DRUG BARON LAW RARELY USED

PROPERTY confiscation laws designed to bring down drug dealing Mr Bigs have
been used just once since they were introduced more than three years ago.

The laws allow police to freeze suspected criminals' assets without charges
being laid. If the suspects want the property back they must prove it was
bought with legally obtained funds. A list of police targets obtained by
The West Australian reveals that 11 peole have been the subject of
unexplained-wealth seizures.

Nine of them had already been charged over drug hauls but were arrested
before a law was passed that allows police to confiscate convicted dealers'
assets without any right of appeal. Some of them were high-level dealers.

But just one, Gypsy Joker Les Hoddy, had assets frozen without drugs
charges being laid.

In July 2002, police seized assets worth more than $620,000 from Mr Hoddy,
including a boat, a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a high-powered
Commodore car, two trucks and trucking equipment.

Freeze orders were placed on a house in Maddington and a trucking yard in
Bellevue and more than $48,000 in cash and cheques seized during an earlier
raid were frozen.

Mr Hoddy is fighting the process.

When the unexplained-wealth law was being debated in Parliament in 2000,
then police minister Kevin Prince said suspected drug dealers would be at
the top of the list of targets. Bikies and associates of the late Laurie
Connell would probably come under heavy scrutiny, he said.

Shadow police minister Matt Birney said this week the State Government was
soft on crime.

"I am astounded that some of Perth's big names in the criminal world don't
appear on that list," he said.

"Why did we pass this legislation through Parliament if in fact it's not
being used to the fullest?"

The West Australian understands the police asset investigation unit is
swamped by asset claims against convicted dealers and does not have enough
staff to investigate unexplained-wealth targets.

Police Assistant Commissioner Mel Hay, who heads WA's crime investigation
and intelligence services, said police had seized millions of dollars worth
of assets from criminals and would increasingly use the unexplained-wealth
laws to target suspected criminals.

"The legislation is very powerful and in the years ahead will develop as a
critical weapon for police in the fight against organised crime, which in
many cases has links to drugs," he said.

"The Government has provided us with an extra $150,000 to employ a second
forensic accountant and two additional assistants. Those extra staff will
greatly enhance our capacity to investigate cases involving unexplained wealth.

"The legislation doesn't just remove the profit from crime, but also the
key motivation to commit those crimes."