One place to look for the corrosive influence of organised crime syndicates in Australia is deep in the murky wastewater systems running under cities and towns.
And the latest report from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), which analyses that wastewater, shows consumption of cocaine and ice is back on the rise, and sitting at its highest levels in three years.
By testing the wastewater for a range of illicit narcotics, law enforcement agencies are able to build a unique picture of the current demand for types of illegal drugs.
The report, and the upward trend of some drugs in it, underlined “the pervasive and ongoing threat” posed by criminal syndicates making vast fortunes smuggling and peddling illicit substances in the country, ACIC chief executive Matt Rippon said.
Cannabis is the country’s most consumed illicit drug, according to the report, followed by methylamphetamine.
Although Australians consistently pay among the highest prices in the world for cocaine, use of the drug has ramped up after a brief drop away during the pandemic.
Cocaine demand and supply has boomed worldwide this year, and methamphetamine trafficking is a growing problem, a recent UN report found.
Consumption of the pharmaceutical opioid oxycodone also increased in the ACIC report, which also found use of ketamine had hit a record high.
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Use of heroin, MDMA and fentanyl all dropped in the report.
Regional areas had a considerably higher average consumption of the highly addictive opioids oxycodone and fentanyl compared to cities.
Other geographical trends showed Sydney was Australia’s cocaine capital; Hobart had an outsized use of opioids; and Melbourne easily had the largest heroin footprint.
To obtain the samples, 55 wastewater sites were monitored nationally in April, covering a population of 14 million people.
Samples were collected for up to seven consecutive days during April and June.
Rippon said the wastewater data, combined with other police intelligence, provided the “most comprehensive, empirically-based insights” into Australian drug markets.
