Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jan 2005
Source: Queensland Sunday Mail (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 News Limited
Contact:  http://www.thesundaymail.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/435
Author: Paul Anderson

ECSTASY FLOOD FEARED AS LOCAL LABS SPREAD

CRIME syndicates are poised to unleash a flood of locally produced ecstasy 
across Victoria, top drug investigators believe.

Police fear young partygoers could be at risk in the school and university 
holiday period.

Major drug investigation division boss Det-Supt Tony Biggin said 
intelligence suggested more syndicates were going to produce locally rather 
than import.

Massive demand for amphetamines - a market that spurred Melbourne's recent 
gangland killings - has led organised crime gangs to cut costs by producing 
ecstasy in secret suburban drug labs.

"It (ecstasy) will be the new burgeoning drug," Det-Supt Biggin told the 
Herald Sun.

"It's our focus at the moment. I think the market is open and if people can 
make it in-house, they're cutting their costs dramatically.

"One of the great dangers is that more and more people are picking up the 
expertise."

The division, formed in 2002 to replace the disbanded drug squad, has 
uncovered and shut down 79 criminal amphetamine labs.

The process to make ecstasy in clandestine labs is similar to that of 
amphetamine production.

"Just a couple of months ago the federal police got 80,000 pills coming out 
of Victoria," Det-Supt Biggin said. "It's my understanding they were going 
north to the Gold Coast. That's a lot of pills. At $30 a pill, that's about 
$2.4 million worth."

Det-Insp Bob Hill, also of the division, said: "Criminals are becoming more 
educated, thus more ecstasy is being produced locally.

"A section of today's youth aren't interested in going out for a drink. 
They're popping pills to get their kicks. It's a short-term thrill that 
could end in long-term misery."

It was a natural progression for amphetamine cartels to move into ecstasy, 
"just as the older guys in the amphetamine world were the heroin dealers in 
the 80s", he said.

Det-Supt Biggin said ecstasy was potentially deadly and had already claimed 
several young lives in Australia and caused long-term health problems for 
others.

"One of the problems with ecstasy is the horrible term 'party drug'. It's a 
terrible term because it actually gives it a soft image when it is rather 
an insidious drug," he said.

"The red mitsubishi tablets that are currently around, and there's plenty 
of them around, are bowling people over.

"If anyone thinks illegal drugs are made in a clean pristine world, they're 
wrong. They're made in garages and dirty environments. Some crime gangs, 
for example, put silver foil in ecstasy.

"While people might think, 'I'm doing nothing wrong ... it's my body and 
I'll do what I want with it', what they're doing is fuelling the lifestyles 
of people who shouldn't be living that lifestyle."
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