Cop tells of heroic charge

Organised crime taps into postal service

A hero policeman thought he was going to die after being stabbed multiple times while taking on all three of the crazed London Bridge terrorists — with just his baton. Wayne Marques (above) said he heard screams on June 3 and thought a fight had broken out at a pub. The 38-year-old ran towards it, baton extended.

ADDICTS and crime gangs are using the darknet – the underbelly of the internet – to deliver their drugs by post, a new intelligence report reveals as police clock a record number of seizures and arrests.

The annual Illicit Drug Data Report to be released today exposes the 21st century battle to fight drug lords and Australia’s insatiable addiction to getting high.

The report shows the number of national illicit drug seizures has increased almost 85 per cent over the past decade, from 62,496 busts in 2006-07 to a record 115,421 in 2015-16.

Queenslanders’ drugs of choice are cannabis, amphetamines and party drug cocaine.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Committee chairman Chris Dawson has outlined the challenges of tech-savvy drug peddlers.

“The online environment presents unique challenges for law enforcement,” he said.

“The internet has created a global market for illicit commodities that exploits anonymity and virtual currencies.

“These transactions can occur anywhere ... and may be undertaken by organised criminals or other individuals, changing the way illicit drug transactions take place.

“The online environment has also enabled the creation of online criminal forums and marketplaces, often referred to as darknets, which enable information sharing and the trade of illicit services and commodities, both domestically and internationally.”

Surprisingly, most marijuana detections were in the international mail stream, in weights from 6.6kg to less than a gram.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the report reinforced that ice use posed the far greatest threat to the community of all illicit drugs types.

“Organised crime operatives rely on the profits from ice, with more than 60 per cent of Australia’s highest-risk criminal targets involved in the ice trade,’’ he said.

“With drug peddlers getting more sophisticated than ever before, we must be smarter and more targeted in our collective efforts.”