Huge cocaine seizures at border
Cocaine shipments are being seized at the nation’s border at unprecedented levels as Australia confronts a global surge in trafficking.
About 3.69 tonnes of the drug with a potential street value of $1.4 billion (NZ$1.52b) was detected by law enforcement agencies in just six months to December – far more than in any 12-month period over the last decade, new data shows.
The Australian Border Force said the spike in seizures probably reflected global trends, where increased production in Colombia was seeing unusually large waves of cocaine smuggled to Europe and North America.
‘‘I think the data would suggest that, yes,’’ said Kylie Rendina, the acting deputy commissioner for Australian Border Force (ABF) national operations.
‘‘The foreign law enforcement community has also observed this trend.’’
Drug detections at the border have been rising for three years, but the ABF data suggests a major new peak that appears to not be just an anomaly related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The average amount of cocaine detected at borders over the past decade was 986 kilograms per year. The previous peak for cocaine seizures was in 2020-21, when 2.57 tonnes of cocaine was detected as many customs officers were reassigned from Covid-closed airports to cargo inspection work.
The amount of amphetaminetype stimulants found by law enforcement agencies in the past six months was also historically high, with just under 5.2 tonnes found after 1045 separate seizures. That compares to the 10-year average of 3.8 tonnes of amphetamines seized per year for the past decade, although seizures rose to a record of 7.3 tonnes in the financial year 2021-22, the data shows.
In part, the huge cocaine spike in seizures reflects several unusually large hauls – such as the 1.1 tonnes of the drug sent to Sydney labelled as rat poison and plastics in November.
As well as drug seizures at the borders, illegal drug detections bound for Australia but intercepted offshore accounted for about 1.9 tonnes of border-controlled drugs and 8 tonnes of illicit tobacco.
Drug syndicates have infiltrated ports and transport companies. It is understood that about 60% of sea-based drug smuggling attempts involved ‘‘trusted insiders’’ – people who help drug traffickers by accessing international vessels and cargo before they are inspected and cleared by the ABF.
However, up to 80% of drugs are believed to be evading border controls, an estimate supported by analysis of wastewater in 52 sites around Australia that indicates national drug use patterns.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, a national agency, said its research showed a high proportion of drugs were being seized but consumption levels remained roughly similar over the medium term.
‘‘Serious and organised crime groups are resilient and will find ways to continually resupply drug markets, no matter the quantity of illicit drugs that are detected and seized,’’ an ACIC spokesperson said.