On Thursday the 11^th of April 2013 members of Launceston Crime and Drug Investigation and Launceston Uniform Division conducted a search of a Launceston suburban residence.

During the search a number of items were seized. Investigations revealed that a stamp collection that was amongst the items seized had been reported stolen from a house in another Launceston suburb in the 1980’s, over thirty years ago.

Detective Constable Gavin Chugg from Launceston Crime and Drug investigations said. “During the search a coin and stamp collection was seized. Enquires were conducted and the owner was located. When I spoke with the owner I was a little surprised to find out that their house had been broken into and the collection had been stolen in about 1980.”

 “This is an excellent example of the importance of having valuable property labelled with identifiable markings,” said Constable Dobner, who found the stamp collection during the search. Police issue a reminder that marking valuable property gives police the best chance of returning it to its rightful owner should it be stolen.

As a result of the seizure a 35 year old Launceston male has been charged and will appear in Court at a later stage.

Police would like to take this opportunity to remind people that having stolen property in their possession could result in prosecution.