Pubdate: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Copyright: 2000 The Sydney Morning Herald Contact: GPO Box 3771, Sydney NSW 2001 Fax: +61-(0)2-9282 3492 Website: http://www.smh.com.au/ Forum: http://forums.fairfax.com.au/ Author: Neil Mercer GARAGE SALE BOOM: IT'S A BUST Amphetamine Labs In The Suburbs Have Been Linked To Bikie Gangs. It was around five o'clock on a Tuesday evening when the peace and quiet of leafy Parsonage Street in Castle Hill was disturbed by the sudden arrival of the police. Residents were startled to see eight armed detectives clad in fire-resistant black overalls run under a jacaranda, past a low hedge and into a typical suburban brick-and-tile home with a garage that opened onto a side street. Inside the garage, police say, they found about half a kilogram of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient for the manufacture of methyl-amphetamine, better known as speed. The pseudoephedrine had been extracted from Sudafed and Logicen tablets - sold every day across the counter in chemists around the country. "We sort of knew something was going on in there," said a neighbour, who asked not to be named. She'd noticed a lot of cars, including a white Porsche, coming and going. "The people that lived there always seemed to be in the garage, but the cars never seemed to be in the garage." What the officers from the chemical operations unit of Crime Agencies had found was a small clandestine drug laboratory. And they're finding more of them in the suburban streets of Sydney than ever before - Castle Hill, discovered last month, was the 14th lab this year. Late last week, police following leads from that raid arrested a 27-year-old man in Bankstown and charged him with manufacturing offences. It is alleged he was making the speed for two outlaw motorcycle gangs. That raid took the number of labs discovered this year to 15. In recent years the speed business has undergone some big structural changes because of police cracking down on the supply of bulk chemicals. But when that avenue was choked off, those involved in the illegal trade simply went to the chemist. Fourteen of the 15 labs discovered have relied on tablets such as Sudafed for their supply of pseudoephedrine. In addition, clandestine drug labs are now smaller and more efficient than their counterparts from the 1980s and 1990s. What has also emerged recently - and what is worrying senior police - is the increasing role played in the multi-million-dollar business by the bikies. "They've always been involved," said Detective Inspector Paul Willing-ham, from the chemical operations unit. "But two years ago they had a much lower profile. In the last 12 to 18 months they have re-emerged as the major player, the major force in the market." The 15 labs found so far compare to 20 discovered in 1999. They've been in Belfield, Blacktown, Minto, Mt Druitt, St Mary's, Pitt Town, Luddenham, Cranbrook, Prospect, Yagoona, Sutherland, Budgewoi, Newcastle and Leeton. With last week's arrest, 26 people have been charged with manufacturing. "We've certainly had a surge over the last few months," said Inspector Willingham, who has a degree in applied science and, at 35, is one of the State's youngest detective-inspectors. He says that with a kilogram of pure methyl-amphetamine selling to a wholesaler for $100,000, the profits are big and the jail sentences for those caught - about five years - are usually much lower than for heroin. By the time it hits the streets, the speed has usually been cut with Epsom salts or sugar and the purity is just 5 per cent. A gram of powder sells for $80 to $100. Police say that in the past, 25-kilogram drums of pseudoephedrine were coming into the country "like normal chemicals" and were simply being bought via a legitimate distributor or stolen. A lot of work had been done with Customs and various health departments and now the security arrangements were comparable "to that with firearms and gold". This had forced a change in tactics by those in the business. "Three or four years ago the big syndicates which had big labs were using 25 kilo drums. You would have someone get a big shed and set up a 20-litre reaction flask," Inspector Willingham said. "They would do a 'cook' once every three to four months producing 10-20 kilos ." The crackdown on the supply of bulk chemicals had forced syndicates to buy drugs like Sudafed over the counter, to steal from chemists or to intercept bulk quantities in the distribution chain. "Now they are using a five-litre reaction flask, they will 'cook' every two to three weeks - they are churning out more and the process is simpler, faster and more efficient." These labs were typically found in the bathroom or laundry and were turning out between one and two kilograms at a time. It seems that it's a close-knit industry. "There are links between the raids we've done, everyone knows of everyone else," Inspector Willingham said. "If someone [in one syndicate] is short of product A, they might source this from this other group. "It's like baking a cake, there are three or four main ingredients you need as well as the tablets." He said those involved were typically well organised with one person crushing and filtering the tablets before handing them to someone else who had the expertise to do the cook. Of the bikie gangs, Inspector Willing-ham said: "I don't know whether the bikie gangs are getting more complacent. They've never gone away but they just seem more and more common, more and more of our jobs have outlaw motorcycle links to them." - --- MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson