TEENS FALL PREY TO BUS-STOP HEROIN DEALERS

NETWORKS of drug dealers offering $20 starter packs of heroin are preying
on kids as they get off school buses at an upmarket Brisbane suburban
shopping centre, a Courier-Mail investigation has found.

Youths aged between 14 and 20 have described how "it is easy to get heroin
at the bus stop" outside the Indooroopilly shopping centre. They claim
about 10 regular dealers operate "businesses" outside the centre at set
times during the week.

A l7-year-old teenager outlined the dealers timetable: "Thursday afternoon
they come here, Friday nights they go into the city and Saturday afternoons
they come here outside the bus stop."

Another teenager siad there were starter packs. "There are starter packs of
heroin, they give you a little bit for $20 to try - they get you hooked,
give you a sample," one said.

"Heroin usually costs $50 for a cap and $300 to $400 for a grain - they
also sell speed and marijuana."

"It's not really cheap. Some people give it on credit."

A local youth worker, who declined to be named, said the problem was almost
uncontrollable, with dealers setting themselves up in "businesses".

"It is a real business. They are well set up profit organisations with
mobile phones on non-stop and if one dealer has trouble he'll ring friends
and they'll be there in a flash - but it's difficult to prove," she said.

The worker said she was losing the battle against drugs in the area, with
many youths able to feed their addiction through the ready supply at the
centre.

"It's almost on tap over there - one young man said to me 'If I go over
there I have the drugs pushed on me all the time'," she said.

"My concern is that its a transit centre so there's hundreds of kids coming
here every day of the week and they only need to have a crisis and the
drugs are freely available, they could give in."

"If they weren't so freely available maybe they would seek other solutions
- - but the drugs over there are easier to get than alcohol."

The worker found that marijuana and speed were the most popularly used drugs.

A 15-year-old boy said: "The kids come here after Wednesday afternoon sport
because they finish earlier - they come here to sell, buy and use - mostly
heroin and marijuana."

Another teenager, 17, said the dealers "come around in the afternoon and
hang around the vending machine at the bus stop".

"A lot of school kids buy when they get off the bus," he said.

Indooroopilly shopping centre management refused to comment about the
alleged drug problem.

A group of youths interviewed by The Courier-Mail on Thursday night said
starter packs of heroin were readily available at the centre for around $20.

Indooroopilly police said the problem was no worse than drug problems found
in the inner-city's Fortitude Valley Mall or the Queen Street Mall.

Police said dealers used mobile phones for drug transactions so police
could never confirm where the deals were done.

They said Indooroopilly was an easy access area for kids with trains and
buses close by.

Drug-Arm spokesperson Judith Hart said dealers were offering starter packs
in communities across Australia and "drug hotspots" quite easily moved to
other areas.

"Starter packs are not isolated to areas (depicted) in media reports ...
and are a major area of concern because these particular dealers are
preying on the young," she said.

"Illicit substances are available in all communities in Australia, if
people want them they can get them."

John Vu, a settlement officer working for the Department of Immigration and
welfare officer for the Vietnamese Community of Australia, said he was
"proud" to announce Darra and Inala were no longer Queensland's heroin
capitals.

But he said he was aware the drug problem could spread to other suburbs,
including Runcorn and Indooroopilly.

"We have to all educate people in the community that drugs is the way you
destroy lives," he said.

"You may instantly get some quick bucks but down the road I have yet to see
anyone who has survived."

Checked-by: Pat Dolan