Australian Ice Thread

[Jabberwocky]

This section needs some comedy

 

[poledriver]

 

[poledriver]

Cousins refused bail over stalking, drugs

Troubled former AFL star Ben Cousins has been refused bail by a Perth magistrate over fresh charges related to drugs and family violence, including an allegation of stalking.

Search warrants were issued at residences in Melville and Bicton overnight, and Cousins was arrested when he arrived in a car at the Melville home.

Inside the car, police allegedly found some methylamphetamine.

During a second search of the Bicton home, police allegedly found a smoking utensil and more methylamphetamine.

Cousins, 38, appeared in Armadale Magistrates Court on Friday charged with seven counts of breaching a violence restraining order, aggravated stalking, driving without a licence, and possessing a prohibited drug and smoking utensil.

The VRO was taken out by his former partner Maylea Tinecheff, with whom he has two young children.

The court heard the VRO breaches related to Cousins visiting the children's school and church, and making repeated phone calls to his former partner.

Cousins was found with 8g of meth and he told officers it was because he was a heavy drug user and had a high tolerance.

His lawyer Michael Tudori said Ms Tinecheff used the VRO to manipulate the way Cousins could see his children.

"She uses it when it suits her and when it doesn't she contacts the police," he said.

Mr Tudori used an example of the pair recently attending a Bruce Springsteen concert together without incident.

He said it would be unjust to send Cousins to prison if he was convicted of the breaches, given the circumstances of the alleged offending.

Magistrate Nicholas Lemmon said when viewed in isolation the breaches were not serious, but in context were seen in a different light, noting Cousins had a pattern of similar convictions.

Mr Lemmon said the risk of reoffending was significant and no bail conditions would be adequate.

A visibly distressed Cousins interjected, saying: "I take the charges very seriously your honour."

But Mr Lemmon said he had already made his decision to refuse bail.

Cousins was fined $2600 in December for similar offences.

The Brownlow medallist was last in court in January when a three-hour trial was set for June over a separate meth possession offence.

The drug addict was suspended from the AFL for one year in 2007 for bringing the game into disrepute.

He made a comeback with Richmond before retiring in 2010 and his troubles have continued in the public eye.

- http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...n-wa-court-on-new-charges#DFguzWu5AjOgsOZ2.99

 

[poledriver]

NSW Police join Aboriginal communities to say 'Not Our Way' to illegal 'ice' and pharmaceuticals in new campaign

The NSW Police are today launching a new campaign in Dubbo aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of illegal drug use in Aboriginal communities across the state.

‘Not Our Way’ has been developed by the NSW Police Drug and Alcohol Coordination team in conjunction with Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers (ACLOs), key health industry stakeholders as well as local Aboriginal elders and community members.

The campaign consists of dual videos that address the rising issue of methylamphetamine (‘ice’), the illegal use of pharmaceuticals, and the associated health and safety risks to both individuals’ and the wider community.

Additional educational resources – including youth-focused story books as well as brochures on health services that specialise in drug and alcohol recovery support – have been created as part of the campaign.

NSW Police Corporate Sponsor on Aboriginal Communities, Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie, said the campaign aims to highlight and address the challenges facing local Aboriginal communities.

“Research shows that Aboriginal communities are at greater risk of developing harmful long-term drug use than the general population, and both ‘ice’ and pharmaceuticals have shown the biggest spike more recently,” Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said.

“The use and distribution of illegal drugs is not only against the law but it’s incredibly harmful to your health and can lead to many serious consequences including the breakdown of families and local communities.

“The rise in recreational pharmaceutical usage also shows that drugs don’t have to be illegal to be lethal and they can prove to be just as dangerous as their illicit counterparts,” Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said.

“Both trends are of great concern so we’ve decided to get on the front foot and work with the Aboriginal community to address these specific challenges together, before people are faced with possible jail time and serious health effects.”

Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said the campaign seeks to educate people on the dangers of ‘ice’ and illegal pharmaceutical use by discussing their short and long-term effects while illustrating warning signs for friends and families of those possibly affected.

“Importantly, this is an initiative for and by Aboriginal people – it’s absolutely crucial that we work closely with one another to foster relationships and build stronger, safer communities that acknowledge key challenges while working collaboratively on solutions,” Assistant Commissioner McKechnie said.

“The campaign videos also feature two individuals who speak candidly about their path to recovery and their associated experiences. Our hope is that their voices transect the community and let people know that help and support is available.

“Following today’s launch the campaign resources will be progressively rolled out across the state to send a positive message on behalf of the community that dangerous drug use is ‘Not Our Way.’

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/l...vdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGNjEzMzMuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ==

 

[g0to]

This section needs some comedy

hahaha oh my god this made me LOL

 

[g0to]

Lol

 

[poledriver]

Miner turned ice dealer's tearful goodbye before jail

AN Andergrove miner turned ice dealer burst into tears in his father's arms during an emotional farewell in the Supreme Court in Mackay.

James William Arthur Watt was jailed for trafficking large amounts of the drug ice, as well as cocaine and cannabis.

The court was told undercover police surveillance recorded Watt selling up to 70g of ice at a time for tens of thousands of dollars between March 19 and October 15, 2015. However, the 33-year-old addict's profit went up in smoke.

Watt pleaded guilty before Justice David North on Thursday to trafficking dangerous drugs.

Defence barrister Stephen Byrne said Watt's life had "spiralled out of control" in late 2014 and prior to that he had a clean criminal record.

Mr Byrne said Watt lost his job as a machine operator at Hail Creek Mine in 2014, split up with his partner and lost his home.

Watt's casual ice use escalated, and turned into dealing to support his addiction.

Crown prosecutor Jacob Robson told the court Watt was soon buying an ounce of ice for $9000 to sell to between 20-30 customers over about two days, including "street-level dealers".

Watt, who was a chef for 10 years before breaking into mining, would also brag to undercover officers about being able to provide wholesale quantities of drugs, the court was told this week.

Mr Robson, who described the defendant as "above a mere street level dealer", said if a customer owed Watt money he could "be seen to be quite forceful", making "implied threats".

He also said Watt's charge was aggravated because he was on bail for drug possession.

Watt had already spent 233 days in jail for breach of bail relating to a previous charge.

Mr Byrne said Watt had been using about 10 points (1 gram) of ice each week and had started selling to support his habit.

Allowing "drugs to take over his life", Watt had nothing to show for it, Mr Byrne said. He was $30,000 in debt and "considering declaring bankruptcy".

Mr Byrne also said Watt had been shot in the right elbow near the end of 2015 in an incident that was "not drug related". This left him with about "75% use of his right arm".

Additionally, Mr Byrne said Watt had completed employment training in custody.

Justice North described Watt as a "productive, law-abiding member of society" before he lost his job in an economic downturn and fell into drug use.

He took into account Watt's co-operation, early guilty plea and that he hadn't been "enriching himself", but said his sentence needed to deter others and protect the community.

Watt was sentenced to five years jail, but considering time served and his early plea, will be eligible for parole on January 23, 2018.

https://m.dailymercury.com.au/news/miner-turned-ice-dealer-bursts-into-tears-in-fathe/3150713/

 

[g0to]

Crazy how different the AU scene is to Western USA. Here, an oz is, not gonna say prices, but what you guys get 1/4 pt to 1 pt for we get 1.6-3.2 g. It still looks like either small rice sized oblong semi-shiny crystals (ehhh to A+ quality), a shiny-semi-crystalline powder (good at times), long oblong or square shards with bubbles inside them (if looking closely under light - this stuff is at most 10-30%), dense "rock-like" shiny-polygon typed chunks (if I had to estimate, ~50%ish with inactive cut), clear-loomingly darkish-very foggy "shard-shaped" - in the literal sense of the term - chunks (the best, domestic produced batches, mostly d-methamphetamine, although there is stuff out there that can look the same but still not all there in terms oomph - i would think something like l-methamphetamine used as a cut perhaps, can increase the rush but the CNS effect just not there) There's also fake stuff out, usually goes for the same/more as real stuff and looks like almost round-ish very very shiny chunks that tend to just burst into a million pieces rather than snap when you try to break them apart. From what ive seen though ,quality is definitely better around your end. ^ there's dealers like that here, too, they don't even consider health/financial problems when they lock them up though or even think to report on those things as some kind of showcase of positive outcomes. The prison penalty seems about the same though.

 

[poledriver]

Australian Federal Police added 5 new photos.
33 mins ·

@Eddie Hall once deadlifted 500kgs.

The AFP has just lifted 540kgs of meth out of 396 bottles of protein powder!

Seven men and a woman have been charged for their alleged involvement in the importation of 540kgs of methamphetamine into Sydney with an approximate street value of $324 million.

This importation had arrived via sea cargo and was concealed in 396 bottles labelled as protein powder. The consignment was delivered in a controlled operation to a unit in Fairfield, NSW, where the seven men were arrested.

The men have been charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug, namely methamphetamine, contrary to section 307.5, by virtue of section 11.1, of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).

Subsequent search warrants resulted in the seizure of approximately 5 kilograms of methamphetamine and smaller quantities of ecstasy and cocaine, along with drug paraphernalia, five firearms and ammunition.

This resulted in the arrest of a 23-year-old woman at a residence in Green Valley, NSW, and two further charges.

The maximum penalty for these offences is life imprisonment.
The fight continues.

NSFW:

 

[poledriver]

Western Australia the 'meth capital’ of Australia, study reveals

Methylamphetamine use in Western Australia’s cities and regions is far higher than anywhere else in Australia, a national study of wastewater has revealed.

Daily meth consumption for Perth was estimated at one “hit” per 17 people per day from results recorded at the city’s wastewater plants, according to Perth Now.

Average consumption at an undisclosed regional located was recorded at one dose per 13 people per day.

Meanwhile, regional areas in Victoria and Queensland showed higher than average oxycodone levels.

Fentanyl use in regional areas in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia were higher than average.


Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...meth-capital-of-australia#A7wftYYDefSdATrM.99

 

[Crankinit]

I wonder how the papers decide which city is the "METH CAPITAL OF AUSTRALIA!!!!!" this time? Do they flip a coin? Have a little wheel they roll?

 

[poledriver]

Pretty shitty.

 

[consumer]

Sewerage water testing. Its actually a really accurate method.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Five arrested over $101 million crystal meth haul from China

FEDERAL police have seized a swag of crystal methamphetamine worth an estimated $101 million.

Five men have been charged over allegedly attempting to traffic more than 100kg of the prohibited drug, also known as ice.

Operation Valencia, a joint investigation between the AFP, NSW Police, Australian Border Control and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, stopped the drug shipment leaving Guangdong Province in China before it left for Australia.

It is the latest win in the ongoing was against ice between Australian and Chinese authorities.

Last November, the taskforce busted a $54 million ice operation on Sydney’s exclusive Northern Beaches.

Authorities swooped on Palm Beach, seizing three barrels containing about 90 litres of liquid methamphetamine. A fishing vessel off the coast of Hervey Bay in Queensland was also intercepted.

Eight people were arrested for their alleged roles in that importation venture.

Since November 2015 almost 7.5 tonnes of illicit substances, including crystal methamphetamine, or ice, have been confiscated, worth an estimated street value of $2 billion.

Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan said organised crime “knows no borders”, and the co-operation between Australia and China occurring as a result of the taskforce’s work was paying “substantial dividends”.

The intelligence exchange was crucial to identifying syndicates and individuals exporting crystal methamphetamine from China, he said.

“This is the first ever joint agency taskforce of its kind in the world and is proving to be as successful as it is unprecedented,” Mr Keenan told the Herald Sun.

“Together, our countries are disrupting the trade of organised criminals that peddle in the misery of drug trafficking.”


Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...l/news-story/3b685f80e772147ac25ccfcd9aa474c7

 

[poledriver]

Sewerage water testing. Its actually a really accurate method.

What about all the people with septic systems? How is it so accurate? How does it work? It doesn't sound really accurate but I know nothing about it really. I have heard from media reports of it happening over the years, but at a guess there would be major flaws. How about it some large scale dealers tipped a huge amount of meth down the shitter before a raid? So that area would then be right up the top of the list? How about areas where meth production takes place and some of the left over crap from making it is tipped down drains/sinks/toilets?

 

[Burnt Offerings]

Detecting/gauging drugs in waste water is probably a more accurate way to measure drug use amongst the population than relying on surveys and "self reporting", anyway...I remember reading about a river outside a town in Italy that had detectable levels of cocaine in it, lol. I've always been of the opinion that drug use is quite a bit more widespread than surveys suggest

 

[consumer]

I dont know how many people in major cities have septic tanks Poledriver. It would be negligible. In areas like where i lived in Byron lots of us had septic tanks but so many drugs are taken there i am sure the sewerage would get you high still lol

 

[poledriver]

Ah, so they wouldnt test any regional areas? Only major cities. I guess that makes sense.

I just read -

Methylamphetamine use in Western Australia’s cities and regions is far higher than anywhere else in Australia, a national study of wastewater has revealed.

And jumped to a conclusion that they may also test smaller areas.

I still am not sure how it works when in some areas (as I stated) some major amounts might get flushed down the dunny.

I found this link also -

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) has a national responsibility to provide information and intelligence on criminal activity. Much of the harm that Australians suffer is due to illicit and licit substances through serious and organised crime groups who traffick, distribute and profit from the drug trade.
The ACIC has been warning for several years that one of the most harmful substances impacting on Australia is crystal methylamphetamine. While not the only substance of abuse, crystal methylamphetamine is considered by the ACIC as an illicit drug of disproportionate harm and this first National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program Report confirms the concerns expressed in the former ACC report The Australian Methylamphetamine Market—The National Picture of March 2015.
In response to growing concern around crystal methylamphetamine use in Australia,
a National Ice Taskforce was established in 2015 to advise the Government on the development of a National Ice Action Strategy. One of the recommendations of the National Ice Taskforce focused on improving and expanding available data sources to provide a more accurate understanding of drug use in Australia. This document is the first of nine public reports which will share results of a national wastewater drug monitoring program over the next three years. This data will provide statistically valid datasets of methylamphetamine usage and distribution patterns across 51 sites in capital city and regional areas across all states and territories. The analysis extends to 13 drug types and will give the first national evidence base of illicit drug usage and distribution.
WHY WASTEWATER ANALYSIS?
Wastewater analysis is widely applied internationally as a tool to measure and interpret drug use within national populations. The Australian Government has recognised the considerable benefits of wastewater analysis and has partnered with established scientific expertise within Australian academic institutions to introduce a national program based on international models.
The National Ice Taskforce found self-report user surveys, seizure and arrest data and medical statistics provide only a limited picture of drug consumption. Consequently, the Taskforce recommended that a national wastewater capability be established to provide a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of drug use in Australia. Moreover, the National Ice Action Strategy 2015 recognised that national responses to problematic drug use need to be guided by better data and research to inform how governments respond to current and emerging drug trends.
IMPLEMENTING A NATIONAL PROGRAM
In June 2016, the Minister for Justice Michael Keenan approved the allocation of
$3.6 million over a three year period from the Confiscated Assets Fund for the ACIC to develop a National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program (NWDMP).

CONT -

https://www.acic.gov.au/sites/g/fil...onitoring_program_report_1_0.pdf?v=1490333695

 

[g0to]

I dont know how many people in major cities have septic tanks Poledriver. It would be negligible. In areas like where i lived in Byron lots of us had septic tanks but so many drugs are taken there i am sure the sewerage would get you high still lol

Lmao.. :D :D :D

 

[consumer]

They do test regional areas but many regional areas have sewerage systems...most people in byron for example are connected even though a lot of us were not. I still think it paints an accurate picture. If somewhere other than Sydney had the #1 position for cocaine then i would have had my doubts