Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
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FRESH from winning the war on boat arrivals, the Australian Border Force is bracing itself for a “tsunami” of methamphetamine, or ice, coming from China, with fears the deadly drug will be distributed by criminals flying into Australia on tourist and student visas.
ABF commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg said the terrifying prospect comes as law enforcement agencies are detecting an increasing number of large-scale ice shipments.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Quaedvlieg also revealed Asian crime syndicates were using a new technique to import drugs, shifting away from the more traditional method of concealing drugs in shipping containers and air cargo.
He said drug syndicates were sending commercial vessels out of China and Hong Kong, “hitting our coastline with motherships” which were then meeting up with smaller “daughter ships”.
“The Asian continent as a whole is an epicentre of illicit drug production, with China specifically at the forefront of a tsunami of methamphetamine production heading our way,” Mr Quaedvlieg said.
Australian and Chinese authorities are working closely but face an almost impossible task because of the booming production of ice and precursor chemicals in China’s Guangdong province. Of particular concern is the city of Guangzhou, home to a burgeoning chemical industry across one of the world’s largest industrial and manufacturing precincts.
“Chinese authorities have begun a crackdown but the environment remains conducive to large-scale manufacturing of illicit substances alongside the legitimate chemicals,” he said.
Only last November, 90 litres of liquid meth from China, worth $54 million, was seized at Palm Beach. A small tender went out to meet a larger fishing vessel and returned with three barrels of the liquid.
Last May, $200 million worth of meth from China was intercepted off the West Australian coast.
“The use of commercial vessels to facilitate illicit imports is not a new phenomenon but there is no question we have seen a spike in the past 12 months. It demonstrates the adaptability to criminal syndicates both in terms of methods of import method but also types,” Mr Quaedvlieg said.
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...e/news-story/651adf5c62af3b685c9ef41856001952
ABF commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg said the terrifying prospect comes as law enforcement agencies are detecting an increasing number of large-scale ice shipments.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Quaedvlieg also revealed Asian crime syndicates were using a new technique to import drugs, shifting away from the more traditional method of concealing drugs in shipping containers and air cargo.
He said drug syndicates were sending commercial vessels out of China and Hong Kong, “hitting our coastline with motherships” which were then meeting up with smaller “daughter ships”.
“The Asian continent as a whole is an epicentre of illicit drug production, with China specifically at the forefront of a tsunami of methamphetamine production heading our way,” Mr Quaedvlieg said.
Australian and Chinese authorities are working closely but face an almost impossible task because of the booming production of ice and precursor chemicals in China’s Guangdong province. Of particular concern is the city of Guangzhou, home to a burgeoning chemical industry across one of the world’s largest industrial and manufacturing precincts.
“Chinese authorities have begun a crackdown but the environment remains conducive to large-scale manufacturing of illicit substances alongside the legitimate chemicals,” he said.
Only last November, 90 litres of liquid meth from China, worth $54 million, was seized at Palm Beach. A small tender went out to meet a larger fishing vessel and returned with three barrels of the liquid.
Last May, $200 million worth of meth from China was intercepted off the West Australian coast.
“The use of commercial vessels to facilitate illicit imports is not a new phenomenon but there is no question we have seen a spike in the past 12 months. It demonstrates the adaptability to criminal syndicates both in terms of methods of import method but also types,” Mr Quaedvlieg said.
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...e/news-story/651adf5c62af3b685c9ef41856001952
