CATTLE SHIP ECSTASY BUST

FEDERAL agents have seized $2.2 million worth of ecstasy tablets after a
two-day watch on a cattle ship docked at Broome.

The 40,424 tablets with a total weight of 9.6kg represents the biggest
ecstasy bust in WA and the seventh biggest in Australia.

Agents put a watch on the ship after it arrived in Broome from Surabaya,
Indonesia, last Tuesday. They later arrested a 25-year-old Indonesian
crewman known only as Nasri.

Agents in Broome and Perth monitored three Singaporean men alleged to have
received the drugs. They were arrested in Perth and charged with possessing
the drug, which is growing in popularity on WA streets.

Kok Cheng Tan, 30, Chee Kwok Wong, 32, and Hian Chong Lee, 37, appeared in
Perth Magistrate's Court yesterday and were remanded in custody to reappear
on June 20. Nasri was remanded to reappear on June 13.

Customs Minister Amanda Vanstone praised the bust, saying the drugs had
allegedly been concealed on the ship in a Chinese biscuit tin and two
Indonesian oil casks, wrapped in black plastic bags and stowed in the
ship's cabin. She said a call to Customs officials from a member of the
public helped in the operation, which involved Federal police, Broome
police and Customs officials.

Australian authorities had contacted Singapore officials for help but it
was not known where the drugs came from.

Customs officers in Broome oversee a growing number of boats using the port
and a weekly Ansett flight to Bali. Both have been identified as potential
highways for the drug trade.

A North-West port worker employed by a prominent shipping company told The
West Australian that the Kimberley coast was ideal for smuggling. "That
area is so isolated that unless the Coastwatch planes looking for boat
people spot you, you could really get up to anything along that part of the
coast," the worker said.

Broome port was especially susceptible with drug traders able to smuggle
contraband on cargo and cruise ships.

The massive seizure was welcomed by WA Drug Abuse Strategy Office executive
director Terry Murphy.

Mr Murphy said calls to a drug information line showed there was a big
increase in the use of ecstasy, a dangerous amphetamine often mixed with
unknown ingredients.

There were 173 ecstasy inquiries to the office hotline in 1998 and 329 last
year. About 5 per cent of people over the age of 14 had used ecstasy, Mr
Murphy said.