The New Zealand connection in Sydney

Press, 18 February 1983, Page 17

The New Zealand connection in Sydney

Drugs, crime, and prostitution form the least savoury New Zealand connection in Sydney. KEN COATES files his second report in this series of three articles, which began yesterday.

An ugly picture of New Zealanders trafficking in drugs, and involved in crime and violence to finance ad diction and drugs entering Australia via New Zealand, emerges from police in Sydney. in a highly organised drug trade, with millions of dollars in profit, and which police appear powerless to control. Kiwis are prominent. At the most lucrative level of international supply, remnants of the "Mr Asia" drug ring are. reported active. Maoris are active in syndicates. At the lowest level. New Zealanders on the dole in the Bondi and eastern suburbs area are by far highest on the list of drug-related offenders. And like many addicts. they are dying through overdoses. Numbers of Kiwis living in Sydney had criminal records before they left New Zealand. Before passports were introduced, other illegal migrants, who called themselves New Zealanders, entered Australia via New Zealand. More young Kiwis, lured by ■ the bright lights and reports of better job prospects (now quite false), have been sucked into the subculture of drugs, crime and vice. At the last official count, there were 5583 New Zealanders on the dole in Australia. Before the majority of the 177.000 New Zealanders living in Australia start protesting at a false image, let it be said that only a minority of Kiwis is involved in drugs and crime. But it is a sizable minority and these New Zealanders’are giving the rest a bad name in Australia. On a fine summer weekend, Sydney’s famous white sand beach at Bondi is black with sun-worshipping Sydneysiders. Surfies ride the waves endlessly, seagulls flap lazily overhead, fastfood stall’s and pubs do a roaring trade, in a relaxed,

carnival atmosphere. It is to Bondi that thousands of New Zealanders have flocked over the years. In the beginning they were drawn like moths to other Kiwis in cheap apartments and to Maori pop bands in the pubs and clubs, popular in the 1950 s and 19605. It is common to hear youngsters from across the Tasman say how free they feel in Sydney, compared with in New Zealand. Today, many are in trouble with the police. At the Bondi station, officers estimate that 85 per cent of arrests are of New Zealanders, mainly in relation to drugs. They say there are probably between 20.000 and

25.000 Kiwis in the Bondi area, a higher concentration then elsewhere in Sydney. They live fairly cheaply, communally, in run-down, comparatively low-rental flats. Official figures on how many New Zealanders are being convicted in drug-re-lated charges are impossible to obtain. In the lower courts, offenders dealt with are not recorded according to country of origin. When charges are noted at police stations, however, there is provision for this information in charge books. But these statistics are not collated. A look at the charge book at Waverley Police Station — many Bondi offenders are

dealt with in the adjacent Waverley court — shows Kiwis prominent. From January 5 to 21 this year, 13 New Zealanders appeared on 34 charges. They included theft, shoplifting, drinking and driving, possessing, selling, and smoking Indian hemp, using heroin, stealing a motor vehicle, possessing stolen goods. Bondi police know of four groups of New Zealanders who are dealing in drugs. One is' composed of Maoris. They say the Maori group is the biggest and it supplies street sellers with dope. “All the places from which they operate are guarded like Fort Knox, with electronically - controlled doors

and videos,” said one officer, who feels strongly about drugs. His younger brother is addicted. “There is only one way into the headquarters of the Maori group, and all signs of drugs disappear by the time we gain entry.” Dealers are usually not addicts and are the most difficult to catch, according to the police. They estimate that 95 per cent of drug-takers are heroin addicts, and with a street price of $75 to $lOO for one “hit” or capsule only about 2cm long, it is expensive to satisfy the craving. A heavily addicted user can be burdened with a $l2OO-a-day habit. As police

say, you cannot earn that

sort of money legitimately. Regular use induces tolerance. making increased doses necessary to produce the same effects. An addict can inject heroin three times a day; some take it six times daily. In Bondi, there are 35 breaking and entering offences a day reported — many of them addicts prowling for the wherewithal to shoot it up yet again. Bag-snatching is popular; 100 a day is common and little old women have become an easy mark. Police say there are more “druggies” and more heroin and other drugs available in Bondi than anywhere else in Sydney. Most prostitutes are ad-

dicts. they add. They are fed heroin at the start, and soon become hooked, using their earnings to buy the stuff and help keep the dealers in business.

Bondi police say that if it were not for the Kiwis they would not need a police station at the beach. As it is. they have 31 officers and nine detectives, and they claim to be 22 under strength. Heroin, the opiate derived from the seed pod of the Asian poppy, from Thailand. Burma. Malaysia, and Vietnam. has a disastrous effect on the user, say police. Only 1 per cent of heroin addicts who become addicted when young for more than a month survive until they are 30. “Yes, we certainly see dead ’uns,” said one officer. Death from heroin overdose is common in Bondi. Police say they have known 30 deaths from this cause in a month in the eastern suburbs. One reason is not a death wish, but variation in the strength of street “shots.” When the drug is in short supply, street preparations will contain only a small percentage of heroin, which is diluted with glucose, bath cleaner, even rat poison — anything which is white and powdery. But when the overseas supply is plentiful, the heroin content of a capsule is increased. It can vary from 1 per cent to 80 per cent. The addict cannot determine the purity of the “shot” and when it jumps dramatically in pure heroin content, the human body cannot take the shock and the user dies of an overdose. The Bondi police say there is a dearth of really effective drug treatment centres

which need former addicts to run them for best results. They lock up two or three "druggies” a week; they take the view that an addict in prison means three or four crimes a day less. Anyone in possession of heroin in New South Wales commits an offence. Under summary conviction, possession and trafficking of heroin carries a penalty of up to 15 years' imprisonment and or a $200,090 fine. One police view is that if a New Zealander is badly addicted. he should be deported. A dried poppy bud is taped to a large-scale aerial map of central Sydney in the office of Detective Frank Hansen, intelligence and liaison officer of the N.S.W. Drug Squad. There is an absence of official figures on New Zealanders and drug offences, but he says Kiwis are still being arrested for trafficking. Last May, a New Zealand group faced charges involving the sale of a kilo of cocaine worth half a million dollars; another New Zealand syndicate was charged with trafficking in 233 grams of heroin worth $250,000. Both groups operated in the eastern suburbs. They were committed for trial. Detective Hansen, who has worked with the Drug Squad in east Sydney, says that because of the more relaxed laws in the state governing vice, prostitutes who are already heroin addicts come to Sydney for the money they can make on the streets. A proportion of addicts are New Zealanders, he says, “and the vast majority of drag queens are from New’ Zealand.” The eastern suburbs, he

adds, have always attracted New Zealanders. Maoris have been known for their violence, "like Aussies in London: some of them go berserk.” Detective Bob Reid. Drug Squad operations officer, says there are more Maoris dealing in drugs than pakehas. But he hastens to add that New Zealanders are not the only ethnic group dealing in narcotics. The Lebanese have been notorious. Kiwis are highlighted because of their concentration in the eastern suburbs: there is a demand for drugs and easy travel from New Zealand. He says the pattern is for

drug .users to buy. say, $lOOO worth, to "cut" or dilute it. to keep enough to get the habit going, and to sell the rest. Some will sell directly on the street, without using it. According to the Drug Squad, large quantities of drugs enter Australia via New Zealand. Bob Reid explains that Maori dealers frequently have contacts in the Pacific islands who can handle arrangements for illegal transport aboard ships sailing on to Australian ports.

The squad knows of one group of illicit importers who include remnants of the "Mr Asia" syndicate and which operates in the United States. New Zealand and Sydney. Police are well aware of bars and dives where drugs change hands. They cite the Astra and Bondi Hotels, and the "Fondue Here." a poky bar with a juke box and a sign which reads: "The management takes no responsibility for any items brought into these premises by anybody." Some Kiwis say the bar reminds them of pubs back home. It is as characterless as some. It is described as a market place by the Drug Squad. It comes alive after 11 p.m. when the pubs close. Near 1 a.m. — the place stays open until 4 a.m. — there seemed little sign of either drugs or money changing hands. I asked my companion whether the patrons perhaps thought I looked like a police officer. “No. they think I do." she said. “There will be nothing happening tonight." Bob Reid says that trading in such a place is all done by eye contact. Money might be exchanged outside. It is extremely difficult for police to get first-hand evidence of trafficking. Their most frequent method of coming to grips with pushers is to use undercover men and women to buy the stuff. As for the “Mr Bigs,” Bob Reid recalls how once the squad knocked down the front door of a house a Maori syndicate was known to be using. When a search was eventually made, there was no sign of drugs. “We learned later they had had time to flush their stock of heroin down the toilet."