ICE DRUG A KILLER, SAYS LAWYER

Indonesian Admits Importing Cocktail Of Heroin And Speed

ICE - a cocktail of heroin, speed and other substances - is the latest drug
scourge to hit Perth streets, selling for between $100 and $300 a tablet,
the District Court was told yesterday.

Commonwealth prosecutor Hilton Dembo said it was the most potent of the
amphetamine family on the streets, according to Federal police.

"One docsn't have to be a genius to work out that it is a walking recipe
for disaster." he said.

Mr Dembo's comments came during sentencing submissions for 51-year-old
Indonesian Pangy Tanadi who has pleaded guilty to importing ecstasy and ice.

Tanadi was caucht with 720 yellow and green ice tablets and ice powder when
searched by customs officers at Perth Airport last September. Analysis
showed the concoction had caffeine and ketamine as well as pure heroin and
speed (ampbetamine).

Tartadi also had 3037 ecstasy tablets and some of that drug in powder form
hidden in a girdle he was wearing on the Qantas flight from Jakarta.

Mr Dembo said ice tablets fetched between $100 and $300 on the streets and
one gram would sell for the same price in powder form.

The imported ice would be worth at least $150,000.

Mr Demubo said ecstasy said between $30 and $70 a tablet The street value
of the ecstasy importation also was more than $150,000. Defence lawyer
Sheila Amsden said Tanadi was driven to commit the crimes because the Asian
economic downturn and the Indonesian riots had ruined his business. He had
a wife, four children and his elderly mother to support.

Tanadi still owed the equivalent of $50,000 to creditors but his Jakarta
premises had been destroyed in the riots.

Mr Dembo said Tanadi aimed to put 4000 hits on Perth streets.

Chief Judge Kevin Hammond remanded Tanadi in custody for a medical report
before sentencing him. The court had been told Tanadi has a heart condition.

An Indonesian woman who was on the same flight will face charges of
importing ice in the District court next month.

* A 35-year-old Indonesian man has admitted to smuggling 2404 ecstasy
tablets on a Boxing Day flight from Denpasar but denies importing almost
300g of the ice drug.

Speaking through an interpreter in Perth Magistrate's Court on Monday, Aris
Soesanto, said he did not know about the ice. The matter was put off for an
election date.