Far North police stop hundreds of litres of alcohol entering the APY Lands every month

Three vehicle interceptions which stopped nearly 500 litres of alcohol from entering the APY Lands is just the tip of the iceberg for police in SA’s Far North.

Hundreds of litres of alcohol suspected of being illegally smuggled into the APY Lands is being stopped by police every month, as they warn offenders of the impact alcohol has on communities.

Three vehicle interceptions in Port Augusta alone have stopped nearly 500 litres of alcohol from entering restricted areas in the last six months.

Operations Inspector for the Far North Local Service Area Philip Kotaras said officers in the region – which covers 670,000 km of the state including Port Augusta, Roxby Downs, Coober Pedy and Marla – focused every day on stopping illegal alcohol smuggling.

“Wherever there is prohibition there’s always going to be people trying to take prohibited substances into these areas … but it’s something that we focus on everyday,” Inspector Kotaras said.

More than 300 litres of alcohol was intercepted by police last month suspected of being illegally transported into the APY Lands. Pictures: SA Police

Two people have been arrested after drugs and alcohol being transported to a prohibited area was intercepted in Port Augusta in May. Picture: SA Police

“The message is clear. They (people) need to obviously understand the impact that this has on the local communities, and the people within the communities, being anti-social behaviour, assaults, domestic abuse, family disconnect,” he said.

“Weekly we would be seizing alcohol, particularly up towards Marla and those sort of areas.”

The APY Lands has laws against the possession, consumption, sale and supply of alcohol in their land.

Inspector Kotaras said alcohol and cannabis are the most commonly smuggled substances into prohibited areas, and are being transported in various forms concealed in vehicles by “intuitive” offenders.

“People use all forms of concealment, they use tyre voids and other voids inside the vehicles.”

Other spots commonly used for hiding alcohol include within the boot, inside the seats, the centre consoles and inside the doors of the vehicle.

Two men were arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle alcohol and drugs into a restricted area in February. Picture: SA Police

More than 300 litres of alcohol was intercepted by police in December 2020, suspected of being illegally transported into the APY Lands. Pictures: SA Police

The amount of alcohol seized by police after intercepting cars – suspected of being on their way to the APY Lands – in recent years is too large a figure to keep record of, Inspector Kotaras said.

The penalty for a first offence for smuggling large quantities of alcohol into the APY Lands is $20,000. He said people smuggled the alcohol into the prohibited regions to sell it for exuberant prices.

“It’s not just Aboriginal people that are taking large quantities of alcohol, its all races that are partaking in this and taking advantage of people in the APY lands because they can sell liquor and cannabis at elevated prices in those regions because of the demand.”

In the recent major interceptions, a car was pulled over on December 19, on the Stuart Highway at Port Augusta West. Police found more than 300 litres of various alcohols inside the car, suspected of being transported to the APY Lands. Three men were reported and the alcohol was seized. In a similar incident on February 26, police stopped a Holden on the Augusta Highway at Port Augusta, finding 63 litres of alcohol and cannabis in sealed bags. The driver, from the APY Lands was arrested.

In the most recent large seizure, police stopped a car on Victoria Parade at Port Augusta, and found 340g of cannabis and more than 100 litres of alcohol suspected of being transported to a remote community in the Northern Territory.

Inspector Kotaras said the team worked closely with the commissioner of liquor and gambling and had strong communication lines with licensed venues to control illegal smuggling.

He said the Far North team did what they could with their resources.

“We could always do with more resources but having said that you look at the geographical nature of the region, it is quite porous and difficult to stop all access and egress into the APY Lands.”