CANBERRA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Seizures of illicit drugs in Australia have more than quadrupled over the past decade, a report has revealed.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) on Wednesday released the 18th Illicit Drug Data Report.

It revealed that Australian authorities seized a record 38.5 tons of illicit drugs worth 9.7 billion Australian dollars (about 7.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019-20.

It represents a 45 percent increase on the previous year and an increase of 314 percent from the 9.3 tons that were seized in 2010-11.

There were a record 166,321 drug arrests in Australia in 2019-20, the equivalent of one every 3.5 minutes.

Despite nationwide COVID-19 restrictions for a portion of the period covered by the report, new records were set for seizures of amphetamine type stimulants (ATS), heroin, cannabis and cocaine.

"The Australian illicit drug market remains highly lucrative, with growing demand for a wide variety of substances," ACIC chief executive Michael Phelan said in a media release.

"The trade in illicit drugs continues to be the principal source of profit for serious and organized crime in our country, with criminals at the center motivated by power and greed," he said.

"Despite the harm it causes to families and the broader community, Australians continue to line the pockets of organized crime groups who are deliberately targeting our country," said the official.

Amphetamines accounted for 90 percent of the value of drugs seized.

New South Wales, Australia's most populous state with Sydney as the capital city, accounted for 48 percent of all cocaine-related arrests and 76 percent of ATS seizures by weight.

Males continued to account for the majority of national illicit drug arrests, with 75 percent, in 2019-20, according to the report. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)