Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Trial) Act 2003 - NSW ...

… a reduction in costs and resources would only be available if OH&S and other requirements were
diminished, a situation unlikely to be effected by further changes to the [Drug Detection Trial] Act.
and:
Given the lack of the element of surprise, the lack of significant seizures achieved thus far and the effectiveness
of conventional police powers [see below at paragraph 5.9.1] it can be argued that there is no cogent argument
to pursue extra police powers. 465
We agree. In our view, there appears to be little utility in attempting to further refine the legislation. We note that
Parliament amended the legislation in an attempt to address some of the limitations noted during the border areas
trial. However, these amendments have not resulted in the realisation of the main objective of the legislation, which is
the detection of persons involved in the vehicular trafficking of indictable quantities of prohibited drugs.
5.9. Alternate drug detection strategies
As noted above, drug detection operations have had limited success in the detection and/or frustration of persons
involved in the trafficking of indictable quantities of prohibited drugs. In addition, police have opined that further
amendments are unlikely to increase the effectiveness of operations.
A number of senior police we interviewed suggested that instead of conducting cost and resource intensive drug
detection operations that appeared to be of limited value, it might be more appropriate to focus on alternate
strategies. For example, one senior officer observed:
You can use telephone interception, listening devices where you can get specific information on drug couriers,
then you can pool your resources targeting particular vehicles or a particular area at a particular time. This is
more efficient and it outweighs having to … stop people who are going from point A to point B, the families in
a vehicle, the law abiding people in the trucking industry that are just trying to make a living. [Heavy vehicle
drivers] are on tough times in terms of getting between A and B in a particular timeframe. We’re pulling them
up, we’re subjecting them to searching, and we’re subjecting them to scrutiny for maybe a very technical
logbook defect. … It’s about people’s rights as much as it is about law enforcement. 466
The officer also noted that utilising these alternate strategies resulted in police obtaining additional evidence to be
used for the prosecution of persons involved in serious drug offences. That is to say, police would not only have
evidence of the drugs seized — as is the case when police randomly detect a driver in possession of drugs — but
would also have some evidence linking the driver to the drugs, which is critical to the success of any prosecution
given the need to prove physical control and knowledge of the drugs seized in order to secure a conviction. 467
We note that the issue of proving ‘exclusive possession’ hindered police in obtaining successful prosecutions in
relation to the two indictable quantities of drugs seized during the border areas trial. 468
Another senior officer said:
Police are getting very good with surveillance, undercover operations … and it’s more efficient, you identify the
true criminality of an organisation as opposed to just stopping every truck and hoping to get a hit. 469
Another senior officer, who noted that the drug detection trial ‘rests and falls on the results’, suggested that police
might achieve greater success if operations were based on specific intelligence gathered as a result of physical or
electronic surveillance and controlled operations utilising undercover operatives. 470
The NSW Police Force made the following comments in relation to adopting a more targeted approach:
The specific targeting of vehicles and/or individuals may in some instances yield a better result in terms of
serious drug trafficking, especially in light of the problems associated with [drug detection trial] operations (for
example, driver avoidance and low seizure rates). 471
It is also worth noting the view of a senior officer attached to the Victorian drug taskforce who suggested that it is very
difficult to detect people smuggling drugs in cars and trucks on a random basis. The officer noted that police in Victoria:
… rely more on being made aware through intelligence that a particular person is bringing in drugs at a
particular time in a particular car. 472
The officer also noted that:
Sometimes vehicles are intercepted at preliminary breath test stations where police become suspicious of the
occupants or they’re aware drugs are transported up and down the Hume [Highway]. 473
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NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Trial) Act 2003