By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
ICE is the illegal drug causing police the most problems in the City of Casey, according to a senior CIU detective.
The prevalence of ice, a type of crystal methamphetamine, has increased considerably over the last 10 years, driving property crime in Casey and leading to a rise in the amount of clandestine labs being used throughout the municipality.
Detective Senior Constable Kieran Rodgers is part of Casey CIU’s Drug Investigation Team, a six-month-old unit known behind closed doors simply as the ’drug crew’.
Det Sen Const Rodgers said the “widespread” use of ice in Casey had “definitely gotten worse.”
“’Speed’ was a big thing back 15 to 20 years ago; ice is basically the same type of drug, it’s a stimulant, but it’s more pure and therefore much more addictive,” he said.
“There’s a certain socio-economic group that has a pre-disposition to use drugs, but we’re not finding that with ice. It affects everyone from your lower socio-economic groups to your high socio-economic groups.
“You’ve got people who have come from really good homes, who have gone to the best schools; mum and dad have given them everything. They go to a party and they start smoking ice and before you know it, they’re addicted and they can’t break it.”
Ice is typically smoked through a glass pipe but can be injected, and users exhibit a range of behaviours, resulting in erratic tendencies, aggression and violence.
Det Sen Const Rodgers said the high price of ice created a vicious cycle for its users and, coupled with its addictiveness, created a dangerous platform for crime.
“Ice is expensive. A gram of cannabis would cost you $20, whereas a point of ice, which is one tenth of a gram, can cost you up to a $100. The cost is coming down a little bit because of the prevalence of it, but the issue is that it’s still quite expensive, and because it is addictive, people need it,” he said.
“Because of the effects that it has on you, it makes you unable to work and they need to get money, so it forces people into crime.”
In addition to ice-related crime, the CIU drug crew are also cracking down on a growing number of people in Casey who are manufacturing methamphetamine.
Last month, an alleged clandestine lab was found dismantled in a property in Anne Street, Berwick, and a large quantity of methamphetamine, a firearm, ammunition and liquid and gas chemicals were also allegedly discovered on the premises.
Det Sgt Rodgers stressed that smaller clandestine labs are becoming more and more prevalent in the municipality.
“I’m not talking about people sitting in a massive shed in a farm somewhere making pounds and pounds and pounds of this stuff. What we’re finding is that it’s a lot more basic than that, we’re talking about people who will be staying in one of the local hotels, for a couple of nights, which they do to avoid detection.
“They’ve got a basic kit with them, the equipment they use to manufacture this stuff. They’ll drive around from hotel to hotel every couple of days making small amounts. They generally use to support their own habits and then they sell some to sustain their lifestyle and their own habit.
“With that comes the issue that you face when you’re dealing with volatile chemicals.”
The rise of the internet has also made way for another complication to the war on drugs, with illegal black market websites being used by people to both buy and sell drugs with less chance of detection.
In October last year, the notorious Silk Road website, used world-wide, was shut down by the FBI in the United States but Det Sen Const Rodgers said there would always be other avenues to replace it and that Casey wasn’t exempt from these.
“People will get drugs in numerous different ways. It’s our job to keep up with the trends, especially with the use of the internet,” he said.
“A lot of social media is how people communicate these days.
“Facebook and things like that, Skype. They use those and Viber, the phone application, to do a lot of their drug trafficking business on those because people think it’s harder for us to track.”
Det Sen Const Rodgers urged the public to always contact Crime Stoppers if they are suspicious of possible drug activity in their area.
