Forget Australia's mining boom. The nation's strong economy, high currency and wages have made it a magnet for sex, drugs and rock and roll. Foreign sex workers, drug smugglers and global rock acts are all targeting Australia to cash in on an economy growing at 3.
That has made Australia even more profitable for fly-in and fly-out rock acts and prostitutes, and especially for drug traffickers who are taking bigger risks with the hope of windfall profits. Australian police made 69, illicit drug busts in the year to June 30, , the highest in a decade, and have made record arrests in the first six months of this financial year.
In recent months, police have intercepted drugs hidden in a tonne steamroller and heavy machinery, in a large wooden altar, and they have broken up a drug ring involving smugglers in Australia, Japan and Vietnam. One of the biggest smuggling operations was a failed bid to bring in more than kg lb of cocaine across the Pacific Ocean from Ecuador on a metre foot yacht, found grounded on a small atoll in Tonga with a dead crewman aboard.
Australian police, who work closely with the U. Drug Enforcement Administration and authorities throughout Asia and the South Pacific, said the high prices paid in Australia and the strong dollar all helped make the country attractive for smugglers. Crime statistics show why some are willing to risk up to 20 years in prison.
The Australian Crime Commission, which examines trends and works closely with police agencies, said heroin and MDMA, also known as ecstasy, sell for about eight times more in Australia than in Britain and the United States, though Australia is a much smaller market. Once a remote destination for big rock acts, Australia has been flooded with talent over the past year and faces a steady stream of musicians, including heritage acts, in The strong dollar has made Australia the ideal place to perform for musicians wanting to make money at a time when touring rather than album sales is the main driver of income, with many acts charging a premium in a cashed-up economy.
