Police News Mar 06.indd - New Zealand Police Association

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PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceNew Zealandseen as a‘soft’market bytransnationalcrime syndicates• Rock crystal meth and meth pipe.Indonesian mega labs highlightco-operation between drug traffickersBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsThe discovery of two methamphetaminemanufacturingplants in Indonesia, recently, hashighlighted the sophisticated co-operation betweeninternational drug traffickers and the risk theseoperations pose to New Zealand - as vast quantitiesof the drug flood the market.Similar ‘super labs’ have also beendiscovered in Fiji, the Phillipines andMalaysia of recent times. The product fromthe Fiji lab was destined for the USA, Australia andNew Zealand, according to American officials.When Indonesian police arrested 12 people ata huge drug-manufacturing factory in Serangrecently, 45 kilometres from the Indonesia capitalof Jakarta, they found locals, Dutch, French andHong Kong nationals, Taiwanese, and meth cooksfrom mainland China.A NZ Police drug intelligence officer, who viewedthe lab, told Police News that the sophisticatedoperation, which he termed a “mega lab”, had100 kilograms of crystal meth (“ice”) drying when he was there. Shortlyafterward, Indonesian police discovered an even bigger operation with 200kilograms of product ready for distribution as well as large quantities ofMDMA (Ecstacy). Meth is known as shabu shabu in Indonesia.“Say if we were looking ata seizure rate as high as20% – and I tend to thinkthat’s probably way overthe top – and that’s onefifthof what is coming intothe country, then we reallyhave some issues.”- Detective Inspector Don Allan,NZ Police O/C National Bureau ofCriminal Intelligence.“On our backdoor step”Early indications are that the labs were producing drugs for theAmerican and Australian markets. The intelligence officer said that someof the product could have been headed for New Zealand, given that itwas “virtually on our backdoor step”.Customs officials have told Police News that New Zealand’s sub-culturewas seen by international drug cartels as a growing drug marketand a recent United Nations Drug Report bore this out – listing NewZealand behind only Thailand and Australia in terms of the usage ofamphetamines (speed, methamphetamine and Ecstacy).Transnational crime syndicates from Asia, EasternEurope, Africa, Malaysia, Israel, mainland Chinaand the Middle East see New Zealand as a ‘softtouch’ in that drug penalties here are more lenientthan in their home countries – where traffickersface life imprisonment or the death penalty. Eightypercent of the largest drug seizures last yearwere the domain of organised transnational crimegangs.Recently, three Sydney residents were chargedwith allegedly attempting to import half akilogramn of liquid cocaine concealed in perfumebottles into New Zealand. The bottles werediscovered at Auckland International Airport asa result of a joint Customs and Auckland Police Drug Squad operation.Police News understands two of those arrested were brothers fromColombia. All three face charges of importing a Class A controlled drug,possession of a Class A controlled drug for supply and attempting to36March 2006
New Zealand Police Associationexport a Class A controlled drug. Four years ago, border seizures ofcocaine were virtually unheard of – Customs seizing just four grams in2001 - by 2004 that had risen dramatically to a record 17.64 kilograms.Last year seven kilograms were seized.New Zealand Customs Service Manager for Drug Investigations, SimonWilliamson, said the cocaine was probably destined for Australia. “Thislatest interception proves that New Zealand continues to be used asa stop over/transit point for cocaine shipments destined for Australia.Drug trafficking syndicates are continually evolving more and moresophisticated methods to evade detection for drug shipments, and thisis yet another example of this,” said Mr Williamson.SuccessesPolice and Customs thwarted a large-scale importation of ephedrinefrom Mainland China in March 2004. An Asian syndicate wasattempting to import a tonne of ephedrine, capable of making 700kilograms of meth.Indonesian police said the cartel running the meth factory in Serang wasproducing up to one million pills/tablets a week. Police estimated thatthe factory could output meth with a street value of $600 million a year.The plant was registered as a cable factory and covered an area of fourhectares. Indonesian Police Chief, General Sutanto, said that the levelof production at the lab made it the third largest Ecstasy manufacturingoperation ever discovered. Police had seized 62.4 tonnes of precursors formaking methamphetamine and 6.7 tonnes for making Ecstasy.Police also seized 150 kg (330 pounds) of ready-to-use crystalmethamphetamines. Samples had already been sent to buyers in HongKong.The discovery of the lab has further highlighted the sophisticated natureof international drug cartels, which are mirroring the cross-agencyapproach taken by law enforcement agencies in their war on drugs.Detective Inspector Don Allan, O/C National Bureau of CriminalIntelligence for the NZ Police, told Police News that there was evidencethat international crime syndicates were working with organised crimegangs, OMCGs (Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs) and ethnic gangs to furthertheir distribution networks in New Zealand. Estimates of the drug tradein this industry put it at a $1 billion industry. By comparison, the annualPolice budget for last year was set at $943.8 million.Deal with anyoneUnlike OMCGs and ethnic gangs – where inter-gang rivalry has, to someextent, limited their growth – the transnational crime syndicates will dealwith anyone locally – provided the result is the same and the bulk of theprofits come back to them.“What’s coming through is that the international partnerships arebeing developed. They will get a cook from China, an importer fromsomewhere else and a moneyman from another country. So what theyare doing is forming business entities, using whatever resource they canget to get it off the ground,” Allan said. He also said that the networksinternational law enforcement agencies were coming across nowwere across a whole spectrum of nationalities and he would be “verysurprised indeed, given New Zealanders entrepreneurial skills, if therewasn’t another Mr Asia in there somewhere.” (Editor’s note: TerryClark, a New Zealander, was known as “Mr Asia” during the late1970s when he ran one of the biggest drug networks in the world).The big playersInternational law enforcement agencies are finding it increasingly hardto convict those responsible for funding such huge drug manufacturing• Rock crystal methamphetamine.• Pseudoephedrine tablets – used as precursors in the manufactureof methamphetmine.• A large bag of crystal meth ready for distribution in smallerdeal bags.- Photos courtesy USDEA.operations. They are often well removed from the factories and laundermoney through legitimate business enterprises.Despite Indonesia’s tough line on drugs, including the death penalty,many foreign nationals have been arrested for trafficking or possessionin recent years. The “Bali Nine”, as they were dubbed by the media – agroup of young Australians charged with trying to smuggled heroin fromBali into Australia – were all given life sentences while the mastermindsbehind the plot have been sentenced to death by firing squad.March 200637
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Police News Mar 06.indd - New Zealand Police Association

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