An internal review is underway after Corrective Services allegedly found a man with a loaded homemade gun, hidden bullets and drugs in Wollongong Police Station's holding cells.
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NSW Police officers had previously searched the 25-year-old after an alleged pursuit late on Saturday night at Kembla Grange.
He was taken to Wollongong Police Station where he was charged with a number of offences relating to the pursuit as well as driving offences.
Then, at 5am on Sunday, July 16, the man was taken into Corrective Services NSW custody. It was then the alleged contraband was discovered.
"All fresh custodies are strip-searched as a matter of standard procedure for safety and security reasons," a Corrective Services NSW spokesperson said.
"The search revealed the inmate was concealing a loaded homemade firearm with eight rounds of ammunition, and seven clear bags containing a crystal-like substance."
Police then re-arrested the man and slapped him with a multitude of additional charges.
He was charged with possessing a loaded firearm in a public place, possessing an unregistered firearm - prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition without a licence/permit, two counts of resisting law enforcement officers in the execution of duty, possessing a prohibited drug, and supplying a prohibited drug.
He was refused bail and appeared in Wollongong Local Court on Monday, July 17, 2023, where he was again refused bail.
He will appear at the same court again on August 9, 2023.
In a statement NSW Police said: "An internal review is underway into the police investigation and the processes undertaken while the man was in police custody."
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