Drug dealers, gun gangs cash in on coronavirus pandemic
Drug dealers and criminal gangs are cashing in as prices of cocaine, ice, heroin and blackmarket guns have all shot up during the COVID-19 crisis.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Drug dealers and criminal gangs are cashing in as prices of cocaine, ice, heroin and blackmarket guns have all shot up during the COVID-19 crisis.
With trade routes into the country disrupted for the past four months, the shortages are hitting the streets while drug dealers are dudding customers with short measures and diluted products so they are not out of pocket.
The price of illegal firearms was already on the rise after a successful crackdown on dealers by police but the coronavirus lockdown has made them even harder to come by. A pistol that used to cost $500 is now going for around $15,000, sources said.
The wholesale price of cocaine has jumped from $160,000 a kilo last year to over $200,000 a kilo now, according to senior NSW police sources.
Similarly the costs of methamphetamine or ice has gone from 75,000 last year to anywhere from $95,000 to $120,000.
While the drug importers are paying extra they are still making money by “jumping’’ or diluting the drugs so that the price on the street has not skyrocketed.
“There is gear around which is now a lot less pure than it was before Covid hit,” a senior officer told The Daily Telegraph.
“The other practice is they are ‘shorting’ a gram, that is the price is still the same but buyers are only getting only . 07 of a gram of coke but paying the same as what you did a year or so a go for a full gram.”
The Daily Telegraph revealed two months ago as COVID began to hit that the NSW Police cybercrime unit was catching drug dealers deep in the dark web as the online marketplace was replacing clubs, pubs and dance festivals.
On the frontline, the Kings Cross injecting room has warned that some addicts may switch to more dangerous drugs if they can’t afford their usual hit.
“Heroin in Australia is imported, generally from South-East Asia,” Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre Medical Director, Marianne Jauncey.
“Clearly trade routes have been disrupted, and although it has taken a while we are now seeing evidence of reduced supply. This is noted through reduced availability, and anecdotally purity is decreasing while price is increasing.
“It is always a concern that some people may switch to more dangerous substances, and while at Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre we have not seen evidence of this as yet, we will be monitoring the situation closely.”
She said they were advising people to take the opportunity and get off drugs.
“We strongly recommend that anyone who uses drugs themselves or is in contact with people who use drugs, get their own free Naloxone at a chemist,” she said.
“This is a life-saving antidote to opiate overdose and is simple to use. You may just save a life.”
“Most weapons sold in Australia enter the country legally but end up on the black market through gun dealers,” a police source said.
“In the past twelve to 18 months the NSW cops have really cracked down on gun dealers and made some major arrests and seizures which has really seen the tightening of the supply of weapons.”
Police have been picking off drug dealers as they stop cars to do lockdown checks with two men arrested on Wednesday in a Victorian-registered car on the Newell Highway on the way into NSW. Police found GHB, steroids, knives and other drug paraphernalia.
