Aussies in hell of a meth

Sewerage analysis reveals record use

ORDINARY “mums and dads” are using methamphetamine at record levels, new wastewater tests reveal.

Authorities fear the thirst for meth may continue to rise given the supply of a cut-price form of the drug being smuggled into Australia by crime syndicates via Southeast Asia’s so-called “Golden Triangle”.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s outgoing chief executive Mike Phelan said the latest wastewater report – which measures drug residues – showed Australians were using meth at unprecedented rates.

“Our biggest problem is meth. Annually this country consumes 8.8 tonnes of pure meth a year, which at the retail level sells for about $7.8bn in cash – from mums and dads, uncles, aunts – on the street,” he said.

Answering questions by Senator David Shoebridge in Senate Estimates about the size of the drug market, Mr Phelan said the statistics on meth use were most alarming.

“I remember meth off the top of my head because it is the one that keeps me awake at night,” he said.

“We have seen an increase in the latest wastewater report on meth. A lot of others (drugs) have stayed stable.”

The wastewater report showed meth use increased at city and regional sites and was highest this year in April at a single unnamed regional site in NSW.

Authorities say bikie groups are taking advantage of the demand, smuggling record amounts into Australia.

Mr Phelan said the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang had been the Crime Commission’s prime target.

“We have specifically worked on the Comanchero gang,” he said. “It’s important to put it in context exactly what these people do.

“They are not just thugs riding around on their bikes, they are actually responsible for serious and organised crime at the highest echelons – in excess of billions of dollars worth of crime and harm that happens in our society.”

Record amounts of meth continue to be intercepted. In August the Australian Border Force made the nation’s biggest meth bust – a 1.8-tonne haul estimated to be worth $1.65bn.

The ACIC’s Shane Neilson said wastewater drug monitoring revealed an increase in meth use since August 2021.

A new cut-price meth made from a native plant growing wild in Afghanistan is sparking fears of another global crisis.

It costs a fraction of synthetic meth to produce and is reportedly so profitable Afghan farmers are abandoning their traditional opium-poppy farms in favour of “ephedra”.