A record amount of ketamine is being seized at the border, with officials warning that Australia is becoming a prime target for the dissociative drug.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) said it seized 882kg of ketamine last year, more than double the 415kg seized in 2022.
It comes as the drug continues to grow in popularity. The 2022-2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey revealed that use among people in their 20s was growing, from 0.9% in 2019 to 1.4% last year.
There was also a five-fold increase in the proportion of people in their 30s using ketamine between 2019 (0.5%) and 2022–2023 (2.5%).
This backed up data from the ACIC National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report, which found ketamine use during April 2023 was at a record high in Australia.
In response to the increased seizures, Australian Federal Police (AFP) have said that smugglers are becoming more sophisticated in their attempts to hide the drug.
Recent busts included 80kg of the drug allegedly found concealed in buckets of liquid micro cement which arrived in Melbourne by sea. The buckets were dug up at a Geelong address and three men were charged.
The drug has also been found hidden in pills disguised as vitamins and in the linings of suitcases, including most recently last Friday when 20kg of ketamine was found hidden in the luggage of a traveller from the UK.
The 18-year-old was charged with importing a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs and was refused bail.
ABF Assistant Commissioner James Watson said Australia was “regularly targeted” as a ketamine market.
“These criminal groups may think they’re being clever in the way they try to bring in these harmful substances, but they should know that the ABF is ready to respond. Everyday our officer’s work at the border to protect the community from the enormous harm criminal groups seek to inflict on us,” he said.
“Through collaboration with our law enforcement partners, officers ensure that the border remains a hostile environment for criminals attempting to import illicit drugs.”
However, AFP say that despite the rise in importations, the ketamine market remains much smaller than others such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
