Secret agents targeting drug cartels in Australia exposed in data hack. Mr Sousa-Santos said this could be addressed by providing holistic support to integrate individuals being deported,including "drug rehabilitation, some type of vocational training, language and cultural training before going back". Our research can be found in: Hughes, C.E., Cowdery, N. & Ritter, A. 308 qualified specialists online. "This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century," he said . That said, they biggest determinant of risk is the state. Combatting these transnational crimes requires close cooperation bilaterally, regionally and multilaterally. The difficulty is that developing countries are usually drug producers, while progressed ones are the primary consumer market, which affects the circulation of illegal substances worldwide. Under typical conditions, heroin users reported consuming a median quantity of 0.2 to 0.3 grams of heroin; well under the trafficable threshold of two to 25 grams. The kingpin, who fled the country in 2018 and now lives in Colombia with his wife, has 17 registered companies in his name. For MDMA, under typical conditions, most users again reported consuming less than the thresholds. To provide added surety that estimates were derived from users not user-dealers, purchase amounts from offenders who reported any dealing for cash profit in the last month were excluded. The Offence of Trafficking in a Controlled Drug. Drug trafficking examples typically take the form of more illicit, or scheduled, drugs, like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines. The cases of several Australians potentially facing the death penalty in China for drug trafficking are centred around the southern province of Guangdong, a notorious hub for methamphetamine . A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said that, while the market for drugs in Australia wasstrong, the ability of law enforcement agencies to work together against organised crime hadnever been stronger. But a new Australian report suggests that it's more prolific here than most people think, or perhaps even care to admit. The detainee was interrogated, and his phone was examined to find his accomplices. Another challenge occurs at the international level and concerns the difficulty in coordinating efforts between national customs authorities. To do this, they demand a clear knowledge of the states carrier policy that includes aquatic ports, platforms, ways, railway routes, and terminals. To assist in this endeavour, all Australian states and territories have adopted legal thresholds that specify quantities of drugs over which offenders are either presumed to have possessed the drugs for the purposes of supply and liable to sanction as drug traffickers (up to 15 years imprisonment in most states), or in the case of Queensland, liable to sanctions equivalent to drug traffickers (up to 25 years imprisonment). The Advertiser writes that "Booker served as a police officer for four years before leaving the job in 2018", but later in the same article states "He was fired from the . Hughes C & Ritter A in press. The possibility of being detected and apprehended by customs and law enforcement authorities forces illegal groups to resort to special purchase costs associated with additional disguises and cover-ups. That said, legal thresholds are used primarily to facilitate responses to high-level offenders; that is, drug traffickers. Australian frontier authorities and customs patrol borders, airports, and ports on a regular. The current data suggests a small but not insignificant proportion of heroin users are affected. A principal challenge has been how to effectively differentiate and sanction participants in the drug trade . Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. The ABC has reached out to Australian Border Force for comment. The prohibited drugs trade imposes substantial health and execution costs at the global level also. Specific goals of relevance for this paper were to: The method replicated the approach of Hughes and Ritter (in press). The harm caused by illicit narcotics abuse impacts every level of society, from the person to the nation and eventually a global community. . On Thursday 16 April, police located a white Mercedes abandoned at Grange following a police pursuit. This type of law, which has existed since the 1970s in eight of nine Australian jurisdictions1 is called deemed supply. Drug harms in the UK: A multicriteria decision analysis. a: Threshold quantities in these jurisdictions are listed per pure gram (shown in brackets). One key takeaway from the figures presented in the report is that the Australian drug trade is large and growing. 2023. In Papua New Guinea, there are no laws that prohibit the production, sale or use of methamphetamines, making it a key location to transit drugs to Australia. Accordingly, training enables the frontier guards to prepare for complex operations. Foreword | Legal threshold quantities for drug trafficking, over which possession of an illicit drug is deemed trafficking as opposed to personal use are used in most Australian states and territories. Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable health burden in Australia. The maximum penalty ranges from fines of 1000 penalty units to imprisonment for life, depending on the quantity of the drug. According to Crave, she opens up about "how she became a mule for an international drug trafficking network" during the doc, and shares her "stranger-than-fiction story." A 24-year-old Sydney man has been jailed for nine years and four months after he posed as a teen to exploit and extort explicit images from children online. Moreover, in a heavy session, 80 percent of regular users in New South Wales reported consuming more than the trafficable threshold quantity (18% in Western Australia and 30% in South Australia). However, as shown in Table 3, examining the maximum quantity that an MDMA user might be reasonably expected to possess for their personal use alone, users can exceed the thresholds in two states for a typical session of use, in four states for a heavy session and in all six states for purchasing. CNN . Moreover, there is wide variation across states. He has pleaded guilty to 50 offences including drug trafficking and money laundering. It is undeniable that those stocks threaten public health, changing the state economy and eventually supporting drug companies and dealers in Southeast Asia. how these figures were setis not a calculation for which the workings are generally in the public domain, nor did some jurisdictions retain their workings out even in the private domain (Harris 2011b: 9). Drug trafficking and productionis on the rise in the Pacific Islands and Australia's addictionto methamphetamineand cocaine is driving the problem,aLowy Institute report has found. While performing them, agencies experience resource constraints, problems in coordination between different customs authorities, difficulties in identifying syndicates, and rapid adaptation of smugglers to new conditions (OReilly et al., 2020). Analysis was confined to examining the thresholds for heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA (also known as ecstasy) and cannabis (leaf not whole plant form). First, the deeming provision that reverses the onus of proof onto alleged drug offenders found in possession of the threshold quantity or greater is highly exceptional, compared with other countries drug trafficking thresholds and the standard Australian law and criminal justice responses to serious crimes. Those quantities deemed implausible were removed; for example, reported consumption of 20 grams of heroin which would be toxic. Indeed, heroin users in New South Wales can consume up to double the threshold quantity for their personal use alone. The specific threshold quantities employed vary by drug type, by jurisdiction and whether they are measured in terms of the pure chemical compound of a drug (pure grams) or, more commonly, in terms of pure chemical and any inert substances and fillers that are added before sale on the street (mixed grams or admixtures). However as shown in Table 2, examining the maximum quantity that a heroin user might be reasonably expected to possess for their personal use alone, users can equal or exceed the thresholds in one state for a typical session of use, in three states for a heavy session and in two states for purchasing. Please try again later. DPMP monograph series no. The authors highlight a number of reforms that ought mitigate the risks and increase capacity to capture Australian drug traffickers. Drug Trafficking in the Mainland Southeast Asian Region: The Example of Vietnam's Shared Borderland with Laos - Volume 58 Issue 1 . . In Australia, the issue of drug trafficking thresholds has risen to the fore, mainly in the context of concern about the lack of consistency across drug quantities in different state systems. This is particularly true in this case as, across all states, it is users of MDMA who are most at risk of unjustified sanctiona drug that when compared across both licit and illicit drugs has been shown to be least likely to cause crime or health and societal harm (Nutt, King & Phillips 2010). After reaching Vietnam, part of the drugs headed to sea from Ho Chi Minh City's Cat Lai port, bound for Manila. Not just is it simple to walk across borders without attention, but even huge transports with crime baggage also pass illegally (OReilly et al., 2020). Structural and functional changes in an Australian high-level drug trafficking network after exposure to supply changes. A woman has admitted to heading up a major drug trafficking network busted by police in dramatic raids in 2019. . One group is allegedly linked to a Queensland accounting firm that caters to Spanish speakers, and an Australian man with links to the Bandidos.Credit: The leak sheds light on the vast scale of drug importation into Australia and the webs of businesses such as gyms, luxury car dealerships, hairdressers and a nightclub set up to launder drug money. In February, the Queensland Government and Queensland Police jointly announced a proposal to . Sevigny EL & Caulkins JP 2006. Other items used to conceal the cocaine include large bolts, engine parts, shampoo and face creams. This study was funded by a grant from the Commonwealth of Australiathe Criminology Research Grants. Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Deemed supply in Australian drug trafficking laws: A justifiable legal provision? It is an offence in the ACT to traffic in a controlled drug. Indeed, they are 25200 times larger. What is clear from this analysis is that, even if the system helps to convict and sanction drug traffickers, the current legal threshold system is placing Australian drug users at risk of unjustified charge or sanction. In another AFP operation, their strategy is to disrupt the onshore syndicate of Colombian-born student visa holders, connected through common education agents and agencies, importing cocaine into South East Queensland via the air cargo stream, an emailed AFP report said. Drug trafficking and production is on the rise in the Pacific Islands and Australia's addiction to methamphetamine and cocaine is driving the problem, a Lowy Institute report finds. Most notably, Tasmania employs considerably greater threshold quantities for all illicit drugs. Instead, at both the time of conviction and the year leading to the conviction, they were users/possessors only. The police informed that the 21-year-old youths were caught while returning from the casino. Under such a situation, circumstances where users exceed the thresholds would be much less troubling, as in the absence of any additional evidence of trafficking intent, the user would be appropriately charged with a simple possession offence (and liable to a much smaller maximum penalty eg 2 years imprisonment). Learn about common drug offences, medicinal use of illicit drugs, drugs and driving, and workplace drug testing. That said, the maximum quantity consumed or purchased for personal use alone exceeded the trafficable quantity for most drug types. Australian Institute of health and welfare (2021) Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia [Infographic]. A minority of countries specify actual quantities (eg Germany; Hughes 2010a, 2003). The weight of the drugs determines whether the person is charged with a use/possess offence (diversion into treatment, fine, bond) or a supply offence (up to 21-25 years or life imprisonment, depending on the jurisdiction). . The criminal charge of murder is the only other offence that has a similar bail condition. It is significant to regard that the bulk of drug trafficking occurs across the sea border. She trafficked drugs between November 2018 and May 2019 in . The cocaine was destined to be sold on the streets of Australia. The surveys also omit users who consume substances less frequently. (2020). 4 Min Read. Australia is a current member of the CND (until 2013) and is an observer of the CCPCJ (however, Australia works closely with current members through the Western . There are 5 different quantity ranges under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act. One of the largest drug crackdowns involving Australian police. Some of the AFPs operations in the leak led to arrests in Australia and overseas, apparently causing significant disruption to drug supply chains. He has family members who seem to live beyond their means and have significant unjustified wealth. How common is illicit drug use? methamphetamine is the most used and trafficked drug controlled by criminal organizations that produce it; crystal methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), cannabis products, heroin, ketamine, and Erimin 5 (nimetazepam) are smuggled into the country; a transit point for trafficking cocaine and other drugs to the Australian market "This has contributed to rising addiction amongst locals and the emergence of a local drug network.". A massive leak of classified government documents has exposed the identities and methods of secret agents working to stop . Get it here. Instances of exceeding the thresholds are also greater when examining practices of regular users, rather than irregular users, and for considering patterns of heavy use, rather than patterns of typical use. A kilogram of methamphetamine in Australia is priced at roughly 80 times the price of its cost in China. It is challenging to develop a single strategy for ways to overcome the problem, which makes the work of border agencies more complicated as there is no single strategy that they should follow. In 2019, 11.0% of Australians smoked tobacco daily, down from 12.2% in 2016 and 24% in 1991. Dark web drug trafficking has been an increasingly prominent issue since the inception of the illicit drugs website, Silk Road. Equally importantly, while the results support the findings from the Australian Capital Territory of thresholds posing clear risks to users, they also show how risks can be mitigated with better designnamely with thresholds that better reflect using patterns in the particular state of concern and how the wholesale adoption of the Model Criminal Code quantities across Australia would serve to increase the likelihood of a drug user being unjustly charged and/or sanctioned for trafficking (MCCOC 1998b). News Corp Australia. The South Australian man has been further charged with cultivating cannabis and possessing prescribed equipment. The number of Colombians applying for student visas to Australia increased from 1859 in 2005-06 to 17,250 in 2019-20, more than doubling in the six years between 2015 and 2020. http://www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drugstrategy/publishing. evaluate whether the trafficable thresholds allow the prosecution and the judiciary to properly distinguish drug users from traffickers; compare and contrast threshold design across Australia, taking into account interstate differences in current legal thresholds and drug markets; determine whether the problems identified with the ACT drug trafficking thresholds are common across state systems. Australia's illegal drug trade is estimated to be worth $11.3 billion per year. Therefore, another critical strategy at the international level is to maintain and develop a collective policy to prevent drug trafficking. Man jailed for role in 300kg cocaine import to Victoria. In another operation, the AFP identified 55 people as potentially involved in an Australian cartel run out of Perth. Those funds are undermining Australia's public health and distorting our economy, and ultimately funding drug cartels and traffickers in Southeast Asia. The penalties for supplying drugs increase depending on the quantity of the drug supplied and if the matter is dealt with in the District Court. It uses a complex structure of interconnected companies to assist in the placement, distribution and integration of the proceeds of crime with company directors who are direct family members including his brother with an interest in 14 companies, the ACIC said. "High-Level Drug Trafficking in Australia." Such laws mean that possession of the trafficable threshold amount will constitute a presumption of trafficking placing the onus on the alleged offender to prove that the possessed amount was not for the purposes of trafficking (deemed supply). In this study, the ACT work was extended to evaluate the most pertinent drug trafficking thresholdthe trafficable thresholdin six Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia) against drug user behaviour and knowledge of Australian drug markets. It is important to note that UNODC is not only a development agency although many of its programs provide development-related benefits. A report last year by the Lowy Institute found that, in the Pacific Islands, "drug trafficking has evolved significantly with the rise of local actors in transnational criminal networks". Drug trafficking is: A federal crime (the laws are decided by Congress and apply to the entire nation) A felony crime (involves very serious penalties or prison time) Not the same as "drug possession". There are limitations to the IDRS and EDRS. [2] Drug trafficking is selling, transporting, or importing illegal drugs. "Australia and New Zealand's prolific and high-profile organised crimenetworks including outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) haveexpanded their activities offshore and into the Pacific. For example, most irregular users reported consuming a median quantity of 0.25 to 0.41 grams of MDMA (approximately 1 pill) and most regular users reported consuming 0.58 to 0.73 grams (approximately 2 pills). Guacamaya invites the peoples of Abya Yala (an Indigenous name for Central and South America) to hack and filter these systems of repression, domination and enslavement that dominate us, and that it be the peoples who decide to find a way to free us from state terrorism, their statement said. 16 February. They have been converted for the current analysis into mixed grams based on the median 201011 retail purity in each state for seizures 2 grams (ACC 2012). Trafficking in a controlled drug is divided into offences based on the quantity of the drug trafficked. Skip to content (02) 7205 5934 Find Court Date Book A Lawyer About. Dealing and trafficking in illegal drugs (like heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis) are serious criminal offences. A woman has admitted to heading up a major drug trafficking network busted by police in dramatic raids in 2019. Australia is seen as an attractive target for criminal organisations involved in maritime drug trafficking due to the high price of drugs in Australia, and high demand for drugs in Australia. Due to the undercover nature and absence of provable data on this issue, it is challenging to estimate the market area of the trade with perfect correctness (Hughes et al., 2020). The IDRS and EDRS are national monitoring systems that survey regular (at least monthly) drug users on an annual basis. The dark web drug market has also been . Resource Type: DPMP Bulletins, Working papers/discussion papers. drug trafficking and terrorism. The broader project examined this issue in two different wayswhether the thresholds are designed to filter traffickers from users and whether they enable appropriate sanctioning of traffickers of different controlled drugs. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 27(1), 1-20.. Dr Caitlin Hughes, Nicholas Cowdery AM, QC and Professor Alison Ritter, Copyright 2023 UNSW MEDICINE - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Authorised by National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre - Between April 12 and 17 2019, DEAs have continued to combat transnational drug . Drug trafficker Tony Mokbel taken to hospital. In 2010, more than 26,000 people from all Australian jurisdictions aged 12 years and over were sampled (AIHW 2011). "Stopping crime at the source is a key strategy for the AFP and partnerships with Pacific policing organisations are resulting in a more-hostile environment for criminal activity,"an AFP spokesperson said. SYDNEY (Reuters) - Dutch authorities have arrested 57-year old Canadian national Tse Chi Lop at the request of the Australia Federal Police after a long probe into drug trafficking in . Operation Shenzi was a joint Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and Western Australia Police Force investigation carried out in 2016, which culminated in the arrest of 14 people who were either crew members of the mother ship Mega Profit . Moreover, when there is a suspicion that a certain person may be transporting narcotics, it produces a prompt response. A principal challenge has been how to effectively differentiate and sanction participants in the drug tradeparticularly how to differentiate traffickers from those who consume or purchase illicit drugs for personal use alone (people whom legislators and courts have determined ought be sanctioned more leniently; MCCOC 1998b). Our legal and historical analysis of these Australian deemed supply laws has shown that the laws are unjust, unnecessary and inconsistent with standard legal principles. Drug trafficking and money laundering are global issues that are interconnected. The amount of illegal drugs seized coming into Germany spiked considerably in 2019, the German government said. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/australias-drug-use-drives-trafficking-crime-in-pacific/100836834, Australian hotel manager caught up in PNG drug bust, Australia's biggest drug bust: $1 billion worth of cocaine linked to Mexican cartel intercepted, 'Pincers are closing': Ukrainian forces under pressure as Russians shell roads out of Bakhmut, Four in hospital after terrifying home invasion by gang armed with machetes, knives, hammer, 'We have got the balance right': PM gives Greens' super demands short shrift, Crowd laughs as Russia's foreign minister claims Ukraine war 'was launched against us', The tense, 10-minute meeting that left Russia's chief diplomat smoking outside in the blazing sun, 'Celebrity leaders': Mike Pompeo, Nikki Haley take veiled jabs at Donald Trump in CPAC remarks. By contrast, cannabis users have the least evidence of exceeding the thresholds, with no instance where a cannabis user consumes more than the trafficable quantity and only one instance where the maximum purchased exceeded the trafficable threshold quantity. Of relevance here, users of cocaine are underrepresented in the sample (Degenhardt & Dietze 2005). The AFP collaborates with various national and international law enforcement partners to develop and implement strategies to dismantle syndicates involved in the trafficking of illicit drugs and drug . We target criminal gangs through the . Police estimate the meth's street value at $1.1 billion, which reflects the higher prices that Australians pay for illicit drugs than users do in many comparable countries. Addressing the issue of drug trafficking in Australia will also help to meet the economic interests of the wider Australian society, which contributes to another important category of stakeholders that is committed to fight this issue. These surveys provide data on patterns of drug use (under both typical and heavy use sessions), purchasing behaviour, typical street prices and a number of other user and market characteristics. Tonga which was previously atransit point for drugs being trafficked toAustralia and New Zealand was seeing a particularly dramatic rise in the use of illegal drugs and associated issues, the report noted. Moreover, if the accused wishes to dispute the supply charge, the onus is placed on the accused to prove the quantity possessed was not for the purposes of supply. The drugs were worth an estimated $91 million. Study has shown that drug use in Australia attributes to a cost of more than 4.8% of the total GDP. Recognition of the lack of uniformity led to specification of the Australian Model Criminal Code of serious drug offences (MCCOC 1998b) and a single set of threshold quantities for all states and territories in Australia to adopt (set for a trafficable threshold quantity at 2 mixed grams of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine or MDMA and 250 grams of cannabis). The application of such an approach provides complete control and visibility of all parts of the frontier, even in hard-to-reach places. It shows that in all jurisdictions, the quantities for cannabis are larger than for any other drug. The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and not necessarily those of the Commonwealth. Illicit drugs include illegal drugs (such as cannabis, opiates, and certain types of stimulants ), pharmaceutical drugs (such as pain-killers and tranquillisers) when used for non-medical purposes, and other substances used inappropriately . Second, the drug users who find themselves at the margins of the drug trafficking thresholds are most likely to be the more marginalised users (eg more unemployed and socially disadvantaged; Stafford & Burns 2012), which reduces their capacity to successfully prevent an unjust sanction. An investigation by the Australian Federal Police began when border guards detained a man transporting heroin.