The amount of illegal drugs seized coming into Germany spiked considerably in 2019, the German government said. Accordingly, training enables the frontier guards to prepare for complex operations. Nicholas Cowdery is from the Faculty of Law, The University of New South Wales. Drug trafficking is: A federal crime (the laws are decided by Congress and apply to the entire nation) A felony crime (involves very serious penalties or prison time) Not the same as "drug possession". On 16 November, the Australian Federal Police issued an alert. This paper was written and submitted to our database by a student to assist your with your own studies. SA's drug highway to Down Under - Daily Maverick The kingpin and an accomplice are subject to Interpol blue notices. A massive leak of classified government documents has exposed the identities and methods of secret agents working to stop . Jodie Anne Croul admits to role in major Qld drug trafficking syndicate The broader project examined this issue in two different wayswhether the thresholds are designed to filter traffickers from users and whether they enable appropriate sanctioning of traffickers of different controlled drugs. The kingpin, who fled the country in 2018 and now lives in Colombia with his wife, has 17 registered companies in his name. The criminal charge of murder is the only other offence that has a similar bail condition. Guacamaya invites the peoples of Abya Yala (an Indigenous name for Central and South America) to hack and filter these systems of repression, domination and enslavement that dominate us, and that it be the peoples who decide to find a way to free us from state terrorism, their statement said. International Journal of Drug Policy, 84, 1-11. Lawbreakers skillfully collect counterintelligence data on the operational activities of customs and frontier guards and traffic current models to determine optimal boundary crossing times. The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and not necessarily those of the Commonwealth. The report also found thatcross-border efforts to police drug trafficking hadbeenundermined bya disconnectbetween regional and national law enforcement, anddisparity in capacity across agencies,which haderoded trust and intelligence-sharing between them. A 47-year-old man from Queensland and a 64-year-old man from South Australia were arrested at Henley Beach and have been charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug. In another operation, the AFP identified 55 people as potentially involved in an Australian cartel run out of Perth. In one case, the AFP is hunting a drug kingpin who is living in luxury after fleeing Perth for Colombia, leaving behind a string of still-operating businesses here. Drug crime | Australian Federal Police Drug trafficking organisations have operated in Mexico for over 100 years. (2023, February 16). A woman has admitted to heading up a major drug trafficking network busted by police in dramatic raids in 2019. Footing the bill for these kinds of initiatives, he said,would save the economies where the drugs were headed"tenfold" in the long run. The cases of several Australians potentially facing the death penalty in China for drug trafficking are centred around the southern province of Guangdong, a notorious hub for methamphetamine . The current data suggests a small but not insignificant proportion of heroin users are affected. February 16, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/high-level-drug-trafficking-in-australia/. Three United Kingdom nationals have been charged after allegedly smuggling 24 kilograms of crystal meth worth more than $28 million into . These border controlled drugs and precursors, along with offences and penalties can be located under Part 9 Section 307 Criminal Code Act 1995. He has pleaded guilty to 50 offences including drug trafficking and money laundering. The specific threshold quantities employed vary by drug type, by jurisdiction and whether they are measured in terms of the pure chemical compound of a drug (pure grams) or, more commonly, in terms of pure chemical and any inert substances and fillers that are added before sale on the street (mixed grams or admixtures). In Fiscal Year 2020, CBP seized over 42,645 pounds of cocaine, 5,222 pounds of heroin, 324,973 pounds of marijuana, 156,901 pounds of methamphetamine, and 3,967 pounds of fentanyl. As increasing amounts of drugs are trafficked, this creates more illicit funds which criminals will . Fiji has also seen drug-related policing cases increase substantially, from 148 in 2008 to 1,400 in 2018, the report noted. The AFP has dismantled an Australian criminal network allegedly importing and manufacturing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine under the direction of a Colombian organised crime syndicate. The article states that the successful opening of the drug business system is a continuation of the victorious action against drug trafficking and its importation into Australia. "Stopping crime at the source is a key strategy for the AFP and partnerships with Pacific policing organisations are resulting in a more-hostile environment for criminal activity,"an AFP spokesperson said. He said it was important "that we support initiatives back into the country to which they are being deported to ensure that they are able to integrate back into society". Thus, preventive measures will make it possible for drug traffickers to understand that the Australian frontier is under close protection (Malins, 2019). Yet, a rational basis for whether current or proposed thresholds are fit for purpose, that is, whether they enable proportionate sanction, has been largely ignored. If Australia starts moving from criminal to civil penalties for drugs, the thresholds for drug offences will need to be raised and the severity of criminal sanctions reduced. She trafficked drugs between November 2018 and May 2019 in . Data on last purchase amount was extracted by state and drug type, dosage conversions applied, data cross-checked with experts and then estimates compared against the actual threshold quantities. To provide added surety that estimates were derived from users not user-dealers, purchase amounts from offenders who reported any dealing for cash profit in the last month were excluded. Australian bikie gangs smuggling in methamphetamine from Afghanistan Web. The charges relate to his operation of an online 'dark web' drug outlet called "Underline Cost.". Legal thresholds for serious drug offences: Expert advice to the ACT on determining amounts for trafficable, commercial and large commercial drug offences. The exception to this has been the Australian Capital Territory. Analysis was confined to examining the thresholds for heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA (also known as ecstasy) and cannabis (leaf not whole plant form). However, this is a complex process, and customs authorities usually seem to expose only a few personalities while others adapt to new conditions. Moreover, there is wide variation across states. 4 Drugs and Schools: Legal Issues the duty is clearly to take reasonable care to avoid harm and to take positive action to prevent injury; and the duty is not that of strict liability like WorkCover which provides automatic compensation to workers injured at work, without any negligence having to be proved. Addressing the issue of drug trafficking in Australia will also help to meet the economic interests of the wider Australian society, which contributes to another important category of stakeholders that is committed to fight this issue. Instead, at both the time of conviction and the year leading to the conviction, they were users/possessors only. 22. Several difficulties confront border agencies face while dealing with and enhancing the ways to solve this issue. Colombia's most wanted drug lord Otoniel captured - BBC News The fact that this is how police and prosecutors operate in Queensland, France and most other criminal justice systems (Hughes 2010a) shows this is not only possible but a more common practice. They have been converted for the current analysis into mixed grams based on the median 201011 retail purity in each state for seizures 2 grams (ACC 2012). for only $13.00 $11.05/page. Another name for this crime is drug distribution. Application to the ACT setting showed that the current thresholds created risks of unjustified sanction of users as traffickers and that by virtue of their lower values, the proposed Model Criminal Code thresholds, if adopted, would pose greater risks (particularly for users of methamphetamine; Hughes & Ritter in press). While the Silk Road was taken down in 2013 research has highlighted the ineffectiveness of police to affect the market. Over the past 50 years, levels of apparent consumption of different alcoholic beverages changed substantially. As noted above, Australia is in the minority of countries that specify quantities for distinguishing between drug offences with different penalty scales. Sevigny EL & Caulkins JP 2006. It uses a complex structure of interconnected companies to assist in the placement, distribution and integration of the proceeds of crime with company directors who are direct family members including his brother with an interest in 14 companies, the ACIC said. Drug dog affects: Accounting for the broad social, emotional and health impacts of general drug detection dog operations in Australia. The New Zealand and Australian prime ministers publicly clash over the deportation of Kiwi criminals. The maritime corridor that is used for legitimate trade between Australian, Asian and American markets is also a key transit hub fororganised crime syndicates and drug cartels, in what is called thePacific "drug highway", according to the report. Get it here. Illicit drug use in Australia - Wikipedia Findings from the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS). Drug Trafficking In Australia Essay Sample People smuggling and trafficking | Australian Government Department of You are free to use it to write your own assignment, however you must reference it properly. (2020). This is under the trafficable threshold of 0.75 to 10 grams. 308 qualified specialists online. This paper summarises key findings from a Criminology Research Grant funded project. Cannabis, and possibly ecstasy, are among the few drugs that could be taxed and regulated. On the threshold: How relevant should quantity be in determining intent to supply. Drug trafficking is the largest revenue generator globally among the variety of transnational criminal markets. It is thus hoped that the data herein will help build threshold systems that adopt and deliver more proportional, just and equitable responses to Australian drug offenders. At the same time, there is an opportunity to take part in a common operational struggle against narcotics trafficking. Operation Shenzi was a joint Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and Western Australia Police Force investigation carried out in 2016, which culminated in the arrest of 14 people who were either crew members of the mother ship Mega Profit . The AFP, which was first made aware of the data breach when it was contacted by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on October 4, is attempting to stem potential damage to its operations. Thus, the launch of drones is a highly effective and comprehensive method of surveillance abroad from the air. Australian threshold quantities for drug trafficking: Are they placing drug users at risk of unjustified sanction? It is clear that the risks of exceeding the thresholds vary considerably across drug types. The maximum penalty ranges from fines of 1000 penalty units to imprisonment for life, depending on the quantity of the drug. Our legal and historical analysis of these Australian deemed supply laws has shown that the laws are unjust, unnecessary and inconsistent with standard legal principles. The exchange of operational data on serious transnational illegal structures between national customs offices and information on most immeasurable methods in border management can improve coordination at the federal and worldwide levels. "This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century," he said . Nevertheless, most median and mean quantities that Australian drug users reported consuming or purchasing were lower than the trafficable thresholds. Therefore, the Australian border authorities are implicated in a comprehensive action against narcotics trafficking at the national and international levels. The person is deemed to have supplied the drugs based only on weight.2 No other evidence is required. Information Publication SchemeAccess to Information, Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice. Such behaviour is of concern, not only because of the number of regular MDMA users exceeding the thresholds, but also because binging (ie high quantity use; Sindicich & Burns 2102) and stockpiling (ie high-quantity purchases) are both common behaviours among regular MDMA users (Fowler, Kinner & Krenske 2007). StudyCorgi, 16 Feb. 2023, studycorgi.com/high-level-drug-trafficking-in-australia/. Break the link between illicit drugs and social media: UN-backed report Data were derived from three different national surveystwo of regular drug users (the Illicit Drug Reporting System: IDRS and the Ecstasy and related Drug Reporting System: EDRS) and one from the general population (the National Drug Strategy Household Survey: NDSHS). High-Level Drug Trafficking in Australia | Free Essay Example A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said that, while the market for drugs in Australia wasstrong, the ability of law enforcement agencies to work together against organised crime hadnever been stronger. a: Threshold quantities in these jurisdictions are listed per pure gram (shown in brackets). The group is allegedly linked to a Queensland accounting firm that caters to Spanish speakers, and an Australian man with links to the Bandidos, Mongols and Lone Wolf Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. StudyCorgi. If you are the original creator of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal. Such people often work in groups, and only the detention of all participants will reduce the level of illegal substances. As law obligations, manpower, and technology means progress, smugglers connected with the illicit trade change their compliance policies (Hughes et al., 2020). Due to the undercover nature and absence of provable data on this issue, it is challenging to estimate the market area of the trade with perfect correctness (Hughes et al., 2020). street value of $225 million, has been seized before getting to Australia. In so doing, it is feared that thresholds reduce the capacity to sanction drug traffickers on the basis of their intended or actual harm. The supremacy of the principle of prosecutorial burden of proof has been for good reason. PDF United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) "Australia and New Zealand's prolific and high-profile organised crimenetworks including outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) haveexpanded their activities offshore and into the Pacific. Indeed, with one exception, the maximum quantities reported by cannabis users were 3.535 times under the threshold. The process by which these institutions fulfill their duties is to control borders, gather information, investigate criminal networks, implement anti-smuggling technologies, and prosecute members of professional smuggling groups. 25 years' imprisonment for trafficking marketable quantity of controlled drugs (s.302.3 Criminal Code) 10 years' imprisonment for trafficking controlled drugs (s.302.4 Criminal Code). "In the past decade, the local [Pacific]drug market has grown, with facilitators being paid in drugs for services, then selling them onwards," the report said. To do this, they demand a clear knowledge of the states carrier policy that includes aquatic ports, platforms, ways, railway routes, and terminals. Arrest in Thailand of second drug kingpin tightens dragnet on huge "Transnational drug crime is a protracted problem, but not one that is of the Pacific's own making rather the region is a casualty of the criminal greed of organised crime and the drug appetite ofAustralia and New Zealand.". A principal challenge has been how to effectively differentiate and sanction participants in the drug trade . Australian trends in ecstasy and related drug markets 2011. Enactment by other jurisdictions would lower most threshold quantities, particularly in Tasmania, but also in the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. A massive leak of classified government documents has exposed the identities and methods of secret agents working to stop major drug importations to Australia. Gangs | Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission - ACIC This led to removal of 27 percent (n=237) of the national IDRS sample (n=868) and 28 percent (n=160) of the national EDRS sample (n=574). What Is Drug Trafficking? - FindLaw Given this would necessitate much larger quantities in some cases (eg 29 grams of MDMA), this may well be a less potentially feasible option. This is due to both the particular quantities adopted and the idiosyncratic Australian criminal justice response to drug traffickers which removes the normal criminal justice safeguard of the burden of proof resting with the prosecution. It is one of the most critical challenges for customs, border, and law enforcement officials. Walsh C 2008. The Barristers; Courts we attend; Community Corrections NSW . The implication is that even if the current legal threshold system helps to convict and sanction drug traffickers, it may be placing Australian drug users at risk of unjustified charge or sanction. Australia News. Web. Drug trafficking and productionis on the rise in the Pacific Islands and Australia's addictionto methamphetamineand cocaine is driving the problem,aLowy Institute report has found. Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable health burden in Australia. In another AFP operation, their strategy is to disrupt the onshore syndicate of Colombian-born student visa holders, connected through common education agents and agencies, importing cocaine into South East Queensland via the air cargo stream, an emailed AFP report said. The documents chart a steady flow of cocaine and other drugs from Colombian cartels and organised crime groups in Europe, Asia and the Pacific targeting Australian ports and airports, via intermediaries in places such as Africa, Hong Kong and Fiji.