BLOW TO DRUG MERCHANTS

FEDERAL Police and Customs officers, with support from the navy, deserve
the congratulations and gratitude of us all for their magnificent job
intercepting 400kg of smuggled heroin off New South Wales this week.

Police estimate the haul would have provided 20 million hits to the
wretched addicts being exploited by the merchants of death and misery who
make millions by wrecking lives.

The painstaking operation in Asia and Australia was a triumph for the team
involved and netting the middle men in the smuggling operation could take
us one step closer to at least some of the organisers of the trade in
Asia's notorious Golden Triangle.

But the interception of the haul - with an estimated street value of $400
million - should sound alarm bells as well.

In the short term, low heroin supplies, particularly in the eastern States,
will force up prices and lead to an increased risk of violent crime by
desperate addicts.

But more worrying is that the ingenuity and determination of the drug
cartels will not be stalled by one failure.

Their successes have been too many and too profitable. Sacrificing the
minnows caught red-handed will be of no concern to the Mr Bigs.

Australia's coastline is vast and Western Australia is particularly
vulnerable with hundreds of kilometres of deserted beaches and disused
inland airstrips making ideal landing spots.

Federal Police resources are stretched and Coastwatch flights and navy
patrol boats face a needle in the haystack task in our vast north.

This week's success should be enough to encourage federal and State
authorities to devote ever more resources to protecting our shore from
illegal traffickers.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson