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Jarrett, Janice --- "Drugs adviser praises AFP operations" [1999] AUFPPlatypus 18; (1999) 63 Platypus: Journal of the Australian Federal Police, Article 10

Interpol drugs adviser praises AFP operations

Interpol drug adviser and former Senior Deputy of the Sri Lanka police, , highlights some of the AFP's major drug seizures in a presentation on the global illicit drug trade which he delivers to law enforcement organisations around the world.

Mr Sundaralingam has praised the AFP, Australian Customs and the NSW Police Drug Enforcement Agency for their work in Operations Tamarind and Linnet, which resulted in the seizure of 78kg and 390kg of heroin respectively, and features those achievements as contributing to the process of mapping illicit drug trade networks and in demonstrating the success that can be achieved through inter-agency cooperation.

By Janice Jarrett

Expert consultant in the drugs sub-directorate of Interpol, Ramanchandra Sundaralingam, visited the AFP's offices in Canberra and Sydney recently as part of an international lecture tour he is giving to member countries of Interpol on the ramifications of the illicit drug trade, current market trends, and the responses being made by law enforcement.

Mr Sundaralingam said that 155 of the 177 member countries of Interpol replied to a heroin survey the organisation conducted on illicit drugs recently.

"That means 155 have a drug problem," he said. "Heroin is the most abused hard drug of today."

In Afghanistan, opium was the most valuable cash crop in the country, and drugs and weapons were a very explosive combination in that part of the world, Mr Sundaralingam said. Istanbul in Turkey was a main clearing house with trucks moving drugs hidden in concealed compartments over various transport networks throughout Europe.

And, like all commodities, the illicit drug trade must respond to changes in its marketplace including economic, social, regional, and political factors if it is to flourish.

And flourish it does. The former communist countries of Eastern Europe became major transit routes for illicit drugs after gaining independence, with almost 90 per cent of heroin in the United Kingdom making its haul through the Balkan route — until recently when the crisis in the region prompted drug syndicates to find alternative, safer routes for transporting their produce.

The Russian mafia, also, had become a strong element in illicit drug trafficking in Europe since the political upheaval in the former USSR.

Mr Sundaralingam illustrated the dimension of the global drug trade with figures on the estimated illicit drug production worldwide: opium — 5000 tonnes; heroin — 400 tonnes; cocaine — 800 tonnes; cannabis — 500,000 tonnes; figures for synthetic drug production were unquantifiable because of its clandestine nature of production and distribution networks.

The weight of the problem was further demonstrated by figures reflecting drug consumption worldwide: 140 million people smoke cannabis, 13 million abuse cocaine, eight million abuse heroin, and 30 million abuse amphetamine-type stimulants.

Overall, more than 190 million people around the world abuse illicit drugs on a regular or casual basis.

The presentation includes a segment on heroin which singles out last year's Operation Linnet, in which 390kg of heroin was seized at Port Macquarie on the NSW north coast in an operation involving the AFP, Customs, NSW Police, the Joint Asian Crime Group, the Royal Australian Navy and overseas law enforcement agencies, as an inter-agency success story resulting in the largest single seizure of Golden Triangle heroin for the past five years.

Trafficking patterns of heroin had shifted markedly since 1994 with the Golden Triangle, bounded by Burma, Thailand and Laos, now targeting markets in Australia and Asia whereas previously, its largest market was the USA which had become the target for Columbian heroin traffickers.

Heroin in the United States was now about 58 per cent pure whereas 10 years ago the purity was 15 per cent.

Mr Sundaralingam pointed out obstacles faced by drug investigators such as the role of ethnic kinship within drug syndicates making it difficult to infiltrate criminal groups, while conspiracy among people employed in transport-associated industries also posed enormous barriers with baggage handlers and cleaners being paid-off by drug traffickers to facilitate the movement of their goods. Drug dealers were also quick to take advantage of busy airports with the attendant pressures of large volumes of people wanting to be ‘processed' as quickly as possible.

The drug trade worldwide was worth $400 billion with profit margins in the multiples for drug bosses. One kilogram of herbal cannabis is worth $3 in Cambodia and $3000 in Europe.

Cannabis was also now prolific in the former Communist Eastern Bloc countries. Ecstasy was a serious problem, particularly in Europe, but was also spreading to Asian countries.

The cocaine trade from Colombia was strongly established and serviced by sophisticated transport networks with drug barons who own their own jets.

Colombian heroin, headed mainly for the New York market, was so pure it could be snorted or smoked.

"Drug trafficking can't be isolated from other types of crime," Mr Sundaralingam said.

It was connected to prostitution, fraud, and money laundering, yet few countries had targetted problems such as money laundering.

Cooperation between countries was a vital element in the global fight against illicit drugs and Interpol's role was an integral part of achieving this aim, he said.

His strategy advice for law enforcement organisations in the fight against illicit drugs was to act nationally and cooperate regionally, so that Interpol could coordinate globally, stressing that the organisation must be kept fully informed by all member countries so it can achieve the best results possible.