Over 1,600 arrested in major drug crackdown in Australia, New Zealand

Canberra, Aug 27 (IANS) Police across Australia and New Zealand have arrested more than 1,600 people in a major anti-crime operation.

Authorities on Tuesday revealed that 1,611 drug-related arrests were made, and narcotics with a total street value of 93 million Australian dollars (US$62.9 million) were seized between August 19-23 in a week of action targeting the illicit drug trade and organised crime activity in the two countries.

A total of 528 search warrants were executed across Australia and New Zealand under Operation Vitreus - a joint initiative between all Australian state and territory police forces as well as federal agencies and New Zealand Police, reports Xinhua news agency.

Police laid 2,692 drug-related charges during the operation and seized 71 guns and over 2.2 million Australian dollars in cash.

The latest report from the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, which was published by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) in July, revealed that Australians' consumption of illicit drugs has increased to record levels.

Based on an analysis of wastewater samples collected from 56 sites across Australia between December 2023 and February 2024, the report found record-high consumption of cocaine and methamphetamine in capital cities and regional areas.

Katie Willis, acting executive director of Covert Collections and Insights at ACIC, said on Tuesday that the agency is concerned about the increasingly diverse range of illicit drug threats to the community and is driving a law enforcement response to the growing threat of nitazenes - a potent synthetic opioid.

"Nitazenes pose a greater threat to the Australian community than fentanyl. We have seen a rise in overdoses, some of which have been fatal, adulteration of other drugs, and links to serious and organised crime," she said in a statement.

The Operation Vitreus arrests included that of a Canadian national who was apprehended and charged by the Australian Federal Police for allegedly attempting to import 15 kg of methamphetamine via Sydney International Airport.

In South Australia, a 26-year-old man was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of controlled drugs after officers seized 1,100 doses of the hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide.