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Cocaine is becoming one of Sydney's most popular drugs with drug dealers reaping up to $35,000 a week from users
COCAINE use in Sydney is soaring, spreading from its traditional eastern suburbs base across the city's north and west.
Latest Australian Crime Commission figures reveal an jump in cocaine-related arrests as dealers reap up to $35,000 a week from desperate addicts.
The stereotypical image of the cocaine user as a sportscar-driving, cashed-up, party-going young professional is also changing, with tradies, real estate agents, students and even mums and dads just as likely to be among those regularly abusing the white powder.
While police have been battling a steady rise in use in wealthier areas such as Woollahra and Waverley over the past decade, there has also been a surge in more suburban areas such as Parramatta, Auburn and Bankstown.
View Cocaine use by suburb: 2004 vs 2013 in a full screen map
In the year to September 2013, there were 25 cocaine incidents in Parramatta, compared to just three a decade earlier, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. In Bankstown there were 29 cocaine possession incidents, up from seven just five years ago. The figure represented a worrying return to levels not seen in the area since a spike in 2001, when 27 arrests were made.
The surge in demand has seen cocaine detections at border points double in a year - from 486 in 2011 to 979 in 2012 - while dealers are reported to be stockpiling enough of the drug to ensure an 18-month supply.
One man told us the attraction to using cocaine was he was able to drink and remain clear-headed. Source: News Limited
A real estate agent based in Darling Point, who describes himself as a "recreational" user, says it is not uncommon to see the drug anywhere, from a day at the races to midweek beers.
The man, who identified himself as James, admitted to using the drug - which is highly addictive and can have serious health consequences - at least once a week.
He said: "It allows you to drink longer without getting sloppy drunk. You can drink and stay alert. You can have conversations with people and be clear-headed."
"I couldn't believe it - here were all these gorgeous women with kids and these 4WDs and they're having coke before doing the school run."Annonymous mother
Speedy delivery for cocaine users
Dealers hoard aged cocaine
In another disturbing trend, a mother who recently moved to the eastern suburbs claimed she attended a lunch for mums that began with champagne and orange juice and ended with "lines in the toilets" of a swanky Double Bay restaurant.
"I couldn't believe it - here were all these gorgeous women with kids and these 4WDs and they're having coke before doing the school run," she said. "And they're all telling me: 'It's OK, we do it all the time'." James said it had become as acceptable to use cocaine at home as it is to drink alcohol. "It saves you the hassle of going out - cabs, restaurants, buying all that alcohol. And you get to pick the music," he said.
Cocaine users are now state wide. Source: Getty Images
Figures showing surging demand are backed up by drug dealers, who say they are expanding their territory for inner-city neighbourhoods to the outer suburbs.
One dealer said he's gone from working two nights a week to a seven-day operation earning up to $35,000 a week as he drives his BMW across town for customers ranging from professionals to suburban parents, tradesmen and professionals.
"One minute I'm in Chippendale, then I'm in Balmain, then I'm in Bondi, then Parramatta, then it's St Leonards," he said, describing an average day's work as beginning at 3pm and ending some 12 hours later.
The surge in demand has seen the number of cocaine detections at the Australian border double in a year - from 486 in 2011 to 979 in 2012.
"And it can be any night of the week," he said. "I had a Tuesday last week where I was busier than I was the Saturday before."
Waverley and Woollahra still recorded the most incidents for cocaine possession.
Waverley had 56 incidents and Woollahra had 55 in the year to September 2013, the latest Bureau of Crime Statistics show.
For the same period in 2004, six incidents were recorded for Waverley and four for Woollahra.
In nearby Randwick in 2004 there were no possession incidents reported, but to September last year there were 22.
The area with the most cocaine dealing or trafficking incidents reported in 2013 was Bankstown, where 10 arrests were made. It was followed by Liverpool with nine, Fairfield had eight and Warringah had seven.
NSW drug squad chief Acting Detective-Superintendent Marcus Rowles said it was hard to pinpoint the reason for the rise in cocaine-related arrests.
They have looked at the age of the drug and they can tell from the organic matter how old it is. They stockpile it so it doesn't tend to hit the streets for 18 months."Det Supt Rowles
"It could mean more proactive operations by police around entertainment districts, there could be a bigger demand for it, there could be a dealer in the area," he said.
Of the 785kg of cocaine seized during attempts to smuggle it into Australia last year, 624kg came from Vanuatu, Brazil, the UK, Canada and Argentina.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-week-from-users/story-fni0cx12-1226815750856
COCAINE use in Sydney is soaring, spreading from its traditional eastern suburbs base across the city's north and west.
Latest Australian Crime Commission figures reveal an jump in cocaine-related arrests as dealers reap up to $35,000 a week from desperate addicts.
The stereotypical image of the cocaine user as a sportscar-driving, cashed-up, party-going young professional is also changing, with tradies, real estate agents, students and even mums and dads just as likely to be among those regularly abusing the white powder.
While police have been battling a steady rise in use in wealthier areas such as Woollahra and Waverley over the past decade, there has also been a surge in more suburban areas such as Parramatta, Auburn and Bankstown.
View Cocaine use by suburb: 2004 vs 2013 in a full screen map
In the year to September 2013, there were 25 cocaine incidents in Parramatta, compared to just three a decade earlier, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. In Bankstown there were 29 cocaine possession incidents, up from seven just five years ago. The figure represented a worrying return to levels not seen in the area since a spike in 2001, when 27 arrests were made.
The surge in demand has seen cocaine detections at border points double in a year - from 486 in 2011 to 979 in 2012 - while dealers are reported to be stockpiling enough of the drug to ensure an 18-month supply.
One man told us the attraction to using cocaine was he was able to drink and remain clear-headed. Source: News Limited
A real estate agent based in Darling Point, who describes himself as a "recreational" user, says it is not uncommon to see the drug anywhere, from a day at the races to midweek beers.
The man, who identified himself as James, admitted to using the drug - which is highly addictive and can have serious health consequences - at least once a week.
He said: "It allows you to drink longer without getting sloppy drunk. You can drink and stay alert. You can have conversations with people and be clear-headed."
"I couldn't believe it - here were all these gorgeous women with kids and these 4WDs and they're having coke before doing the school run."Annonymous mother
Speedy delivery for cocaine users
Dealers hoard aged cocaine
In another disturbing trend, a mother who recently moved to the eastern suburbs claimed she attended a lunch for mums that began with champagne and orange juice and ended with "lines in the toilets" of a swanky Double Bay restaurant.
"I couldn't believe it - here were all these gorgeous women with kids and these 4WDs and they're having coke before doing the school run," she said. "And they're all telling me: 'It's OK, we do it all the time'." James said it had become as acceptable to use cocaine at home as it is to drink alcohol. "It saves you the hassle of going out - cabs, restaurants, buying all that alcohol. And you get to pick the music," he said.
Cocaine users are now state wide. Source: Getty Images
Figures showing surging demand are backed up by drug dealers, who say they are expanding their territory for inner-city neighbourhoods to the outer suburbs.
One dealer said he's gone from working two nights a week to a seven-day operation earning up to $35,000 a week as he drives his BMW across town for customers ranging from professionals to suburban parents, tradesmen and professionals.
"One minute I'm in Chippendale, then I'm in Balmain, then I'm in Bondi, then Parramatta, then it's St Leonards," he said, describing an average day's work as beginning at 3pm and ending some 12 hours later.
The surge in demand has seen the number of cocaine detections at the Australian border double in a year - from 486 in 2011 to 979 in 2012.
"And it can be any night of the week," he said. "I had a Tuesday last week where I was busier than I was the Saturday before."
Waverley and Woollahra still recorded the most incidents for cocaine possession.
Waverley had 56 incidents and Woollahra had 55 in the year to September 2013, the latest Bureau of Crime Statistics show.
For the same period in 2004, six incidents were recorded for Waverley and four for Woollahra.
In nearby Randwick in 2004 there were no possession incidents reported, but to September last year there were 22.
The area with the most cocaine dealing or trafficking incidents reported in 2013 was Bankstown, where 10 arrests were made. It was followed by Liverpool with nine, Fairfield had eight and Warringah had seven.
NSW drug squad chief Acting Detective-Superintendent Marcus Rowles said it was hard to pinpoint the reason for the rise in cocaine-related arrests.
They have looked at the age of the drug and they can tell from the organic matter how old it is. They stockpile it so it doesn't tend to hit the streets for 18 months."Det Supt Rowles
"It could mean more proactive operations by police around entertainment districts, there could be a bigger demand for it, there could be a dealer in the area," he said.
Of the 785kg of cocaine seized during attempts to smuggle it into Australia last year, 624kg came from Vanuatu, Brazil, the UK, Canada and Argentina.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-week-from-users/story-fni0cx12-1226815750856
