Off the wire
• Market exchange rates in China -- Aug.4  • Xinhua China news advisory -- Aug. 4  • Chinese yuan weakens to 6.6444 against USD Thursday  • Security drones may be used at Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia  • China treasury bond futures open mixed Thursday  • Chinese shares open lower Thursday  • China Hushen 300 index futures open higher Thursday  • More illegal immigrants flow to Mexico for U.S. entry: official  • Australia not to "succumb" to IS in the wake of US terror report: gov't  • Vancouver home sales drop from record-breaking pace  
You are here: 　 Home

Aussie police making more drug seizures, arrests than ever before: data

Xinhua, August 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Australian law enforcement officers are seizing more illicit drugs and arresting more drug-related criminals than ever before, Australia's justice minister said on Thursday.

Following the release of the 2014-15 Illicit Drugs Data Report (IDDR) on Thursday, Michael Keenan praised the effort of Australia's law enforcement agencies including the newly-formed Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) in the ongoing war against drugs.

Keenan said police were making more arrests than ever before relating to the illegal trade of drugs such as methamphetamine (ice), cannabis, heroin and cocaine.

"Australian law enforcement agencies made a record 105,862 national illicit drug seizures, weighing 23.5 tonnes, and around 134,000 arrests," Keenan said in a statement.

"That's more than 290 seizures and 367 arrests each day directly related to illicit drugs offences."

Keenan said that more than 600 clandestine drug labs were foiled in the year 2014-15, while the total street value of all drug seizures in Australia for that period totaled almost 1.5 billion U.S dollars.

He said the government was winning the war against organized crime gangs intent on profiting from the trade of illegal drugs.

"We know that the illicit drug market remains the principle source of profit for organised crime, with more than 60 per cent of Australia's highest risk criminal targets involved in the ice market and driving its expansion."

"In the last decade, national illicit drug seizures have increased by 91.7 per cent, the weight has increased by 263.1 per cent and national illicit drugs arrests have increased by 70.5 per cent."

"Crooks are more sophisticated than ever before, and we need to be smarter and more targeted in our efforts to detect, disrupt and undermine the misery they peddle," the minister said.

Keenan announced further funding will be put into disrupting ice and other drug "hot spots", in an attempt to further limit the influence of organized crime, but congratulated the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) on the positive results. Endit