STING PUTS AN 80KG DENT IN HEROIN SUPPLY

SYDNEY: The seizure of $80 million worth of heroin in an overnight sting in
Sydney dented an international drug ring and stopped two million drug deals
on the streets.

The inner-Sydney operation netted more than 80kg of high-grade heroin, which
equated to at least two million "hits", and was the largest Australian drug
haul this year.

Three Chinese nationals were arrested during the Joint Asian Crime Group
operation, involving officers from the NSW Police, the Australian Federal
Police, Customs, the NSW Crime Commission and the National Crime Authority.

Shui Tai Jim, Hon Ming Lai, and Zhong He Ye appeared in suburban Burwood
Local Court yesterday and were remanded in custody to reappear in Sydney's
Central Local Court today.

The haul was at least the sixth multi-million-dollar illicit drug bust in
Australia since the start of last year.

Asian Crime Group coordinator Geoff Owens said the heroin was probably
intended to fill the void left by Australia's largest heroin haul - 400kg of
heroin seized on October 14 last year at a beach 20km south of Port
Macquarie. That haul dwarfed the previous heroin seizure record of 123.4kg
in Darwin in 1994. It also represented nearly three times the amount of
heroin seized in 1997.

Saturday's haul severely damaged an international syndicate believed to have
links in Australia, China, Hong Kong and possibly North America, he said.

The heroin, the purest grade on the market, originated from South-East
Asia's "Golden Triangle" (the drug-growing areas of Burma, Laos and
Thailand), Detective Owens said, adding that it had not been established how
it had been smuggled into Australia.

"We've severely disrupted this syndicate. We're not saying that we've wiped
them out completely; these syndicates have a great resilience to bounce
back."

The seizure was one phase of a 12-month operation involving assistance from
the Hong Kong police and other international law-enforcement agencies
studying heroin trafficking by Asian organised crime syndicates in NSW.

Detective Owens said the arrests followed an alleged transaction and
transfer of the drugs, contained in suitcases, between two cars in the inner
city.

Sources had revealed there had been a shortage of heroin in both Melbourne
and Sydney for about two months.

"[The drugs seized on Saturday were] meant to have filled a street market
void. That seizure will continue the hard road the traffickers have in
Sydney at the moment to try to get supplies."

However, while police would like to believe the shortage arose from
law-enforcement efforts, the scarcity could be the result of drugs being
deliberately held back to boost the price, he said.