Queensland drug trafficking convictions up 330 per cent in 10 years: report

By Kristian Silva - 14 Feb 2018

The number of convicted Queensland drug traffickers has increased by 330 per cent in a decade, but most offenders did not come close to serving the maximum penalty for the crime, a new report shows.

Who is a typical drug trafficker?

· Average age: 34

· Gender: Male

· Percentage who plead guilty: 97.8

· Average prison sentence: 4.6 years

· Other likely offences: Possess/deal illicit drugs, manufacturing drugs, handling proceeds of crime

Source: Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council

And despite the increased arrests, statistics show they have had little impact on the amount of drugs on the streets or the insatiable appetite for illicit substances.

Figures from the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council, released today, show 413 people were convicted of trafficking dangerous drugs in 2015/16, up from 124 a decade earlier.

While the offence carries a 25-year maximum penalty, the average sentence was only 4.6 years between 2005/06 and 2015/16.

Ninety-nine per cent of those convicted were jailed, with the longest custodial sentence set at 17 years.

Under Queensland law trafficking is the most serious drug charge, with lesser criminals usually prosecuted instead for supplying drugs.

Trafficking charges are usually reserved for 'Mr Bigs' and others who run complex and profitable operations involving advertising, price-setting and managing deliveries.

'Penalties don't match the rhetoric': criminologist

Terry Goldsworthy, a former Queensland detective who is now a criminologist at Bond University, said the sentences did not match the tough rhetoric often used by politicians and law enforcement agencies.

"When we look at the outcomes, we're not even getting one fifth of the maximum sentence for most of these people," Dr Goldsworthy said.

"I think most of the community would be surprised by that. We have seen such a push for people to ring Crime Stoppers, to inform on those engaged in drug activity, especially at the organised crime level."

Dr Goldsworthy said halting the illicit drug trade was a complex issue, and believed the key was lowering demand and increasing education.

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Tracy Linford said the 25-year maximum penalty was "reserved for the worst examples of drug trafficking" and a number of factors were considered when determining a sentence.

"These include the quantity and type of drugs, duration of and motivation for offending, plea, assistance to authorities and case law," she said.

Huge increase in cocaine, amphetamines

Photo: Former NRL player and cocaine trafficker John Touma was last week jailed for nine years. (AAP: Dave Hunt)

Buoyed by the online black market, intelligence experts consider Australia's illicit drug market to be highly lucrative with the trade costing the economy billions each year.

The increase in trafficking convictions has barely made a dent in Queensland's roaring drug trade, with figures from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission showing huge increases in some illicit substances seized between 2005/06 and 2015/16.

Less than one kilogram of cocaine was seized in Queensland in 2005/06. A decade on, that figure had topped 130 kilograms.

Meanwhile the amount of amphetamines confiscated by police increased seven-fold, and seizures of cannabis and heroin only dropped marginally over the period.

However, statistics from the most recent National Drug Strategy Household Survey showed the percentage of users has barely changed.

In 2016, one in six Queenslanders aged 14 and older said they had used an illicit substance recently. Those numbers have remained steady for 15 years.

Former AFP boss calls for deregulation

Sorry, this video has expired

Video: 'Decriminalising drugs will take political courage,' says former AFP commissioner (ABC News)

Mick Palmer, a former Australian Federal Police commissioner, said a "one size fits all" approach did not work when it came to punishing drug traffickers, many of whom were low-level operators and addicts themselves.

He said law enforcement agencies had enjoyed increased success, but "we can't police our way out of this".

"No matter how many seizures we make or how many arrests we make for trafficking the unregulated nature of the market and the huge profits that are able to be obtained make it inevitable that the problems are going to continue," he said.

Mr Palmer said he would support decriminalisation of certain illicit drugs to improve safety and take backyard operators out of the equation.

"I think the first challenge is for governments to be prepared to engage in a really open debate and discussion about the ways this could be attacked," he said.

"I'd love to see a drug-free society but it's not the case, it's never likely to be.

"Unless we're prepared to consider these new options and ease into a marketplace, with a view to reducing the criminal marketplace, we'll only ever end up with the same results we're getting at the moment."

Topics: drug-offences, drugs-and-substance-abuse, crime, law-crime-and-justice, qld, brisbane-4000

First posted 14 Feb 2018, 7:00amWed 14 Feb 2018, 7:00am