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Cops bust 50 drug labs
Paul Anderson
05 Apr 2006
Criminals focus on speed, ice, ecstasy
POLICE have busted nearly 50 drug laboratories in Victoria in the past 18 months as the use of amphetamine-based drugs runs rampant.
New regulations brought in on April 1 restrict the sale of tablets containing pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in speed and ice, and have caused a shortage of cold and flu medicines.
Pharmacists told the Herald Sun some brands have been taken off the shelves and they are waiting on stock.
Pharmaceutical companies are reducing packet quantities to comply with the laws.
As part of a major effort to break the back of amphetamine and ecstasy gangs, the Victoria Police major drug investigation division has uncovered the labs in rich postcodes as well as low socio-economic areas.
The well-to-do suburbs involved include Brighton, Moonee Ponds, Melbourne and Essendon.
The poorer areas include Springvale, Sunshine, Noble Park, Doveton and Bayswater.
Labs have been found as close as the city and as far away as Mildura.
Disturbingly, detectives believe these 50 drug labs may be the tip of the iceberg in what is now a multi-billion dollar industry in Australia.
"There has been a steady increase in the location of clandestine laboratories over the past few years, but what concerns Victoria Police is the number that go on undetected," said Det-Insp Adrian White, of the major drug investigation division.
"There appears to be a trend towards smaller labs that can be transported from house to house or in some cases, motel to motel."
Drug detectives have teamed with the Pharmacy Guild and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia to cut the availability of pseudoephedrine to runners working for the drug gangs.
Pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, is the main ingredient needed to make speed or ice.
According to new federal regulations, people now have to gain a doctor's prescription for high doses of cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine previously available at pharmacies.
While customers seeking a box of cold and flu tablets already have to deal directly with a pharmacist, those asking for larger quantities -- greater than 720mg in packs or 800mg in liquid form -- now have to consult a doctor for a prescription.
The decision is expected to impact on the number of Medicare claims lodged.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia state branch president Dipak Sanghvi said the rules regarding doctors' prescriptions would inevitably have some effect on Medicare.
"That was one of the reasons we argued for all (pseudoephedrine-based) products not to go to prescription, as we were obviously concerned about the cost to Medicare," he said.
"But the safety of the community comes first."
The doctors' prescription law came into effect at the weekend.
Police and pharmaceutical authorities say the criminals making speed and ice can be directly blamed for the rules.
When asked how many labs might go undetected compared with those that are uncovered, Det-Insp White said: "That is a difficult question and is really impossible to answer, but I would think we would possibly locate a third of the labs that are being operated."
Australia is now estimated to have more dependent methamphetamine users than heroin addicts. One in 10 people having tried an amphetamine-based narcotic.
While speed has long been recognised, a crystal hybrid called ice has become a major concern for police and paramedics. Ice is a more potent form of speed and can trigger homicidal tendencies.
"It appears certain members of the community do not see amphetamine and other synthetic drugs as being in the same league as, say, heroin -- this could not be further from the truth," Det-Insp White said.
"These drugs are made in back sheds and under houses.
"The manufacturers are not overly concerned in making a clean product. All they are interested in is making a dollar."
Ecstasy use is rising.
"Many people consider it to be a safe drug," Det-Insp White said.
"In fact, we have seen that much of the ecstasy being sold on the street is just amphetamine (speed) being made in tablet form.
"We have seen ecstasy labs in Victoria and NSW.
"That is a concern, given the extremely large market share.
"Traditionally ecstasy has been imported but just like amphetamines, once the knowledge base for manufacturing ecstasy spreads then so too will the manufacturing of this drug."
From Herald Sun