PNG SMUGGLERS SWAP DRUGS FOR GUNS

DRUG runners are sneaking into Australia from Papua New Guinea to
exchange cannabis for firearms, alcohol and even pornographic videos,
the Australian Federal Police has warned.In a submission to a
parliamentary inquiry investigating Coastwatch, AFP officials said the
smugglers believed the civil surveillance authority did not operate at
night.

The AFP has recommended a boost to night operations involving
aircraft, Customs service boats and special response teams.

After an eight-hour journey to Cape York by boat, police said
smugglers loaded the cannabis into light aircraft or four-wheel-drive
vehicles for transportation further south =AD a journey easily completed
under cover of darkness.

Drug deals have included an air rifle, worth $165, being exchanged for
three kilograms of cannabis, worth $24,000; two cartons of beer and
$6000 for three kilograms of the drug; and two rifles, magazine,
ammunition and $700 for 10 kilograms.

In other cases, crime syndicates sold alcohol illegally =AD known as
"sly grogging" =AD to fund their next cannabis purchase, or exchanged
stolen property such as dinghies, outboards and fuel.

"The perception that Coastwatch aircraft cannot operate at night has
encouraged those involved in cross-border crime to carry out their
illegal activities during the hours of darkness," the AFP briefing
paper to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit said.
"Coastwatch night surveillance of the Torres Strait would deter some
criminal activity and provide law enforcement agencies with valuable
tactical intelligence to identify small craft movement patterns."

The paper describes the drug-running operations as "ad hoc,
opportunistic and unsophisticated; nevertheless they are effective".
The types of firearms exported from Australia to PNG included
handguns, rifles, semi-automatic weapons and shotguns but the AFP said
it was impossible to estimate how much cannabis was imported into Australia.

Cannabis was transported by fibreglass banana boat or aluminium dinghy
from Daru Island, in PNG's Western Province, to the Torres Strait and
the tip of Cape York.

Australian-registered trawlers and light aircraft were also involved
in transporting the drug across the Torres Strait.

It follows earlier concerns to the Coastwatch inquiry, voiced by the
Customs Service, that planes could be sneaking through blackspots in
radar monitoring.