Drug runners in the fast lane

[cannazine]

BRADLEY MURDOCH, the man who killed British backpacker Peter Falconio, was one and police fear there are many more like him.

 

Murdoch was a drug runner who would drive across the country with large amounts of cannabis hidden in his 1999 Toyota Landcruiser four-wheel-drive's large, spare fuel tank.

 

He was usually high on amphetamines during the regular 3000-kilometre trips from Broome to Sedan in South Australia.

 

He would take with him two guns, a .357 Colt Dirty Harry revolver and a James Bond-style black Beretta pistol, with him for protection.

 

Police are concerned drug runners like Murdoch, who shot Falconio and assaulted and deprived his girlfriend Joanne Lees of her liberty on the remote Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory in July 2001, continue to ply their trade on interstate highways.

 

Murdoch was well-equipped, and police are certain he was just one of many organised drug runners prepared to take the risk to run drugs across the country because of the huge amounts of money on offer.

 

In a bid to crack down on drug running, Road Safety Task Force Highway Unit police officers from Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia stage a special operation, called Austrans, in May each year to target heavy-vehicle drivers who use amphetamines to stay awake, as well as those who smuggle drugs from one state to another.

 

Last year in Victoria, the operation was held in Wangaratta and Cobram.

 

Twelve truck drivers were charged with possession of amphetamines.

 

Police have confirmed Austrans will be staged in the next fortnight but will not say where, for operational reasons.

 

The use of truck drivers by organised gangs to smuggle drugs was exposed three years ago when police smashed a multimillion-dollar drug-running racket and arrested 20 people.

 

Police said five bikie gangs — the Rebels, Nomads, Gypsy Jokers, Hells Angels and Finks — were part of a network alleged to have produced drugs such as cannabis and amphetamines worth about $23 million.

 

The drugs were allegedly being sold to, distributed and used by truck drivers operating on routes between Queensland and South Australia.

 

The arrests, said police, were an example of how officers were working hard to tackle the growing interstate drug-smuggling problem.

 

Detective Inspector Steve Smith, head of the Victorian drug taskforce, said the smuggling of drugs in cars and trucks across interstate borders was a multimillion-dollar industry.

 

"Crime syndicates with interstate links would be transporting drugs regularly between states," Inspector Smith told The Sunday Age.

 

"A lot of the high-level crime groups operate Australia-wide. There's no doubt they would transport drugs between themselves — to what extent or level, we don't know."

 

Inspector Smith said recent investigations revealed Vietnamese crime gangs were using couriers to transport large quantities of heroin from Sydney to Melbourne.

 

"One of their favourite ways of bringing it down is via the Hume Highway. You can imagine the many roads that come and go from NSW to Victoria, the amount of traffic on them at any one time, and how easy it is secrete drugs in a truck or car.

 

"It's very, very difficult to stop on a random basis.

 

"We rely more on being made aware through intelligence that a particular person is bringing in drugs at a particular time in a particular car.

 

"Sometimes, vehicles are intercepted at preliminary breath test stations where police become suspicious of the occupants or they're aware drugs are transported up and down the Hume."

 

NSW Attorney-General John Hartzistergos introduced tough new legislation in 2003 giving police more powers to search cars, trucks and tour buses travelling between NSW and Victoria.

 

The laws were beefed up last December to give officers more extensive search powers.

 

Mr Hartzistergos said police had identified that large quantities of cannabis were being smuggled from Victoria and South Australia into NSW.

 

Police had detected people driving to these states with large amounts of cash and returning with large amounts of drugs.

 

Cannabis, heroin, amphetamines, cash and firearms had been seized by police during these operations.

 

 

 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/dru...79497342333.htm

[cannazine]

Seem to be having some problems with my posts here on oz stoners. Any ideas why that "double spacing" thing is happening between paragraphs?

 

Happens everytime I post, and no matter whether I author direct to the forum, or via notepad first.

[LoveMeBucket]

yer for sure.. few yrs back i drove across from perth to adelaide then on to melbourne.. i was carrying nothing illegal but had the car packed full when crossing the WA/ADEL border and the only thing they even asked about was 'do i have any fruit?' coz of fruitfly.. no mention of drugs.. no dogs.. nothin.. and like 2 guys at the border.. and at the many roadside diners i stopped at to eat or rest there were guys off their heads on speed/crystal meth everywhere.. makes ya wonder y theres so many crashes on country roads..

[jabez]

For the record I think Bradley Murdoch is innocent. The jacks messed up the investigation so they just pined it on the nearest drug dealer to cover there own arses