WAR ON HEROIN HAS MOVED ON, SAY POLICE

Police have said there is less heroin on Sydney's streets than at any
other recent time, describing Australian Bureau of Criminal
Intelligence information to the contrary as outdated.

A bureau report released on Tuesday stated heroin in Sydney was now
cheaper, purer and more freely available than ever, and confirmed
Cabramatta was still "the most active centre for heroin distribution".

However, Detective Superintendent Ken McKay of the drug trafficking
and production unit of Crime Agencies said the report referred to the
year to July 2000 and the war on heroin had "moved on significantly"
since then.

"That report was a snapshot of a time when heroin was purer and more
available in NSW than is the case today," Superintendent McKay said.
"The most up-to-date [undisclosed] ABCI information is that the price
of heroin had doubled since then."

The bureau had reported only small quantities of heroin being seized
and stated that cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines were also freely
available in Sydney.

Sydney was the heroin capital of Australia, and Cabramatta the heroin
capital of Sydney. The report also warned that a production boom in
Afghanistan which started in 1999 could lead to a flood of heroin on
Sydney's streets.

Superintendent McKay said that while heroin was still a significant
problem in Sydney, there had been a substantial reduction in
availability.

"What we have seen is probably since about September last year a
drastic reduction in availability of heroin which impacts on pricing
and the quality levels of that drug," he said.

Asked if police were seeing their best results in tackling the heroin
problem, Superintendent McKay said: "As far as availability, yes.

"Probably since Christmas there has been a drastic reduction in the
availability right throughout Sydney which then in turn translates to
other States in Australia.

"This is largely due to a program of vigorous, intelligence-driven
enforcement which has made the drug harder to procure."

Prices had more than doubled and purity had significantly decreased
from the 60 per cent cited by the bureau. And while some heroin
addicts had apparently shifted to using other drugs, many had sought
rehabilitation.

Superintendent McKay said police did not have evidence that cocaine
was becoming a major problem at Cabramatta. Heroin from Afghanistan
had been seized in small quantities in other States but was not
appearing in NSW.