poledriver
Bluelighter
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- Jul 21, 2005
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The icy grip of creeping death: Deadly drug labs plaguing Sydney
SYDNEY is in the grip of a new ice age, and it’s potentially even more catastrophic than the last one.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the number of drug labs uncovered in NSW has doubled in five years, and police are calling for radical action to confront the growing plague.
Already this year 64 clandestine ice labs have been busted and dismantled.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said Australia needs to consider having a national summit to combat the spread of methylamphetamine, or ice, which he calls “the creeping death”.
Police say the labs have moved from backyard “shake-and-bake” labs to huge commercial-scale operations capable of producing hundreds of kilos of the highly addictive and life-destroying drug.
“It has infiltrated the heartland,’’ Mr Scipione said.
“It’s what’s destroying families in Macquarie Fields and Mount Druitt, Manly and Seaforth. It doesn’t discriminate.’’
Mr Scipione said Australia was facing an epidemic of ice addicts similar to that in the US. “To suggest we don’t have the problems that anywhere else has is just naive,’’ he said.
“For those caught in it, it is creeping death.
“It destroys communities, it destroys nations. Look at the 100 labs in the past 12 months. They
come from the north to south, the east to west. They keep coming.’’
In an exclusive interview, Mr Scipione revealed he had first-hand knowledge of the tragic effects of ice on families.
He also said the best way to combat its spread was to work with federal agencies and other states to stop the drug coming into the country.
NSW Police is combating the “scourge” of ice by bolstering the Organised Crime Squad in March and conducting workshops with police across the state to hear their frontline experiences dealing with ice addicts.
And when asked if he believed Australia needed a national summit or taskforce, he said: “Well, that may be something that’s worth consideration. This is the discussion we need to have. Wad it around alcohol.”
“With its relative accessibility, affordability and destructive side-effects, crystal meth is emerging as a pandemic akin to the issue of crack cocaine in the US,’’ he said.
“Australian illicit drug users pay a premium price for most illicit drugs compared to prices in key foreign markets.
“The ACC assess that Mexican drug cartels are targeting the ice market in Australia.’’
Cont -
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-plaguing-sydney/story-fni0cx12-1227043194409
SYDNEY is in the grip of a new ice age, and it’s potentially even more catastrophic than the last one.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the number of drug labs uncovered in NSW has doubled in five years, and police are calling for radical action to confront the growing plague.
Already this year 64 clandestine ice labs have been busted and dismantled.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said Australia needs to consider having a national summit to combat the spread of methylamphetamine, or ice, which he calls “the creeping death”.
Police say the labs have moved from backyard “shake-and-bake” labs to huge commercial-scale operations capable of producing hundreds of kilos of the highly addictive and life-destroying drug.
“It has infiltrated the heartland,’’ Mr Scipione said.
“It’s what’s destroying families in Macquarie Fields and Mount Druitt, Manly and Seaforth. It doesn’t discriminate.’’
Mr Scipione said Australia was facing an epidemic of ice addicts similar to that in the US. “To suggest we don’t have the problems that anywhere else has is just naive,’’ he said.
“For those caught in it, it is creeping death.
“It destroys communities, it destroys nations. Look at the 100 labs in the past 12 months. They
come from the north to south, the east to west. They keep coming.’’
In an exclusive interview, Mr Scipione revealed he had first-hand knowledge of the tragic effects of ice on families.
He also said the best way to combat its spread was to work with federal agencies and other states to stop the drug coming into the country.
NSW Police is combating the “scourge” of ice by bolstering the Organised Crime Squad in March and conducting workshops with police across the state to hear their frontline experiences dealing with ice addicts.
And when asked if he believed Australia needed a national summit or taskforce, he said: “Well, that may be something that’s worth consideration. This is the discussion we need to have. Wad it around alcohol.”
“With its relative accessibility, affordability and destructive side-effects, crystal meth is emerging as a pandemic akin to the issue of crack cocaine in the US,’’ he said.
“Australian illicit drug users pay a premium price for most illicit drugs compared to prices in key foreign markets.
“The ACC assess that Mexican drug cartels are targeting the ice market in Australia.’’
Cont -
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-plaguing-sydney/story-fni0cx12-1227043194409
