COCAINE FLOODS INTO VICTORIA

COCAINE abuse is surging in Victoria, with foreign drug cartels planning a
major push into Australia.

Federal authorities have warned Australia may become a dumping ground for
surplus cocaine because of falling demand in the United States.

The Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence has told local police that
South American cocaine cartels see Australia as a new market.

It is feared Colombian cocaine producers are preparing to double illegal
exports to around 400tonnes this year.

But drug cartels are paying the price for their greed, with seizures soaring
3200per cent nationally in the past five years.

Police and industry sources say cocaine is regularly used by many household
names in Melbourne's entertainment, business and sport scenes.

A Herald Sun Insight investigation has found:

*POLICE have identified but been unable to charge a number of "Mr Bigs"
trafficking cocaine in Melbourne.

*ABOUT 30 local entertainers have been identified by police as cocaine
users.

*LEADING AFL footballers have been investigated by police over alleged
cocaine sex romps.

*COCAINE has replaced alcohol as the main party drug at some celebrity
turns.

*A MAJOR Melbourne entertainment awards night is renowned for the number of
stars snorting a "blizzard" of cocaine in the toilets.

*A HIGH-PROFILE music industry figure has been dubbed "Hoover" because of
his infamous cocaine-induced mood swings.

*GROWING supplies have seen the price of cocaine in Melbourne fall to
between $250 and $300 a gram.

"It really is what can be termed a yuppie drug," drug squad head Det. Chief
Insp. John McKoy said. "The people using it are professionals, people in the
gay community and certainly people within the nightclub scene."

In 1994-95, Australian Customs officers and police detected less than 20kg
of cocaine entering the country.

Border seizures rose to 78.2kg in 1997-98 and about 300kg last financial
year.

Already this year more than 620kg of the drug has been seized in three
arrests alone.

According to the Victoria Police drug guide, the drug is "often associated
with the wealthy or those involved in the entertainment industry".

The ABCI says much use goes on unseen behind closed and "expensive doors".

But the recent arrests of high-profile users have brought the growing use of
cocaine to public attention.

"We are well aware of a large number of prominent people who are using
cocaine in both the private sector and the public sector," Chief Insp. McKoy
said.

Sources claim up to $200million of cocaine a year - $4million a week - is
sold in Melbourne by a growing network of social traffickers supplying to
friends and associates.

A senior police source said about 30 well-known performers had been
identified as cocaine users during a 1992 police operation.

He said aviation industry workers were suspected of being major couriers,
both into and around the country.

While police intelligence suggests some cocaine shipments arrive directly in
Melbourne, most travels overland from Sydney, Australia's major cocaine
gateway.

Cocaine travels here via many countries, from New Zealand and Pacific
islands such as Fiji and Tonga, to the US, Canada and South Africa.

The Australian Drug Foundation says cocaine use has recently become more
prevalent and affordable here, the most prominent users being males aged 20
to 34.

About 79 percent of 460 cocaine users and traffickers arrested in Australia
in 1997-98 were males, with 15 to 30-year-olds accounting for 55 percent of
all males arrested.