No Shit Sherlock! Coastal towns are an ideal destination for drug smugglers, an expert in crime and justice says | Cannabis Law Report | How to buy Skittles Moonrock online
Learn how to order marijuana online. TOP QUALITY GRADE A++
Cannabyss Inc. is the best place online to buy top quality weed, cannabis, vape, marijuana and CBD products. Get your borderless orders delivered at the pickup spot with ease. Top Grade products for client satisfaction.
👉 Click here to Visit our shop! 🛒
Header Image: Associate Professor Mark Lauchs
Another Australian “expert” who is the first in the history to deduce that smugglers like to use small coastal towns…. sometimes the hubris of Australians and their knowledge of everything goes a step too far into parody. This is one of those times
ABC News
In short:
An academic focusing on criminal justice says towns along Australia’s coastline are ideal locations for drug smugglers.
Police have seized 2.34 tonnes of cocaine in Hervey Bay, north of Brisbane, from a boat allegedly heading to Bundaberg.
What’s next?
13 people have been charged and are facing court in Queensland.
The boat harbour in the Hervey Bay suburb of Urangan is usually the place where tourists head off on whale watching trips or fishers set out early on the calm waters and return with their prized catch.
But over the weekend, locals in this Queensland coastal town, 300 kilometres north of Brisbane, were puzzled to find it bustling with armed federal and state police officers.
From an unassuming boat moored in the harbour, police were unloading 2.34 tonnes of cocaine — Australia’s largest cocaine seizure.
Eleven men and two juveniles are facing court for their alleged involvement in a transnational organised crime syndicate.
Authorities allege the group attempted to smuggle the drugs from South America into Australia by collecting the cocaine from a mothership hundreds of kilometres off the Queensland Coast.
Police say they had been tracking the boat for some time and when it allegedly broke down on its way to Bundaberg, north of Hervey Bay, officers seized the moment.
Eight men are facing Bundaberg Magistrates Court for their alleged part in the syndicate.
Andrew John Bamforth, Geovani Marius, Riccardo Marius, Nukutawhiti Tenika Matika, Zaquias Jack Matika, Daniel Schieven, Donald Vilaylath, and Ryan Sean Givney are each charged with conspiracy to import a controlled drug.
Their matters are due in court again on Thursday.
David Pfeffer, 35, and Mark Sutton, 57, are also charged with conspiracy to import a controlled drug and will be mentioned in the Maryborough Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
A 51-year-old man is facing court in Cleveland on the same charge.
‘It’s crazy’
Retiree Anthony Jackson has lived in Hervey Bay for 40 years and was shocked to learn about the major drug bust.
“It’s not quite the Hervey Bay it used to be. It’s a shame,” he said.
“This place used to be a sleepy little fishing village. It’s a beautiful place to live.”
Brisbane man Hayden Jordan had been visiting his retiree parents and was casting a line at the marina when he learned of the record drug haul.
“It’s crazy, I couldn’t believe it when I first heard it … [I was] in shock,” he said.
“I’ve never heard anything like it, especially not [in] Hervey Bay … maybe one of the cities or something.
“We go out fishing a lot, I haven’t seen anything as crazy as this. Maybe a few undersized fish, but not 2,000 kilos of cocaine.”
Trying to avoid detection
Small coastal areas are often favoured by drug smugglers who try to fly under the radar, according to associate professor Mark Lauchs from the Queensland University of Technology School of Justice.
“Traditionally the cocaine is distributed from Sydney, but it’s rarely brought into Sydney because there’s a large police presence,” Dr Lauchs said.
“The many places across northern Australia and eastern Australia, where people can slip a yacht into and out again, make it very easy for people to bring contraband into the country.”
Dr Lauchs said police were becoming more successful in big drug busts.
“Not just in cocaine but other drugs as well and in illicit tobacco,” he said.
“I think the quality of policing involved and the international cooperation means that the success rate is getting better but, at the same time, this is just factored into the business case of the criminals.”
Federal member for Hinkler Keith Pitt said the seizure would have a huge impact on drug supply across the country.
“We all have to be vigilant, whether you’re at a small port, whether you’re in a regional town, there is always someone trying to circumvent the laws of our country. This is now different,” Mr Pitt said.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!