News (Media Awareness Project) - Australia: Fears Over Drug-Mix Party Pills |
| Title: | Australia: Fears Over Drug-Mix Party Pills |
| Published On: | 2000-02-02 |
| Source: | Herald Sun (Australia) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-05 04:45:05 |
FEARS OVER DRUG-MIX PARTY PILLS
PARTY pills containing a deadly cocktail of ecstasy, heroin, cocaine and LSD
are being peddled at popular city nightclubs.
Backyard drug labs are pumping out hundreds of thousands of pills for sale
as cheap ecstasy tablets in clubs packed with young party-goers. Police
yesterday warned the pills could be addictive and lethal.
Det-Chief Insp. John McKoy, of the drug squad, said police believed the
tablets were being sold in several nightclubs with the knowledge or
co-operation of managers and staff.
"Many young people who attend nightspots now are quite happy to pop pills
instead of drinking alcohol," he said.
"The warning we want to send to young people who are buying these tablets is
that you really don't know what you are taking.
"You believe you are taking imported ecstasy tablets, which in themselves
are extremely dangerous, but these concoctions now on the market contain
LSD, heroin and cocaine."
Det-Chief Insp. McKoy said the laced tablets were being made by organised
crime gangs in labs "so filthy that even rats won't inhabit them".
He said the local criminals were filling a gap in the market created when
federal drug authorities stemmed the flow of ecstasy into Australia.
The local pills are sold to dealers for up to $20 and then peddled at
nightclubs for between $30 and $50. The imported tablets sell for between
$50 and $80.
Police recently seized more than 20,000 of the blended ecstasy tablets in a
raid on a backyard lab in the northern suburbs and several thousand tablets
were found in a raid in the southern suburbs in November.
Det-Chief Insp. McKoy said a crackdown was planned.
"We know that drugs are sold in many clubs and the sales are quite blatant,"
he said.
"They are so blatant that obviously the management must know, yet turn a
blind eye."
He said police had information that the managers and operators of two clubs
were "deeply involved" in drug sales at the venues.
"We intend to mount a major covert operation over the next six to 12 months
and target these particular clubs," he said.
PARTY pills containing a deadly cocktail of ecstasy, heroin, cocaine and LSD
are being peddled at popular city nightclubs.
Backyard drug labs are pumping out hundreds of thousands of pills for sale
as cheap ecstasy tablets in clubs packed with young party-goers. Police
yesterday warned the pills could be addictive and lethal.
Det-Chief Insp. John McKoy, of the drug squad, said police believed the
tablets were being sold in several nightclubs with the knowledge or
co-operation of managers and staff.
"Many young people who attend nightspots now are quite happy to pop pills
instead of drinking alcohol," he said.
"The warning we want to send to young people who are buying these tablets is
that you really don't know what you are taking.
"You believe you are taking imported ecstasy tablets, which in themselves
are extremely dangerous, but these concoctions now on the market contain
LSD, heroin and cocaine."
Det-Chief Insp. McKoy said the laced tablets were being made by organised
crime gangs in labs "so filthy that even rats won't inhabit them".
He said the local criminals were filling a gap in the market created when
federal drug authorities stemmed the flow of ecstasy into Australia.
The local pills are sold to dealers for up to $20 and then peddled at
nightclubs for between $30 and $50. The imported tablets sell for between
$50 and $80.
Police recently seized more than 20,000 of the blended ecstasy tablets in a
raid on a backyard lab in the northern suburbs and several thousand tablets
were found in a raid in the southern suburbs in November.
Det-Chief Insp. McKoy said a crackdown was planned.
"We know that drugs are sold in many clubs and the sales are quite blatant,"
he said.
"They are so blatant that obviously the management must know, yet turn a
blind eye."
He said police had information that the managers and operators of two clubs
were "deeply involved" in drug sales at the venues.
"We intend to mount a major covert operation over the next six to 12 months
and target these particular clubs," he said.
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