SA Weekend 10 Year Special: Extracing the poison of SA’s methamphetamine addiction

At the end of a cul-de-sac in Adelaide’s inner-north, a methamphetamine “super lab” capable of earning its organisers hundreds of millions of dollars bubbled away — it is just one example of the poison infecting South Australians’ lives.

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At the end of a cul-de-sac in Adelaide’s inner-north, a methamphetamine “super lab” capable of earning its organisers hundreds of millions of dollars bubbled away.

Hiding beneath the cloak of Croydon’s “quiet neighbourhood” reputation, the clandestine lair operated day and night on Scotia St while CCTV cameras kept close guard.

The record-breaking set up, raided by police on a Sunday in late October last year, was the biggest of its kind in South Australia.

Hundreds of kilograms of precursor chemicals, powders, acids and industrial-scale laboratory equipment was seized.

It followed the discovery of 11kg of methamphetamine worth $5.5 million at a Morphett Vale home on October 7.

Multiple people were charged over both finds.

An industrial-scale drug lab has been found in Croydon. Screenshot from video provided by SA Police

But Sean O’Shea, who cleans homes contaminated by meth – commonly known as ice – says the drug barely existed about eight years ago.

After qualifying for his meth remediation licence a decade ago, Mr O’Shea said he was warned by West Australian police officers an ice epidemic was going to grip the state.

“Even back then (WA police) said: ‘There’s a tsunami wave coming and it’s coming your way’,” he said.

“We didn’t have a job for about two years, but then we got one, we got two, and they started rolling in after that.”Now Mr O’Shea, who runs O’Shea’s Organisation, says his company cleans up to the three drug houses each week.

“It’s snowballing, labs are everywhere and it’s becoming quite a big part of our business,” Mr O’Shea said.

In 2017, sewage analysis revealed Adelaide as Australia’s ice capital.

The report stated about 80 doses of the drug per 1,000 people were being used each day.

The National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program tested the sewage of more than 14 million Australians that year and found that ice was the most prominent drug in the country.

Last year, the same program showed meth use in SA had fallen dramatically. Sewage analysis revealed Northern Territory as the new ice capital of the country.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Crameri, the officer in charge of the Drug and Organised Crime Task Force, labelled 2018 as a “successful year”.

Almost 40 clandestine labs were detected last financial year with the majority – 15 – uncovered in the western suburbs.

“They (Morphett Vale and Croydon) were extremely large setups and this is about people seeking opportunities to make money,” he said.

“We’ve been able to stop (offenders) producing and (that) has stopped (meth) from going onto the community.

“We are hopeful these three large seizures will have an impact on people taking drugs not only in South Australia but Australia.”

Det Insp Crameri said police relied on the community to provide information on possible lab locations.

Mr O’Shea said labs often operated in affluent suburbs and quiet neighbourhoods.

“This stuff is so dangerous, it’s the new asbestos,” he said.

“Cleanliness goes out the window, you wouldn’t eat a sandwich off what these people use.”