2024 List: Worst regions for drug trafficking in NSW and greater Sydney revealed

Pockets of NSW have emerged as hot spots for trafficking meth, cocaine, cannabis and more – some regional centres leapfrogging Sydney LGAs to top the list. See where the worst spots are here.

The latest crime data has revealed which pockets of NSW and Greater Sydney are hot spots for trafficking illicit substances.

Every LGA across the state contributed to the statewide total of 43,275 drug offences recorded in the year to September 2023, according to data published by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR).

BOCSAR’s latest data has revealed the drug trafficking hotspots around Sydney and NSW. Picture: Supplied.

Almost 60 per cent of those offences occurred across the Greater Sydney area, with the City of Sydney – as the most densely-populated LGA in the region and the state – consistently finding itself in the top-five council areas for drug trafficking charges.

Meanwhile, the remaining top five LGAs changed depending on the type of drug being dealt, with some regional centres leap frogging higher-populated metropolitan areas.

See whether your LGA falls is one of the hot spots.

METHAMPHETAMINES

Most of the drug trafficking charges across the state were for dealing in meth, with 1795 charges laid across NSW in the year to September 2023.

The Central Coast leapfrogged more populous Sydney LGA’s for trafficking in a number of drugs, according to BOCSAR data. Picture: Supplied.

The Central Coast topped the list, with 636 dealers charged in that period, almost five times the number of dealers charged in City of Sydney (136).

The Lake Macquarie LGA, just south of Newcastle in the Hunter Region of NSW, was the third-worst in the state (82 arrests), while Maitland to the northwest of Newcastle rounded out the top five (58).

Canterbury-Bankstown in southwest Sydney had the fourth-highest number of meth dealing charges (61).

COCAINE

Arrests for cocaine trafficking in City of Sydney accounted for 30 per cent of the state total. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

When it came to cocaine, the most expensive consumer drug in Australia, BOCSAR showed trafficking charges for that drug were higher in Sydney than most of NSW.

More than 51 per cent of the 1141 charges for cocaine dealing were laid in the Sydney suburbs that made-up the top five – almost 30 per cent (337) were made in the City of Sydney, alone.

The affluent suburb of Waverley in the city’s east and “uniquely creative community” of the Inner West ranked second (75 arrests) and third (68 arrests), respectively.

The southwestern Sydney suburbs of Canterbury-Bankstown and Fairfield – which had 109 cocaine dealing arrests between them – completed the top five with 61 and 48 arrests a piece.

The beach and student hub of Wollongong, 80km south of Sydney, was the only regional centre to the only regional centre in the mix with the Greater Sydney hotspots, ranked six with 45 arrests for cocaine trafficking.

CANNABIS

Cannabis was the third most-common drug for people to be charged for trafficking in NSW. Picture: NSW Police Force.

Of the 498 arrests for cannabis dealing, most were laid in less affluent areas of Sydney and regional NSW.

Three western Sydney LGA’s made the top five – Canterbury-Bankstown topping the list with 43 arrests for cannabis dealing. Fairfield and Cumberland brought up the tail of the list with 26 and 19 arrests, respectively.

Meanwhile with only one arrest less than Canterbury-Bankstown, The Central Coast was the second-hottest spot for cannabis dealers in NSW. The slightly more northern LGA of Maitland just missed the top five with 18 arrests.

City of Sydney also ranked as a cannabis hot spot, with 41 arrests for cannabis trafficking.

NARCOTICS

The Central Coast is the hottest spot for narcotics trafficking arrests in NSW, BOCSAR data shows. Picture: Peter Clark

The Central Coast once again leapfrogs Greater Sydney suburbs in the number of charges for narcotics trafficking.

Although the City of Sydney topped the list with 119 arrests – of the 279 recorded for dealer arrests – The Central Coast

After City of Sydney (with 119 arrests), 29 arrests were made in The Central Coast for the same crime. Although a comparatively low number, BOCSAR showed the number of arrests had almost doubled since 2022.

The southwest Sydney suburbs of Fairfield and Liverpool, and central suburb of the Inner West brought up the tail of the top five hot spots.

ECSTASY

City of Paarramatta LGA topped the list as a hotspot for ecstasy trafficking arrests in the year to September 2023. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

While a number of LGAs across the state made repeat appearances in the top five, a quiet pocket of regional NSW has emerged as a new hotspot arrests for dealing in ecstasy.

Of the 217 arrests for the crime, the northwest Sydney suburb of Parramatta topped the list with 48 arrests, almost five-times as many as there were in the previous year.

Other Sydney hotspots for ecstasy dealing include City of Sydney (40), Randwick (13) and Cumberland (8) – equal to the number of arrests in The Central Coast in the same period.

But a new ecstasy hot spot has emerged from the BOCSAR data in the South West Slopes LGA of Hilltops – home to 19,254 people – where 13 people were arrested for ecstasy dealing, when none were arrested the year prior.