kingpin007
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2007
- Messages
- 1,888
Cocaine floods eastern suburbs
By Brendan Hills
May 10, 2009 12:00am
A TYPICAL Sydney cocaine user lives in the eastern suburbs, is in his mid-30s and spends about $150 a week on half a gram that is often consumed at home.
But this is also the user the police admit they can't catch.
The commander of the NSW Police Drug Squad, Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham, said white-collar professionals who used cocaine were difficult to nab because they were discreet and had little contact with police.
"It's hard to target them because, in those social groups, they're buying from a dealer who knows them and comes to their home," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
There was a blaze of headlines when the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) released figures showing cocaine-possession offences jumped by a dramatic 58.6 per cent in 2008.
Arrests have increased from 304 in 2007 to 482 in 2008.
But behind those statistics lies the fact that most were street-level addicts or revellers at nightspots raided in police drug sweeps.
Experts say cocaine users divide into two groups - the affluent white-collar users and dependent street users - and Supt Bingham said most arrests for possession were not of affluent users.
He said police did not have any accurate figures to measure which group were the biggest cocaine users, but "investigations tend to point to white-collar user groups".
A breakdown of the BOCSAR figures shows cocaine offences were concentrated in central Sydney and the eastern suburbs.
After the CBD, with 225 arrests, the Woollahra local government area - which includes Double Bay, Point Piper and Vaucluse - recorded the second-highest number with 26. North Sydney was next on 18, followed by Randwick with 17.
Of the eastern suburbs arrests, 92 per cent involved males, with 60 per cent of these aged 20 to 29, 21 per cent aged 30 to 39 and another 11 per cent aged 40 to 49.
The most recent court statistics, from 2007, show 115 people appeared in NSW courts charged with cocaine possession. Of these, 56 received fines and only two were jailed. The others either had no conviction recorded, were given periodic detention, suspended sentences or bonds.
BOCSAR director Don Weatherburn said the court figures could be explained by one person being nabbed several times and the courts joining proceedings together.
He said street-level users were dependent addicts involved in petty crimes, whereas most white-collar users used cocaine in social settings that were "safe".
"Most users aren't on the streets; they're footballers, they're lawyers, they're wealthy people - yuppies - who do it in safe environments," Dr Weatherburn said.
With an average price per gram of $300, most cocaine use occurred in affluent areas, he said.
"It's more common in the eastern suburbs because there's more money there to buy it and dealers congregate where the demand is."
Last week, The Sunday Telegraph visited a number of eastern suburbs nightspots where signs of cocaine use were obvious.
At the Woollahra Hotel, men could be heard snorting loudly in toilet cubicles. At Double Bay's Golden Sheaf Hotel, a white, powdery residue was found on top of the toilet-paper dispenser.
The Sunday Telegraph is not suggesting that either establishment condones the use of drugs on their premises.
A police source said Sydney's social calendar drove demand, with events such as Fashion Week, race days and end-of-year corporate functions increasing use.
In February, Richard Buttrose, the nephew of Australian media identity Ita Buttrose, was arrested for selling cocaine around Paddington and Woollahra.
He was also allegedly found to have 7.7kg of cocaine and $1.3 million in cash at his Darling Point apartment.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25454898-5006010,00.html
Even better than the 87% we did recently. Around £
