40 ‘homebake’ drug sites discovered

Press, 18 April 1985, Page 14

40 ‘homebake’ drug sites discovered

PA Hastings Forty clandestine laboratories making “homebake” drugs have been uncovered in the last four years, according to the Minister of Customs, Mrs Shields. Branding it as the sinister era of homebake, developed by “Kiwi ingenuity,” she said combating the problem of drug abuse required the active co-operation of all sections of the community. “While it may never be entirely eradicated it can be substantially contained,” said Mrs Shields in an address to Hastings Rotarians. The development of “homebake” - the illicit manufacture of morphine and heroin in backroom laboratories - since the first laboratory was unearthed in Hawke’s Bay in 1982 showed that no matter how good a drug-enforcement record might look at any particular time, there was no room for complacency. There were fashions in drugs and cocaine had emerged internationally as a big threat. Already the signs

of cocaine abuse in New Zealand were obvious and ominous, Mrs Shields, said“Cocaine has been made popular through its much publicised use by Highstatus, high-profile international figures,” she said. “Less publicity is given to the dangers of abuse - to the degeneration of nasal membrane, to the psychological dependence and personality change, and to the deaths caused as a result of overdose or the use of dangerous adulterants.” Combating drug abuse in New Zealand did not only rest with the law-enforce-ment agencies but required the active co-operation of all sections of the community. Mrs Shields said the smuggling of contraband, such as illicit drugs and gemstones, by concealment within the body was concerning the Government. Drugs were being packed in balloons and condoms, or simply wrapped in glaawrap, and then inserted

into the body cavities or swallowed. “Although highly dangerous to the courier, police and customs know from experience that the practice is both popular and potentially effective among persons importing drugs into New Zealandi “Experience in dealing with people who swallow packages of drugs has shown that it can well be five days, even longer, before the packages emerge,” she said. Couriers took medication to inhibit normal intestinal movement, and it was necessary to detain suspects for the time required for the drugs to pass through their systems in order to obtain the evidence needed to prove the offence. New legislation had been introduced to allow suspected persons to be detained. It also gave the police and customs power to use tracking devices, to intercept communications, and to use bugging devices.