HEAT IS ON ICE THREAT

City hosts global attack on drug

INTERNATIONAL law enforcement agencies have joined forces with FNQ police to tackle the twin scourge of ice and firearms.

The Cairns conference is hearing best practice from NYPD, New Zealand Police, Papuan Constabulary and a host of Australian agencies on how to tackle drug networks.

“It doesn’t discriminate between age and locality,” said Cairns Detective Acting Inspector Rob Campbell.

While supplies were mainly infiltrating Cairns from the south, a pipeline through Asia and the Pacific was developing and agencies were working to prevent this.

POLICE from around the world have come to Cairns to tackle two insidious threats that ignore borders.

Officers from the New York Police Department, Papua New Guinea Constabulary, the NZ police and Australian law enforcement agencies met yesterday to tackle the threats of ice and firearms.

Cairns Detective Acting Inspector Rob Campbell said ice, or methylamphetamine had infiltrated every demographic of Cairns.

“It is not really localisedbecause ice is really pervasive it doesn’t really stick to a suburb,” Snr Sgt Campbell said.

“It is used anywhere and there is certainly an age bracket but you can say we look at the 18-30 year group but we still get people in their 40s and 60s that are ice freaks as well.”

Detective Snr Sgt Kev Gowan of the Cairns Major and Organised and Crimes Squad said ice was more insidious than even speed or heroin.

“I have been working in the drug squad since the early ’90s and I haven’t seen anything like it,” Det Snr Sgt Gowan said.

“It doesn’t discriminate, it is worse than speed or heroin by far.

“It is more addictive and the purity is far more significant.”

He said purity levels of ice were in the high 70th percentile, compared to speed, which had levels in the 20 per cent range.

High customer demand has driven down wholesale costs of the internationally produced ice.

“You will find it everywhere,” Det Snr Sgt Gowan said.

“We have seen prominent business people in the community lose everything to ice.

“We would like to see the prices go back up to what they were five years ago.”

The agencies, including the AFP and Border Force, have developed relationships to tackle ice and firearms pipelines through Asia, the Pacific and Far North Queensland.

“The conference gives us the opportunity to look at Papua New Guinea moving forward,” Det Snr Sgt Gowan said.

“No doubt organised crime (groups) see PNG as a favourable environment.

“It is critical we establish a working partnership with each other.”

However for the moment, the majority of ice comes into Cairns from the southern states.

“Our experience is no different to other regional centres in Queensland,” Det Snr Sgt Gowan said.