NEWS : 15.6.09 - Dealers' dirty work in plain view

[kingpin007]

Dealers' dirty work in plain view

Matthew Fynes-Clinton

June 15, 2009 12:00am

EVERY weekend after 5am, when the last patrons stumble from southeast Queensland's nightclubs, staff are faced with a disturbing clean-up.

Press-seal bags - used to carry ecstasy tablets and other illicit drugs - litter secluded corners and the cavities beneath bar ledges.

Sometimes the empty packets have been dropped openly in the central floor areas. The bathroom cubicles are awash with them.

Most of the bags are no more than a few square centimetres. But a larger variety, clouded with residue from methamphetamine (speed) powder or dozens of street pills, are often found wedged behind toilet cisterns.

They are a sure sign that dealers have been brazenly plying their trade.

In Brisbane's Fortitude Valley and on the Gold Coast, nightclubs typically dispose of between 50 and 100 plastic pouches following a Friday or Saturday night.

This boom in street pills is partly due to the non-licensing of tablet presses streaming into Australia's illicit drug industry from overseas.



As reported in The Courier-Mail on Saturday, Coalition and Labor federal governments have refused to apply import controls on the machines - despite almost four years of urging by the Australian Crime Commission and other independent consultants.

A relatively small tablet press, bought over the internet for $2000 from China or Taiwan, is capable of generating 6000 ecstasy pills an hour.

But the problems have become even graver due to tightened regulation of precursor chemicals and the undiminished drive for profit.

The free-market presses have turned to rolling out an inferior, increasingly dangerous product.

Street-level ecstasy (MDMA) purity is at an all-time low.

Pills, falsely sold as ecstasy and meant to mimic its effects, may contain adulterants including methamphetamine, the veterinary anaesthetic ketamine, LSD, morphine, steroids, caffeine and a range of prescription sedatives and anti-depressants.

Australian Federal Police have identified heroin and rat poison in tablets destined for the club scene.

One clubber has told The Courier-Mail of a "high-quality MDMA drought" and a subsequent "flood of bad pills hitting the market, especially in Brisbane".

At their biannual meeting in Perth on Friday, the nation's police ministers are expected to appeal to new Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor for tough import restrictions on tablet presses.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,27574,25634362-3102,00.html

 

[JoshE]

Australian Federal Police have identified heroin and rat poison in tablets destined for the club scene.

Can i see some proof? Sound's like more bullshit scare tactics to me....

 

[Thoughtcrime]

Mmmm LSD and steriod flippers....tasty

 

[smiggle]

Well this isn't new to anybody.

What are they trying to accomplish here, scare people about what they are finding in substances or make the government tighten their laws a bit more...

 

[Crankinit]

I guarantee that not all of those baggies are empty and that none of the ones with their contents remaining are thrown out

Nothing new here though, clubbers take drugs, ecstasy purity has dropped and law enforcement somehow feel that banning pill presses is going to magically stop people taking MDMA (as opposed to just building their own presses, selling powder/crystal MDMA or importing pills). Yawn.

 

[Seith]

That's not a bad idea actually. Ban the presses and maybe people might just start selling molly :D

 

[the_ketaman]

^^Yeah that does sound good doesnt it. :D

 

[Jimity]

During my work at nightclubs/late openers I always find baggies and pills. Found a ten pack once. Green Mitsubishi's. Tested up great, so the next weekend was fun.

I remember going into a nightclub one Sunday morning to pay for a party I was organising, and as the boss was talking to me, he found a pill on the floor. He just laughed, asked if it was mine, and put it in his pocket.

The CourierMail really likes to report on shit most people know about, don't they?

 

[Crankinit]

Yeah a mate of mine found a gram of meth fallen down into the gap between couches once, all bagged up in 10 seperate points, and I'm sure he's found no end of pills and K and soforth as well. Working at a hard dance club has its fringe benefits I guess

 

[kingpin007]

heheh I have found pills and so on ....

pills i have consumed before i would eat but finding powder in a bag i would not touch ..

 

[Sustanon]

Pills, falsely sold as ecstasy and meant to mimic its effects, may contain adulterants including methamphetamine, the veterinary anaesthetic ketamine, LSD, morphine, steroids, caffeine and a range of prescription sedatives and anti-depressants.

I have not seen any pills that contained LSD, Ketamine, Morphine. The rest yes and they are pretty common but they forgot the piperazine family which is in most of the pills today.

And Heroin + rat poison? How big would that pill have to be to be effective through oral administration? Why on earth would someone mix up those 2? Unless they are terrorists or something. It wouldnt be good business at all. God these journalists are so narrow minded. If i dont know how to fix a car im obviously not going to write a manual for it am i?

 

[Crankinit]

The whole rat poison thing is so absurd, I can't believe they still persist in spreading that blatant misinformation.

Why the fuck would anyone put rat poison in a pill? Same with heroin, or steroids, or antidepressants.

 

[hyroller]

i'm getting over reading these pointless articles.

why don't journalists ever tire of writing them!!!

god damnit.

 

[Crankinit]

I guess on a slow day it's easy to regurgitate some unfounded fear tactics, throw in a bit of moral panic and print that than actually putting any amount of effort into decent journalism.

The sad thing is, most people who read this shit have no idea they're being lied to.

 

[Jimity]

I have not seen any pills that contained LSD, Ketamine, Morphine. The rest yes and they are pretty common but they forgot the piperazine family which is in most of the pills today.

I've shoved many a K-bomb up my nose over the years. And I've had LSD dropped onto vitamin c tablets. Though both of those were sold as what they were, not as ecstasy.

 

[Sustanon]

A hit of acid is more expensive than mdma pills except here in AU. 1. Why would someone buy a pill sold as mdma that didnt look like an mdma bean? 2. Why would someone sell acid as mdma. Clearly theyd notice it after dropping it.

 

[JoshE]

A hit of acid is more expensive than mdma pills except here in AU. 1. Why would someone buy a pill sold as mdma that didnt look like an mdma bean? 2. Why would someone sell acid as mdma. Clearly theyd notice it after dropping it.

Depends if your experienced or in-experienced. Someone that is doing it for the first time would have no idea what so ever...

 

[Crankinit]

I don't think anybody is going to confuse acid for MDMA, even if they have only a cursory knowledge of MDMA's effects, they'd probably know that tripping balls for 12 hours is 'not' supposed to happen after taking pills.

 

[drug_mentor]

^ I agree, nobody who drops a decent dose of acid is going to think thats what E is unless they are blatantly stupid and uninformed.

Just another load of shit article detailing the obvious and throwing in some nasty propaganda. There is no economical reason for people to put rat poison, heroin, morphine, anti depressants, etc. in pills, they could either make more money selling the drugs as what they are or skip the poisons and crap to cut costs and just press duds.

I don't think banning pill presses will make fuck all difference, I am sure all the major players have enough equipment to get by years of not acquiring any more, not to mention that they could probably get them in to the country fairly easily even if there were restrictions anyway. I have a hunch that by pill presses not being banned that the authorities have busted many would be pressers by following the press after it entered the country.

LOL at terrorists putting poisons in pills, I can just imagine Bin Laden releasing one of his videos after a batch of toxic pills kill a few people, "We are responsible for the deadly red turbans circulating your evil country, down with infadel clubbers! Muhuhuhuhahaha!". LOL.

 

[JoshE]

LOL at terrorists putting poisons in pills, I can just imagine Bin Laden releasing one of his videos after a batch of toxic pills kill a few people, "We are responsible for the deadly red turbans circulating your evil country, down with infadel clubbers! Muhuhuhuhahaha!". LOL.

*Pissed Pant's laughing* Thanks man, made my day