Top cop reveals wastewater findings that show shocking scale of methamphetamine use

Senior police have spoken of their horror findings that show the true extent of use of ice, and the surprising people who are falling victim to it.

Special investigation: Ordinary Australian “mums and dads” are using methamphetamine at record levels, new tests have revealed.

And authorities now fear the thirst for meth may continue to spike with the growing supply of a cut-price form of the drug being smuggled into the country by bikie networks through the Golden Triangle.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, outgoing CEO Mike Phelan, has revealed the latest wastewater report, which measures drugs in regional and capital city local areas showed ordinary Australians are using meth at never before seen rates.

“Our biggest problem is meth. Annually this country consumes 8.8 tonnes of pure meth a year which at the retail level sells for about $7.8 billion (total) in cash from mums and dads, uncles, aunts, on the street,” Mr Phelan said.

Australians are using meth at record levels. Picture: AFP/NSW Police

He answered questions by Senator David Shoebridge in Senates Estimates about the size of Australia’s drug market saying he could rattle off the statistics for meth use because they are the most alarming.

“I remember meth off the top of my head because it is the one that keeps me awake at night,” Mr Phelan said.

“We have seen an increase in the latest wastewater report on meth. A lot of others (drugs) have stayed stable.”

The last Wastewater Report showed meth use increased in both capital city and regional sites and was highest this year in April at a single (unnamed) regional site in New South Wales.

The next report is expected in early 2023.

The Comanchero’s have been the Crime Commision’s number one target.

Authorities say bikie groups are taking advantage of the ramped up demand and meth production in the Golden Triangle smuggling record amounts in Australia.

Mr Phelan said the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle group had been the Crime Commission’s number one target.

“We have specifically worked on the Comanchero gang.

“It’s important to put it in context exactly what these people do. They are not just thugs riding around on their bikes: they are actually responsible for serious and organised crime at the highest echelons – in excess of billions of dollars’ worth of crime and harm that happens in our society,” he said.

A former Comanchero bikie boss dubbed “Mr Ice Guy” was jailed for 24 years earlier this year for organising 56kg of meth to be smuggled from Victoria to Perth in shipping containers.

Father of two Nikola Maksimovic, 35, went on the run in 2019 after he was outed as the kingpin in one of the major drug syndicates.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission chief executive officer Mike Phelan.

Senator David Shoebridge. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Record amounts of methamphetamine continue to be intercepted and in August, the Australian Border Force (ABF) seized the nation’s largest ever bust of methamphetamine – a 1.8-tonne haul estimated to be worth about US$1.1 billion ($A1.65 billion).

ACIC Principal Adviser Drugs Shane Neilson said the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, has shown an increase in methylamphetamine use in capital cities and regional areas since August last year.

“The Mekong region of South-East Asia, including ‘The Golden Triangle’, has been associated with drug production and trafficking for several decades, and the level of manufacture of methylamphetamine continued with minimal interruption during the Covid-19 period.

“Methylamphetamine is also imported into Australia from Mexico and other countries and domestically manufactured … Australian drug consumers are price takers – they have little to no ability to influence prices – and they seem prepared to pay relatively high prices for the major drugs by world standards.”

Convicted drug dealer and former bikie, Nikola Maksimovic. Picture: Facebook

The AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney has said 70 per cent of the meth coming to Australia is from Myanmar.

New South Wales Drug and Firearms Squad detectives set up a task force with the ABF earlier this year to investigate intelligence reports that meth was arriving at Port Botany.

They discovered boxes supposedly full of marble slabs, which had bags of meth hidden inside them. The seizure led to the arrest and charging of three men, aged 24, 26 and 34.

The Hells Angels and Comanchero gangs are mainly responsible for selling drugs on Australia’s streets, with the majority coming from drug labs in the Golden Triangle, the lawless part of Myanmar that borders Thailand, Laos and China.

Authorities found two tonnes of methamphetamine hidden in marble tiles shipped from the Middle East to Sydney. Picture: AFP/NSW Police

AFP reported seizures worth $2.1 billion from Myanmar last year.

But a new cut price meth which is made from a native plant growing wild in Afghanistan is sparking fears of another global drug crisis.

It costs a fraction of the synthetic meth to produce and is reportedly so profitable Afghan farmers are abandoning their traditional opium/poppy farms in favour of the plant “ephedra”.

European drug enforcement agencies reportedly expressed concerns that the cut-rate Afghan meth could flood their capitals given the drug’s growing popularity.

Law enforcement agencies say the new style meth has already hit Australian streets.

METH USER PROFILE – KEY STATS

A significant, 29 per cent jump was recorded in 2022 in the number of people consuming meth.

Most reported taking meth in the crystal form.

Of those who had recently taken meth, more than one third said they used it at least weekly or more.

The perceived availability of crystal meth changed significantly with 63 per cent participants reporting it was ‘very easy’ to obtain.

94 per cent said they had smoked crystal meth. Of those who had used powder, 54 per cent said they snorted it.

Source: New South Wales Drug Trends 2022: Key findings from the ecstasy and related drugs reporting system

Originally published as Top cop reveals wastewater findings that show shocking scale of methamphetamine use