Pubdate: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 Source: Sunday Times (Australia) Page: 32 Copyright: 1998 Times Newspapers Ltd. Contact: Bruce Butler 400KG NSW HEROIN HAUL: WHAT IT MEANS FOR WA HIGH-grade heroin continued to be readily available on Perth streets but the huge seizure in NSW would make the drug harder to get in WA, according to police. At least part of the massive 400kg NSW haul would have made its way to WA, Organised Crime Operations police said. This is the quantity WA heroin addicts use each year. "It was a massive seizure," a senior officer of the unit said. He predicted the street price of heroin would rise - leading to a possible increase in drug-related robberies -as addicts got desperate. "In the short term, we won't notice any change in the market, but I am sure that the consequence will be that the price of heroin will go up substantially." Heroin "tastes" sell for $50 for 50mg or l00mg and prices could rise to about $80 per taste. "Typically, a person would probably need two or three packets (tastes) a day - that's $100 to $150 a day," the officer said. "But it could be much more than that, depending on the addict's use. There may be people who use one to 1.5g a day." "People with greater dependency may find their habit quite costly and the flow-on from that is there may be more crime." "Obviously they have got to find the money each day and they progress to more substantial offences or a larger number of them." In the past three years, heroin purity has increased because the drug is so abundant. The average street purity is 55 to 60 percent and heroin as pure as 87 per cent has been seized. The high purity led to a leap in drug overdoses in 1996 and 1997, with 83 people dying last year. This year the numbers are down - 51 deaths compared with 72 in the same period last year. Police put that down to more awareness by users - rather than any reduction in usage or heroin purity. Meanwhile, the courts remain choked with drug addicts - often young and with no serious criminal background - who are responsible for a high percentage of the WA's armed robberies. Desperate for cash to pay for their next fix they hit soft targets such as pharmacies, delis, newsagencies, shops or unsuspecting individuals. They rarely get away with more than a few hundred dollars. In the Supreme Court recently, Chief Justice David Malcolm dealt with nine armed robbers in one sesslon. Most were youth drug addicts with little criminal history apart from drug use. One 18-year-old heroin addict even checked himself out of Palmerston Farm drug rehabilitation centre -where he lasted just five days - to commit an armed robbery. "The only thing be could see as realism was to obtain some more heroin," his lawyer told the Chief Justice. He robbed a Burrendah deli and ran off with $280 but was caught nearby and now faces jail. In another case, two men, Shannon Steven Mayes, 24, and Brandon McLeod Duff, 20 - both heroin addicts -committed five armed robberies and Duff admitted a burglary - $5000 worth of goods from a shop. Justice Malcolm said: "Because of the seriousness of these offences it is inevitable I am going to have to send you to prison." They are awaiting sentence. - --- Checked-by: Patrick Henry