By MELISSA MEEHAN
IT’S an addiction that takes hold, turning law-abiding citizens into crazed criminals desperate to find their next hit.
While the police statistics don’t yet show it, local police anecdotally say they have noticed an increase in drug-related crime in the region.
Many blame the increase on ice use, something that has generally been described as a city drug.
But now it’s evident that the drug is no longer just a party drug and is creeping its way into rural areas.
After speaking to local police on the issue off the record, the Mail contacted Acting Detective Sergeant Mick Duke from the Croydon Divisional Taskforce Unit.
His team’s role is to stop the scourge spreading through the region and has been at the forefront of raids on clandestine labs in and around the Yarra Ranges.
For them, in a perfect world they could execute a warrant every day of the week.
For the community, in a perfect world there would be no need for the warrant.
“There is no doubt ice use is more prevalent these days,” Act Det Sgt Duke said.
“And it’s on the increase, and drug-related crime is linked to that.”
Act Det Sgt Duke said once users became hooked on ice, their one focus in life was to find their next hit.
“It’s fairly expensive compared to other drugs,” he said.
“So they start off paying for it out of their normal wages, then they need more and more so start stealing from family and then it just escalates from there.”
He said a number of users ended up trafficking the drug just to pay for their own habit.
“They start depending on the drug at desperate levels, some start with petty crime, others more serious,” he said.
“We have already seen a link to an increase in drug-related crimes like family violence and aggravated assaults.”
With the increased use of ice, comes frantic paranoia.
The drug often turns meek and mild personalities into raging lunatics.
Not only do users describe feeling like they have the strength of 10 men when they take it, coming down from the drug means they often don’t sleep for days.
“In the past we’ve been able to execute search warrants in early morning raids,” Act Det Sgt Duke said.
“But now, it’s not unusual for us to go to a house at 4am to find everyone sitting up in the lounge room taking a hit of the pipe.
“And these labs aren’t just a one-off – in a perfect world we could execute a warrant every day of the week in our division.”
It’s a dangerous job for the Croydon DTU, with paranoid users and cooks arming themselves to protect their stash.
Often they need to call in help from the city.
“We have to be careful about who, where, when and what we do,” he said.
“It has to be a safe working environment for my team. It needs careful planning and innovative techniques.
“But we are determined to clean up the streets.”
