Suburb-by-suburb list for Brisbane drug arrests

One of Brisbane’s top cops has warned more needs to be done to head off an increase in drug-related assaults after the number of drug offences in the city increased by more than 800 in the past year. WHERE DOES YOUR SUBURB RATE?

A BRISBANE top cop has said that drugs are driving violent crime sprees as the Queensland Police Service crime map shows drug offences have spiked by more than 800 in the past year.

Brisbane regional crime co-ordinator, Superintendent Col Briggs, said community and proactive police investigations had led to major busts that had disrupted trafficking rackets of cocaine and ice.

But he warned more needed to be done to head off an increase in violent, often drug-related, assaults.

It comes as an investigation by The Sunday Mail shows Brisbane’s inner city continues to lead the region as a hotspot for drug arrests.

Brisbane’s CBD, Fortitude Valley, Spring Hill, Bowen Hills and South Brisbane topped the list for drug-related offences in both 2017-18 and 2018-19 from September to September.

Spring Hill had one of the largest increases of any suburb citywide over the two years, with a 50 per cent surge, while the developing area of Nundah saw a 127 per cent increase.

Police however stressed that drug offences suburb-by-suburb could vary greatly between years due to ‘freak’ busts carrying a large batch of offences.

Supt Briggs said drugs like ice had a huge impact on the community.

“We see day to day people who are using drugs, we see violence during offences, we see people who are using drugs going on a spree of offences,” he said.

“They’re committing acts of violence on family members, on members of the public, they’re getting involved in property crime, to swap for drugs. We are seeing violence against our own members.”

Last month, a whopping 766kg of MDMA, worth $90 million was seized by Queensland Police, which Supt Briggs said was evidence busts were eating into the supply.

“We’ve had a significant impact upon the market by being able to take those drugs out of circulation,” he said.

According to the Illicit Drug Data Report, similar disruption has been seen in the cocaine market, dominated by Colombian traffickers.

The report showed the street price of amphetamine-type substances, such as methamphetamine or ice, became cheaper from $300-1000 to $250-550 per 1g over the course of one year.

“Over a longer period, five to ten years, there’s definitely been an increase,” Supt Briggs said of methamphetamine usage.

“There’s no place for complacency, whether it’s going up or not. We still need to be vigilant in trying to take as much out of that market as we can.”