NSW drug dealers: which suburbs have the most drug charges
From iconic night-life destinations to idyllic beach towns, police are cracking down on drug dealers great and small all over NSW. New data reveals which postcodes have the most drug charges. SEE HOW MANY ARE IN YOUR AREA.
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- Revealed: NSW’s cocaine charge numbers
- Revealed: NSW’s ecstasy charge numbers
- Revealed: NSW’s cannabis charge numbers
- Revealed: NSW’s amphetamine charge numbers
- Revealed: NSW’s narcotic charge numbers
Police have swooped on dial-a-dealers, festival pill peddlers and drug kingpins across the state as new data reveals where drug dealers are plying their trade in NSW.
NSW Police Force Corporate Sponsor for Drug Related Crime, Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith, said local police together with specialist investigators target drug suppliers at all levels and in all areas of the community.
DIAL A DEALER: SYDNEY’S DRUG HOT SPOTS EXPOSED
“Demand for prohibited drugs across the state remains constant among those in the community who choose the risk associated with their use,” Assistant Commissioner Smith said.
Figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics have revealed which suburbs and council areas across NSW recorded the highest numbers of drug charges in the year to March 2020.
The City of Sydney has the state’s highest number of drug dealing charges overall, with 831 separate charges relating to cocaine, cannabis, narcotics, amphetamines and ecstasy supply.
In the same period police laid 576 charges on the state’s Central Coast, 365 in Newcastle, 245 in Mid-Western Regional in the state’s Central West and 178 in Wollongong.
City of Sydney had the most cocaine charges in the state, while the Central Coast had the highest number of cannabis charges across NSW.
Newcastle was responsible for by far the highest number of narcotics with 286 charges laid in the year to March 2020.
In the Mid-Western Regional LGA in the state’s Central West, police laid 228 charges on people dealing amphetamines, while City of Sydney also had the state’s highest number of ecstasy charges.
“Investigations by police into the importation, manufacture and supply of prohibited drugs are continuing,” Assistant Commissioner Smith said.
“Police will continue to work with partner agencies to ensure the safety of the community.”
According to the ACIC National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report, cocaine use is highest in the Sydney metropolitan area, but is no longer limited to affluent suburbs.
Officers from Eastern Beaches and Eastern Suburbs Police Area Commands actively investigate prohibited drug supply in Sydney’s ritzy eastern suburbs.
Additionally, investigators attached to Redfern and Surry Hills Region Enforcement Squads have nailed a large number of arrests for drug supply and possession in Sydney’s centre.
In 2019, Redfern RES investigators attached to Strike Force Northrop arrested 74 people for drug supply and 65 people for drug possession across the Sydney CBD and Eastern Suburbs.
NSW’S TOP 10 DRUG CHARGES HOTSPOTS
1. City of Sydney: 831
2. Central Coast: 576
3. Newcastle: 365
4. Mid-Western Regional: 245
5. Wollongong: 178
6. Canterbury Bankstown: 171
7. Queanbeyan Palerang: 157
8. Waverley: 143
9. Blacktown: 139
10. Fairfield: 121
COCAINE
Sydney’s city centre was cocaine dealers’ location of choice last year, with police catching 116 dealers across the CBD.
The beachside party town of Bondi had the state’s second-highest number of cocaine dealers, with 103 in total – almost a 300 per cent increase on the year before when there were just 26.
Here are all the statistics on NSW’s cocaine dealers and the stories of the dealers caught in the act by the cops.
Top 5 hotspots: Sydney, Waverley, Central Coast, Woollahra and Inner West
CANNABIS
The calm coastal towns of Bateau Bay and Long Jetty on the state’s Central Coast had the state’s highest number of cannabis dealers last year.
The Coast’s 2261 postcode had more than four times as many cannabis dealers as Queanbeyan on the state’s border with Queanbeyan, which had the state’s second highest number of cannabis dealers with 45.
Here are all the statistics on NSW’s cannabis dealers and what led police straight to their doors.
Top 5 hotspots: Central Coast, City of Sydney, Queanbeyan Palerang, Canterbury Bankstown and Goulburn
NARCOTICS
The idyllic beachside town of Merewether near Newcastle had by far the state’s highest number of narcotics dealers, with a whopping 268 caught last year.
Mt Druitt in Sydney’s west was responsible for the second-highest number of narcotics dealers across the state – but still paled in comparison to Merewether with just 59 caught in the act.
Here are the latest insights into narcotics dealers across NSW.
Top 5 hotspots: Newcastle, City of Sydney, Blacktown, Fairfield and Kempsey
AMPHETAMINES
It is best known for its food and wine – but Mudgee also boasted the dubious honour of the state’s highest number of amphetamines dealers last year, with 226 in total.
The towns of Bateau Bay and Long Jetty claimed yet another unfortunate title, with the state’s second highest number of amphetamines dealers plying their trade in the seaside suburbs.
Here are the statistics and stories of NSW’s amphetamine dealers.
Top 5 hotspots: Mid-Western Regional, City of Sydney, Central Coast, Wollongong and Queanbeyan Palerang
ECSTASY
Unsurprisingly, statistics reveal Sydney’s party and festival hotspots also have the state’s highest number of MDMA dealers.
Sydney, Darlinghurst and Sydney Olympic Park – a popular location for music festivals – had the state’s highest numbers of MDMA dealers, with 46, 44 and 38 respectively.
Here are the extraordinary stories of pill smugglers and party drug suppliers across NSW last year.
Top 5 hotspots: City of Sydney, Parramatta, Central Coast, Queanbeyan Palerang and Albury
THE BIG BUSTS
Between February 2019 and June 2020, police arrested and charged 55 people for drug supply and possession as a result of ongoing joint inquiries by detectives attached to Western Region’s Strike Force Pinnacle and the Drug and Firearms Squad’s Strike Force Laverick.
The investigation targeted a large-scale drug supply network operating in the state’s Central West allegedly involved in the sourcing and supply of methylamphetamine (ice), MDMA and heroin.
In addition, NSW Police and its partner agencies seized significant quantities of prohibited drugs in the past year, including:
SF Cassea – alleged importation of more than $80 million worth of liquid methylamphetamine concealed in water bottles; two people charged (Drug and Firearms Squad)
SF Irwine – seizure of more than 420kg of cocaine (Organised Crime Squad)
SF Mactier – a tonne of methylamphetamine seized from yacht intercepted near Newcastle (Organised Crime)
SF Pinnacle / SF Laverick – 33 charged over alleged statewide drug supply network (Western Region / Drug and Firearms Squad)
$2.75 million cash seized following search of prime mover near Goulburn (Drug and Firearms Squad / Criminal Groups Squad)
SF Pirinari – $300 million ice import (Organised Crime Squad)
*** Editor’s note: a previous version of this story referred to the number of “drug dealers” in a suburb. It should have referred to the number of drug charges. This has been amended. ***