28 ecstasy tablets.
