Abalone used in heroin deals
Enterprising Asian crime gangs have introduced a novel currency to broker drug deals between Southeast Asian countries and Australia: abalone.
Federal police estimate that A$15 million (HK$92.7 million) worth of stolen abalone has been used to finance heroin purchases from the Golden Triangle of Thailand, Laos and Burma.
The molluscs are poached from Victorian and South Australian abalone farms, dried and smuggled out of the country by sea. They are sold in the Golden Triangle for up to A$800 a kilogram and the proceeds are used to buy heroin for shipment to Australia. The normal export price of fresh Australian abalone is A$100 a kilogram.
A federal police spokesman declined to confirm or deny Hong Kong triad involvement. 'We are not prepared to disclose more on the matter pending the outcome of this investigation,' she said.
According to the police, some of the stolen abalone is also being sold within Australia to Chinese restaurants, supermarkets and shops catering to Asian tourists.
The abalone-for-drugs deals come as Australian government laboratories confirmed that Golden Triangle heroin had replaced Chinese No 4 heroin, imported from Hong Kong, as the main type on Australian streets.
Australia is braced for a massive increase in high-purity heroin from the Golden Triangle after US satellites detected a surge in opium production last year.
The Australian Government attributes the surge to cease-fire agreements between the Burmese Government and opium warlord Khun Sa, heavier rainfall and an extension of the area under cultivation.
