Overseas drug cartels target Australia’s growing cocaine market

Sydney’s growing appetite for cocaine is now attracting the attention of drug cartels in Europe, Asia and Africa as well as South America. The number of people using or caught in possession of the drug has also risen in the last year.

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Sydney’s growing appetite for cocaine is now attracting the attention of drug cartels in Europe, Asia and Africa as well as South America.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission head of high risk and emerging drugs Shane Neilson said the $1.5 billion cocaine market was proving irresistible to criminal groups across the globe.

“There has always been sophisticated organised criminal groups associated with cocaine but there is a worrying level of demand, particularly in NSW,” he said.

“The cocaine is coming at Australia at all directions. It is made in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia and then may go to Central America, Europe, Africa Asia, and then to Australia.”

The number of people caught using or in possession of cocaine has risen in the last year. Picture: iStock

In the past year Australian Border Force has seized almost one tonne of cocaine (991.7kg) destined just for Sydney.

The seizures come from just nine operations with the drugs allegedly coming from Chile, Peru, Singapore, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Africa and Brazil.

The number of people in Sydney caught with cocaine has increased by 245 per cent over the past five years.

In Sydney City and Inner South the number of people caught using or in possession of the drug has gone from 302 in 2014 to 872 last year.

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That region along with the Eastern Suburbs region accounted for two thirds of the possession and use charges for cocaine.

Mr Neilson said the diverse distribution networks posed extra difficulties for intelligence gathering.

“Mexican cartels are one of the components but the cocaine market is an increasingly diverse transnational market including Colombian, Asian, European, caucasian Australia and African groups.

“It adds to the challenge of trying to respond.”

Australian Border Force has seized almost a tonne of cocaine destined for Sydney. This stash of cocaine worth an estimated $34 million was uncovered inside wooden pallets in April. Picture: AAP Image/Supplied/Australian Border Force

But he said authorities were making inroads.

“Law enforcement agencies are having significant successes and the reason for that is; we are pushing the border out,” Mr Neilson said.

“Seizures constitute a considerable proportion of the cocaine market but then it is resupplied because of the large number of groups and the demand.

“The Australian border extends all the way to Mexico City, Bogota and Singapore and our domestic and international agencies are responding to this organised crime.”

Recently Border Force extradited a 35-year-old Serbian man to NSW to face changes for allegedly being the kingpin of a syndicate responsible for importing 1.28 tonnes of cocaine in 2017.