Australia, Anti-amphetamine scheme 'floundering' ...

OFF THE WIRE
SMH.com.au
Dylan Welch and Nick McKenzie
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/bikie-ban-at-kings-cross-clubs-comes-under-attack-20101205-18leo.html
''The wheels have fallen off'' a $20 million federal program to fight the booming amphetamine trade amid a surge in the number of drug laboratories run by outlaw bikie clubs and other crime groups.
Secret NSW and Victorian police briefings, obtained by the Herald, show senior police believe Australia's amphetamine drug-busting program is in disarray.
Story continues below The Herald has also obtained confidential figures from state forces across the nation that estimate 756 drug labs will be detected this year, almost double the number three years ago.
That rise, partly attributable to increased detection, mainly relates to more drug production, police say. The revelations come days after the Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O'Connor, praised the Gillard government's plans to tackle the booming amphetamine trade by "directing resources to the areas of greatest importance".
The briefings - since confirmed by the authors' seniors - outline frustration within the NSW and Victorian forces with the federal counter-amphetamine program.
The Australian Crime Commission, which manages the four-year, $20 million program , rejects the claims.
But a briefing the NSW drug squad gave the Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, late last year says the special intelligence operation has squandered its potential to disrupt organised crime and distribution networks. This ''operation was established with key experts (lawyers, chemists, consultants, intelligence analysts and investigators) to achieve this … but half way through the funded period, the wheels have fallen off", the briefing says.
It criticises a ''lack of understanding" about fighting the amphetamine trade and claims the program is "losing relevance [and] appears to be of little operational value for the NSW Police".
NSW Police concerns are backed by a memo by Victoria Police in March which also discusses a database to record the national numbers of clandestine laboratories, known as clan labs. It says the database has "stalled".
"The purpose of the [database] initiative was for all states to upload and access trends and information pertaining to clan labs in a timely manner. This has not occurred.
"Most state [forces] now have ceased using the system as it is too cumbersome, not relevant and considered by many a waste of time. [But] the initiative has merit and is salvageable."
The NSW briefing says other parts of the national program have failed to reach their potential. They include a system to scrutinise all suspicious purchases of chemicals; a strategy against illegal pill presses; and a scheme to run secret "integrity tests" on businesses supplying drug-making equipment or chemicals to criminals.
The chief executive of the crime commission, John Lawler, said yesterday he was not aware of state concerns. ''Had there been concerns I would have expected them to be raised by senior law enforcement officers,'' he said.
''As far as I am aware there is no substance to the claims and I can confirm that collection and dissemination of intelligence is continuing.''