National Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Strategy Background Paper: Monograph Series No. 69
6.4 Australian law enforcement
Australian law enforcement responses to drugs, including ATS, are guided by the National Drug Strategy (NDS), which emphasises reductions in supply, demand and harm. The 2005- 06 IDDR reported that seizures of illicit drugs at the Australian border were lower than in previous years (Australian Crime Commission, 2007).
Domestic seizures of illicit drugs by the AFP also decreased during 2005-06. During this period, AFP and Customs operations directly prevented over one tonne of illicit drugs reaching Australian streets.
It is possible that the focus of the AFP and Customs on pre-emptive offshore interdictions resulted in fewer seizures within Australia. Against this, critics of supply reduction argue that crystal methamphetamine and availability of illicit drugs do not appear to have been affected by law enforcement activity. There are however no authoritative or systematic data collections available to support this one way or the other. The 2005-06 IDDR proposed that:
- Seizures of MDMA in 2005-06 suggest that criminal groups are attempting to introduce high-quality and high-volume laboratory production of MDMA in Australia. This has been evidenced by the importation of MDMA precursors and the importation of the relevant manufacturing expertise; and
- The ability of criminal groups to react flexibly and shift their areas of operation provides ongoing challenges for law enforcement agencies. For example, following record MDMA and precursor seizures in Australia in early 2005, criminal syndicates appear to have diverted their attention away from Australia and towards Indonesia, which was highlighted by the detection of an ATS and MDMA laboratory operating in Indonesia in November 2005 (Australian Crime Commission, 2007).
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The AFP, Customs and the ACC continue to collaborate closely in targeting and responding to instances of illicit ATS and precursor importation. For example, the AFP, Customs and the ACC have recently launched a collaborative project to trial a concept for the development of targets for operational attention, known as the Joint Target Generation Team. The early taskings for the project related to the threat posed by illicit importations of precursor chemicals from China.
Recommendations from the consultations and submissions included a need to strengthen strategic intelligence and to improve national controls so authorities can gain knowledge about who is involved in the illicit trade. It was also suggested that there needs to be improved intelligence regarding the manufacturing and distribution believed by consumers to be locally produced, but not confirmed by law enforcement agencies.
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