400KG NSW HEROIN HAUL: WHAT IT MEANS FOR WA

HIGH-grade heroin continued to be readily available on Perth streets
but the huge seizure in NSW would make the drug harder to get in WA,
according to police.

At least part of the massive 400kg NSW haul would have made its way to
WA, Organised Crime Operations police said. This is the quantity WA
heroin addicts use each year.

"It was a massive seizure," a senior officer of the unit said. He
predicted the street price of heroin would rise - leading to a
possible increase in drug-related robberies -as addicts got desperate.

"In the short term, we won't notice any change in the market, but I am
sure that the consequence will be that the price of heroin will go up
substantially."

Heroin "tastes" sell for $50 for 50mg or l00mg and prices could rise
to about $80 per taste.

"Typically, a person would probably need two or three packets (tastes)
a day - that's $100 to $150 a day," the officer said.

"But it could be much more than that, depending on the addict's use.
There may be people who use one to 1.5g a day."

"People with greater dependency may find their habit quite costly and
the flow-on from that is there may be more crime."

"Obviously they have got to find the money each day and they progress
to more substantial offences or a larger number of them."

In the past three years, heroin purity has increased because the drug
is so abundant. The average street purity is 55 to 60 percent and
heroin as pure as 87 per cent has been seized.

The high purity led to a leap in drug overdoses in 1996 and 1997, with
83 people dying last year. This year the numbers are down - 51 deaths
compared with 72 in the same period last year.

Police put that down to more awareness by users - rather than any
reduction in usage or heroin purity.

Meanwhile, the courts remain choked with drug addicts - often young
and with no serious criminal background - who are responsible for a
high percentage of the WA's armed robberies.

Desperate for cash to pay for their next fix they hit soft targets
such as pharmacies, delis, newsagencies, shops or unsuspecting
individuals.

They rarely get away with more than a few hundred dollars.

In the Supreme Court recently, Chief Justice David Malcolm dealt with
nine armed robbers in one sesslon. Most were youth drug addicts with
little criminal history apart from drug use.

One 18-year-old heroin addict even checked himself out of Palmerston
Farm drug rehabilitation centre -where he lasted just five days - to
commit an armed robbery.

"The only thing be could see as realism was to obtain some more
heroin," his lawyer told the Chief Justice.

He robbed a Burrendah deli and ran off with $280 but was caught nearby
and now faces jail.

In another case, two men, Shannon Steven Mayes, 24, and Brandon McLeod
Duff, 20 - both heroin addicts -committed five armed robberies and
Duff admitted a burglary - $5000 worth of goods from a shop.

Justice Malcolm said: "Because of the seriousness of these offences it
is inevitable I am going to have to send you to prison." They are
awaiting sentence.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry