drug trafficking in australia

After reaching Vietnam, part of the drugs headed to sea from Ho Chi Minh City's Cat Lai port, bound for Manila. The kingpin received $100 million in tracked international transfers in the first four months of 2019 alone. Thus, they initiated the investigation of the Victorian Joint Task Force on Organized Crime. Further data on the frequency of high consumption and high purchasing behaviours is also needed. (2021). The results indicate that some, but not all users are at risk, with those most likely to exceed current thresholds being consumers of MDMA and residents of New South Wales and South Australia. Not just is it simple to walk across borders without attention, but even huge transports with crime baggage also pass illegally (OReilly et al., 2020). The penalties for supplying drugs increase depending on the quantity of the drug supplied and if the matter is dealt with in the District Court. Moreover, sample sizes for a number of estimates were small, which likely reduces their reliability. First, there has yet to be any systematic assessment of the risks (and benefits) of thresholds. A number of laws are employed for sanctioning alleged drug traffickers in Australia, but most jurisdictions also have laws to sanction solely on the weight of the drug found. Tonga which was previously atransit point for drugs being trafficked toAustralia and New Zealand was seeing a particularly dramatic rise in the use of illegal drugs and associated issues, the report noted. Dealing and trafficking in illegal drugs (like heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis) are serious criminal offences. Yet, in spite of known risks from adopting such thresholds, particularly of an unjustified conviction of a user as a trafficker, the capacity of Australian legal thresholds to deliver proportional sanctioning has been subject to limited research to date. tailored to your instructions. As noted above, Australia is in the minority of countries that specify quantities for distinguishing between drug offences with different penalty scales. More concerning is the proportion of affected MDMA users. On 16 November, the Australian Federal Police issued an alert. The AFP with drugs seized from a clandestine laboratory in July 2022.Credit: In a separate hack, the group published emails from Chiles military forces, resulting in the head of the joint chiefs of staff there, General Guillermo Paiva, resigning on September 23. The fentanyl . Those quantities deemed implausible were removed; for example, reported consumption of 20 grams of heroin which would be toxic. The current data suggests a small but not insignificant proportion of heroin users are affected. Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable health burden in Australia. The person is deemed to have supplied the drugs based only on weight.2 No other evidence is required. What Does Drug Trafficking Mean In NSW and what is the penalty for drug trafficking in Australia? According to Crave, she opens up about "how she became a mule for an international drug trafficking network" during the doc, and shares her "stranger-than-fiction story." Indeed, heroin users in New South Wales can consume up to double the threshold quantity for their personal use alone. 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. The surveys also omit users who consume substances less frequently. StudyCorgi. March 03, 2023 - 3:04PM. The drugs were worth an estimated $91 million. Therefore, the strategy is to implement operational and training activities with foreign execution agencies (Malins, 2019). street value of $225 million, has been seized before getting to Australia. 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). Colombia and Peru have alternated as the top . Drug trafficking in the United States dates back to the 19th century. Police Detective . KATHMANDU, March 4: The Australian Federal Police has arrested two Nepali youths for their involvement in drug trafficking. "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.". As summarised at an international meeting on threshold quantities. 16 February. Problems with some sensitive areas of borders and the fact that contrabandists have a deep understanding of transport routes are also challenging. In some cases, Indigenous and local groups were working with international cartels to develop home-grown production facilities. Many countries explicitly avoid their use (eg France). Government agencies in different states often disagree on whether to view illicit drugs as a health or criminal problem, and it is evidenced by different views on law enforcement and penalties imposed on drug offenders. This process was repeated for Metric 2 using data from the IDRS and EDRS only (data on purchasing was unavailable from the NDSHS). It is undeniable that those stocks threaten public health, changing the state economy and eventually supporting drug companies and dealers in Southeast Asia. It is clear that the risks of exceeding the thresholds vary considerably across drug types. The prohibited drugs trade imposes substantial health and execution costs at the global level also. Add languages. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 27(1), 1-20.. Dr Caitlin Hughes, Nicholas Cowdery AM, QC and Professor Alison Ritter, Copyright 2023 UNSW MEDICINE - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Authorised by National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre - Therefore, the Australian border authorities are implicated in a comprehensive action against narcotics trafficking at the national and international levels. The ABC has reached out to Australian Border Force for comment. "They require facilitators in the Pacific to assist in their operations and in moving the drugs through the region, and the way that this is done is by having these criminal syndicates be supported by a local drug market. Second, the drug users who find themselves at the margins of the drug trafficking thresholds are most likely to be the more marginalised users (eg more unemployed and socially disadvantaged; Stafford & Burns 2012), which reduces their capacity to successfully prevent an unjust sanction. Study has shown that drug use in Australia attributes to a cost of more than 4.8% of the total GDP. * Hyperlink the URL after pasting it to your document, Revising Principles of Providing a High Standard and Safe Working Environment, Mitigating Civilian Casualties in Densely Populated Areas, Judicial Process on Criminals: Hoagland Case, Federal Mental Health Parity Laws and Regulations, Palliative Care and Hospice Education Bill Advocacy, Rittenhouse Case Highlights the Nations Deep Division. The cartel was sending smaller three-kilogram packages of cocaine which are hidden in products including pottery mud/make-up [and] using a crypto/cash office/s in Melbourne and Sydney to move money offshore, according to one email. The cartel uses people on student visas, who receive the air cargo consignments from FedEx Colombia and then send money to Colombia. Drug trafficking organisations have operated in Mexico for over 100 years. Our research can be found in: Hughes, C.E., Cowdery, N. & Ritter, A. A 24-year-old Sydney man has been jailed for nine years and four months after he posed as a teen to exploit and extort explicit images from children online. The maximum penalties for cultivation of controlled plants are: life imprisonment for cultivating commercial quantity of controlled plants (s.303.4 Criminal Code) The weight of the drugs determines whether the person is charged with a use/possess offence (diversion into treatment, fine, bond) or a supply offence (up to 21-25 years or life imprisonment, depending on the jurisdiction). Melbourne crime figure Tony Mokbel has been taken to hospital in Geelong from Victoria's high-security . 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 . Legal thresholds for serious drug offences: Expert advice to the ACT on determining amounts for trafficable, commercial and large commercial drug offences. Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Lee, 65, is a former prison mate of Tse's suspected of being involved in drug trafficking for four decades. "Officials reported that the increase in drug offences indicated the growing presence of methamphetamine in the kingdomand[that] correlated with an increase in drug-related crime such as robberies and house break-ins," 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. Trafficking in a controlled drug is divided into offences based on the quantity of the drug trafficked. A massive leak of classified government documents has exposed the identities and methods of secret agents working to stop major drug importations to Australia. For example, most irregular users reported consuming a median quantity of 0.25 to 0.41 grams of MDMA (approximately 1 pill) and most regular users reported consuming 0.58 to 0.73 grams (approximately 2 pills). The upper quantities were checked with a number of key experts (n=6) to verify if they were within the maximum range that could be consumed in a single continuous session of use without sleep. Societies undermined by drug trade Organized crime rings continue to rake in millions of dollars from drug trafficking, warns the INCB report, with negative consequences for societies and economic development, ranging from corruption and bribery, to increased organized crime, violence, poverty, and inequality. Yet, in spite of known risks from adopting such thresholds, most notably of unjustified conviction of users as traffickers, the capacity of Australian legal thresholds to deliver proportional sanctioning has been subject to limited research. This is particularly true in this case as, across all states, it is users of MDMA who are most at risk of unjustified sanctiona drug that when compared across both licit and illicit drugs has been shown to be least likely to cause crime or health and societal harm (Nutt, King & Phillips 2010). Drug trafficking in Australia is deemed a very serious offence, one for which legislators and courts have ruled general deterrence is paramount and little mercy should be shown (Clune [1989] VR 567, OBryan and Marks JJ, 576). On Thursday 16 April, police located a white Mercedes abandoned at Grange following a police pursuit. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade leads diplomatic engagement on these issues and also provides practical cooperation and assistance to help counter trafficking and smuggling in our region. Over the past 50 years, levels of apparent consumption of different alcoholic beverages changed substantially. To assist in this endeavour, all Australian states and territories have adopted legal thresholds that specify quantities of drugs over which offenders are either presumed to have possessed the drugs for the purposes of supply and liable to sanction as drug traffickers (up to 15 years imprisonment in most states), or in the case of Queensland, liable to sanctions equivalent to drug traffickers (up to 25 years imprisonment). This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. Some states have almost no evidence that users exceed current thresholds for personal use alone (eg Tasmania and Queensland, reflecting in large part the much higher trafficable thresholds). "This is the biggest blow against drug trafficking in our country this century," he said . Criminal gangs are highly visible crime entities, with a presence in all Australian states and territories and overseas. Instances of exceeding the thresholds are also greater when examining practices of regular users, rather than irregular users, and for considering patterns of heavy use, rather than patterns of typical use. Most notably, Tasmania employs considerably greater threshold quantities for all illicit drugs. The harm caused by illicit narcotics abuse impacts every level of society, from the person to the nation and eventually a global community. Australia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; Colombia's most wanted drug lord Otoniel captured. While such provisions have been justified in terms of assisting in the successful prosecution of drug traffickers, they are unique relative to most other drug trafficking threshold systems across the world, where deemed supply laws are explicitly avoided (Harris 2011a; Hughes 2003; Walsh 2008). Efforts to disrupt the syndicates exploitation of the student-visa stream is also a primary focus for Home Affairs, the report said. The leak contains details of 35 Australian Federal Police operations, some ongoing, as well as surveillance reports from undercover agents, phone taps and payroll records for Colombian law enforcement officers. March 2, 2023. in News. The companies associated with the syndicate have had investments in gyms, a mechanical workshop, a halal meat product company, a used car dealership, commercial premises, residential real estate, businesses related to luxury cars, boats and heavy machinery, hairdressing, beauty treatments, massage businesses and a nightclub. What is also problematic is to grab an entire syndicate of smugglers, not just one member (OReilly et al., 2020). Recently, the efforts of border defenders are not sufficient to guard, so new technologies perform a valuable role (Malins, 2019). They use this knowledge to find the least controlled way and efficiently deliver the required goods. "The offshore disruption of criminal groups and infiltrating organised crime is a key part of our role and part of the solution.". Illicit drugs include illegal drugs (such as cannabis, opiates, and certain types of stimulants ), pharmaceutical drugs (such as pain-killers and tranquillisers) when used for non-medical purposes, and other substances used inappropriately . Attorney-Generals Department (AGD) 2011. Australian drug trafficking laws: guilty until proven innocent? The Illicit Drug Data Report (IDDR) by the Australian Crime Commission provides statistics view of the drug trafficking arrest and an interception. Equally importantly, while the results support the findings from the Australian Capital Territory of thresholds posing clear risks to users, they also show how risks can be mitigated with better designnamely with thresholds that better reflect using patterns in the particular state of concern and how the wholesale adoption of the Model Criminal Code quantities across Australia would serve to increase the likelihood of a drug user being unjustly charged and/or sanctioned for trafficking (MCCOC 1998b). This increases the likelihood that existing thresholds will have unintended and undesirable policy outcomes. (2023, February 16). Page Last Updated: 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". The amount of illegal drugs seized coming into Germany spiked considerably in 2019, the German government said. The question arisesto what extent is it reasonable to expect a drug user in such circumstances to prove the absence of trafficking or intent to traffic? Under such a situation, circumstances where users exceed the thresholds would be much less troubling, as in the absence of any additional evidence of trafficking intent, the user would be appropriately charged with a simple possession offence (and liable to a much smaller maximum penalty eg 2 years imprisonment). "High-Level Drug Trafficking in Australia." According to GFI's report, the global market in cocaine is valued at between $94 billion and $143 billion, an increase from an estimated $88 billion in 2008. In conclusion, legal thresholds for drug trafficking have long been central to the Australian response to drug offenders, justified under goals of delivering proportionality and effective responses to those who inflict widespread sufferingdrug traffickers (MCCOC 1998b). Of relevance here, users of cocaine are underrepresented in the sample (Degenhardt & Dietze 2005). Specific goals of relevance for this paper were to: The method replicated the approach of Hughes and Ritter (in press). These border controlled drugs and precursors, along with offences and penalties can be located under Part 9 Section 307 Criminal Code Act 1995. The exception to this has been the Australian Capital Territory. Australia is a current member of the CND (until 2013) and is an observer of the CCPCJ (however, Australia works closely with current members through the Western . Moreover, in a heavy session, 80 percent of regular users in New South Wales reported consuming more than the trafficable threshold quantity (18% in Western Australia and 30% in South Australia). Singapore on Thursday executed two men for drug trafficking, ignoring pleas for mercy from human rights campaigners who fear "a new wave" of hangings in the Asian city state notorious . In all jurisdictions except Queensland, Australian drug trafficking thresholds are attached to deemed supply laws, which reverse the traditional burden of proof from prosecutors onto defendants. News Corp Australia. The Herald and Age have reviewed thousands of emails (most in Spanish), verified them and then destroyed all copies along with all the associated metadata, to have no access to the leaked database or any of its contents. They have been designed to target different populationsregular injecting users, predominantly heroin (IDRS) and regular ecstasy users (EDRS). Operation Geronimo: Resolving Legal Issues, Alcohol, tobacco & other drugs in Australia, Drug dog affects: Accounting for the broad social, emotional and health impacts of general drug detection dog operations in Australia, Structural and functional changes in an Australian high-level drug trafficking network after exposure to supply changes. Model Criminal Code Officers Committee (MCCOC) 1998a. Reasons for such differences remain unknown. 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. Australian police have described the action as one of the biggest blows to organized crime by seizing about 1.5 tonnes of drugs, including more than . This is particularly when compared with the sanction for simple use or possessiona maximum of two years imprisonment or a more probably, a simple caution or diversion (and no criminal record; Hughes & Ritter 2008). http://www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drugstrategy/publishing. evaluate whether the trafficable thresholds allow the prosecution and the judiciary to properly distinguish drug users from traffickers; compare and contrast threshold design across Australia, taking into account interstate differences in current legal thresholds and drug markets; determine whether the problems identified with the ACT drug trafficking thresholds are common across state systems. Deemed supply in Australian drug trafficking laws: A justifiable legal provision? StudyCorgi. The police informed that the 21-year-old youths were caught while returning from the casino. This ability to react quickly to changing conditions results in the practical elusiveness of bootlegging gangs. The kingpin and an accomplice are subject to Interpol blue notices. This is under the trafficable threshold of 0.75 to 10 grams. Another name for this crime is drug distribution. 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. Drug trafficking is the largest revenue generator globally among the variety of transnational criminal markets. This indicates that Australian drug users are unlikely to exceed the trafficable threshold under normal circumstances, but that when using or purchasing their highest doses, many do exceed the thresholds. Were working to restore it. The majority of the drugs was . However, the cooperation of frontier guards with the customs service and other state organizations represents an essential role in successfully implementing the preventive method. The AFP is concerned about possible breaches of operational security as a consequence of this data compromise, a spokesperson said. Global Crime, 21(1), 28-50. 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). 2023. It is challenging to develop a single strategy for ways to overcome the problem, which makes the work of border agencies more complicated as there is no single strategy that they should follow. Thus, this strategy is successful because it interacts with the other countries authorities, which increases the chances of stopping the large-scale drug business. They are resilient, opportunistic and involved in a wide range of serious crimes, including drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, firearms offences and high-level violence. "The Pacific Transnational Crime Network (PTCN) is an AFP-supported and Pacific-led transnational criminal intelligence network for Pacific law enforcement agencies, whose aim is to increase the capacity for Pacific Island law enforcement agencies to detect, investigate and disrupt transnational crime in the region. In fact, prescription drugs are some of the pricier drugs out there. Proponents of the use of threshold quantities argue that they are the optimal means to guarantee that drug offenders receive the sanction that they deserve (MCCOC 1998b; Sentencing Council 2011). Sometimes, even in one country, the customs authorities have different operating instructions and do not interact well. Drug Trafficking in the Mainland Southeast Asian Region: The Example of Vietnam's Shared Borderland with Laos - Volume 58 Issue 1 . Drug dog affects: Accounting for the broad social, emotional and health impacts of general drug detection dog operations in Australia. Analysis was confined to examining the thresholds for heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA (also known as ecstasy) and cannabis (leaf not whole plant form). Two additional solutions are suggested. While it must be emphasised that circumstances of high use and purchase are not going to occur all the time, this clearly shows the erroneousness of the assumption that the thresholds effectively filter out all users from traffickers. To calculate Metric 1, raw data on all three samples (IDRS, EDRS and NDSHS) were used. 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). Another challenge occurs at the international level and concerns the difficulty in coordinating efforts between national customs authorities. (2020). Findings from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS). Australia is strongly committed to countering people smuggling and human trafficking. As a result, a large consignment of drugs previously transported across the boundary was found. The group claiming responsibility for the data hacking, Guacamaya, the Mayan name for macaw, said it has environmental and anti-imperialist motives. He will be sentenced at a later date. Australians' meth, cocaine use leading to growing drug-related problems across Pacific, says report. Each triggers increasingly severe penalty ranges that can be applied, such as up to 15 years imprisonment for a trafficable quantity and life imprisonment for a large commercial quantity in New South Wales (Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act, 1986 (NSW)). A., Hughes, C. E., Bright, D. A., & Ritter, A. "These markets, for being so lucrative, become of interest to transnational criminal organisations, trafficking drugs to the Pacific," he said. Such a question has particular importance for three reasons. StudyCorgi. 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. A recent drug arrest in Australia has links to South Africa. What is clear from this analysis is that, even if the system helps to convict and sanction drug traffickers, the current legal threshold system is placing Australian drug users at risk of unjustified charge or sanction. Foreword | Legal threshold quantities for drug trafficking, over which possession of an illicit drug is deemed trafficking as opposed to personal use are used in most Australian states and territories. If you are the original creator of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal. In addition, the problem is the speedy adoption of traders to the current conditions. For both proponents and opponents concern is twofold. The Offence of Trafficking in a Controlled Drug. 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. The kingpin, who fled the country in 2018 and now lives in Colombia with his wife, has 17 registered companies in his name. Two people were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering following a police investigation that uncovered a handgun, drugs and nearly a million dollars in cash. Australian frontier authorities and customs patrol borders, airports, and ports on a regular. 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.

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