AFP officers exposed to cocaine and other drugs in offices around the country

AFP officers have potentially been exposed to a string of illicit drugs after an urgent audit revealed headquarters in five states were contaminated.

Australian Federal Police officers have potentially been exposed to a string of illicit drugs after an urgent audit revealed headquarters in five states were contaminated with narcotics including methamphetamine and cocaine residue.

Testing was undertaken in AFP headquarters around the country after the initial discovery of a “snowstorm” of drugs inside their Sydney office’s drug lab, which was dubbed the “room of death”.

Little information has been released publicly about the illicit drug contamination, how long the offices may have been exposed and the long term health effects on staff.

News Corp Australia obtained AFP internal documents under Freedom of Information revealing the contamination of the Sydney headquarters was worse than first thought, with 12 illicit substances discovered in the airconditioning and on office surfaces across numerous floors.

Australian Federal Police headquarters in Brisbane were found to be contaminated with a string of illicit substances. Picture: AAP Dan Peled

Documents also reveal the Brisbane office was tested for Ephedrine, Pseudoephedrine, Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, MDA, MDMA, Cocaine, fentanyl, Heroin, Cannabidiol, Cannabinol and THC.

The report by testing company CETEC said of those 12 drugs only “ … MDA, Cannabidiol, Cannabinol and THC were not detected in air or on surface in any locations.”

The AFP internal documents reveal only two buildings, the Northern Territory office and the Majura complex in the ACT, did not require specialist cleaning.

Officers at most AFP headquarters around the country have been exposed to illicit substances including methamphetamine. Pictures: Justin Lloyd

In Melbourne, the AFP offices underwent specialist cleaning including the ceiling tiles of the floors above and below the drug laboratory areas.

It is understood the Perth and Adelaide offices were contaminated but to a lesser extent than other states.

The La Trobe St AFP building in Melbourne. Picture: Rob Leeson.

The testing was carried out after the Sunday Telegraph in 2018 revealed forensic officers were moved out of the Sydney drug lab because they were being caught in a snowstorm of cocaine and methamphetamine.

Drugs were found in 23 out of 24 surface samples in the Sydney drug handling rooms dubbed the “room of death”. Two samples exceeded the action limit for drug handling areas and six exceeded the action limit for general office areas.

Drugs were also discovered in 66 out of 87 samples in the airconditioning unit with 13 samples exceeding the action level for general office areas.

The AFP last year set up the National Environment Remediation Program Reference Group (NERPRG) to manage the contamination situation.

The AFP Headquarters in Sydney where officers complained about contamination in the drug laboratory dubbed the “room of death” Picture: Tim Hunter.

Minutes from the group’s first meeting revealed the AFP was inquiring into the long term effects of exposure to illicit drugs because “they are currently unknown”.

The group asked for drug handling procedures to be “mapped/reviewed” and for the vehicles used to transport drug seizures to be target tested for contamination.

But meeting minutes taken months later showed those tests still had not been done.

An AFP Association spokesman – the union that represents AFP employees – said they are aware of the contamination issues in Sydney and Melbourne and believe there are issues in Brisbane and other offices too.

“The AFP has been working towards a solution on this issue that has included deep and professional cleaning of the areas affected. But the AFPA are concerned it has taken this long to get a resolution and that there has been limited consultation/information provided to the AFPA since the original notification,” the spokesman said.

The AFP has said there have been 17 work health and safety incidents since 2012 relating to possible exposure of forensic team members to illicit substances in the Sydney office. Most were minor and treated with on-site first aid.

Drug contamination at the Sydney headquarters of the AFP was spread over numerous floors. The cleaning of the building still hasn’t been completed. Picture: Justin Lloyd

However, it is known one officer was hospitalised, and another officer who tested positive for drugs argued she had ingested methamphetamine via her job after she was sacked.

Although cleared by the organisation professional standards unit, the officer was still fired and gagged in a settlement from talking about it.

The documents also revealed the AFP was averse to talking openly about the situation. An AFP commander believed there was “no benefit” in sending an open email to all staff. Instead he wanted to give assurance that the AFPA was being informed.

“Staff members effected have already been advised by state managers. MIL (Manager internal logistics) provided an update that has been resolved separately that there had been some discontent/noise originating from Adelaide and Melbourne Forensic teams,” the documents stated.

An AFP spokesman said “the health and safety of Australian Federal Police (AFP) staff members is of the upmost importance to our agency and we prioritise our duty of care towards them.”

Australian Federal Police who seized 150kg of crystal methamphetamine. Picture: Cameron Richardson

He said the AFP became aware in late 2018 the handling of illicit drugs as the result of investigative activity was resulting in trace concentrations contaminating some offices.

“The low levels of illicit drug contamination recorded in some AFP offices is comparable to what can be found on bank notes or public buildings,” said the spokesman.

“While the AFP is taking steps to make contamination levels as close to ‘nil’ as possible, we have noted that a ‘zero threshold’ for illicit drug contamination is unachievable.

“Industry experts were engaged to establish acceptable thresholds. A national program of testing was then undertaken which returned positive values at some major operational headquarters.”

He said remediation cleaning had been undertaken for the Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Perth and Majura offices but cleaning works on Sydney and Melbourne offices was ongoing.

The spokesman said annual testing will now be undertaken across the agency.

The issue has since been regularly communicated to all local staff via email and meetings.

Originally published as AFP officers exposed to cocaine and other drugs in offices around the country