‘Tough’ drug searches at WA entry point slammed for finding just 0.8g of meth, 5g of cannabis in first year

Tough drug check points at WA ports and airports designed to replicate the State’s hard border have been labelled “a failed PR stunt” by the Opposition, with new figures showing miniscule seizures in the first year of the regime. The new temporary border zones, legislated last June, were designed to stop the flow of drugs into the State, in the same way the pandemic hard border cut off supply. Police have the powers to set up the zones at border checkpoints, and used them 17 times for 53 vehicle searches, including at Perth Airport, and at Albany, Esperance and Port Hedland ports. But the first year of the laws resulted in just 0.8 grams of meth and 5 grams of cannabis being seized from those vehicles stopped. On top of the small seized amounts, Opposition Leader Shane Love also slammed the failure of police to use the temporary powers at WA’s road and rail borders. “The Cook Labor Government’s so-called ‘Meth Buster’ laws are nothing more than a failed PR stunt, doing little to combat WA’s meth crisis,” he said. “Last year, the Police Minister claimed these laws were “the most important tool” in stopping meth, creating permanent search areas around airports, ports, and road and rail border crossings to effectively create a “hard meth border” around WA. “Yet despite their tough talk, this Government’s new laws have scarcely been used outside Perth and never at WA’s road and rail borders. “Just 0.8 grams of meth has been seized under this scheme, while meth use in WA has risen by 40 per cent in the past year.” Asked in Question Time about the poor seizure results, Police Minister Paul Papalia disputed the report’s numbers, and said the searches may give officers intelligence to use in further investigations. “The creation of 22 search areas around the state for all entry points, road, rail, sea and air, is that it affords the police an additional tool in combating organised criminals bringing illicit drugs into Western Australia,” he said. “They may not want to draw to the attention of the organised criminals that individuals that their pathway of introducing illicit drugs into the state has been infiltrated and has been busted. “My knowledge is there have been operations employing the Misuse of Drugs Act and the border search areas, and they have found more than what you’ve said.” In a statement, Mr Papalia said the suggestion the border search areas had been ineffective was wrong. “The positive impact of BSA legislation should not be confined to seizure amounts, with deterrence and intelligence collection providing major benefits to police and the community,” he said. “Despite this, last month a Border Search Area at Perth Airport uncovered approximately two kilograms of methylamphetamine and $50,000 cash, resulting in two arrests.” It comes as new police statistics show drug offences hitting a new five-year high — second only to a post-lockdown surge recorded in May 2020. Officers recorded 2801 drug offences in August this year, including dealing, cultivation and possession, after a steady rising over the past year.