By Ben Cameron and Samantha Walker
Brimbank is Victoria’s top hotspot for drug crime, according to the latest crime statistics.
The region tops the state for drug dealing and trafficking, with 350 offences recorded in the year to September 30 last year.
It also had the most offences under the category of ‘manufacture of drugs’, with 135 offences recorded, according to annual Crime Statistics Agency figures recently released.
Both crimes increased in the past four years, from 153 and 69 respectively.
Brimbank rated second in the state for drug use and possession (1066 offences recorded) – a crime that more than doubled in the past four years. Weapons and explosives offences in Brimbank also more than doubled in the past four years, from 340 to 773, ranking second in the state behind Hume (860) at the end of September.
Brimbank also had the second-highest number of murders with 11, behind Wyndham’s 12, while breaches of justice orders (880 to 1828) also more than doubled in the past four years.
Despite a 5.6 per cent increase in overall crime in Brimbank in the year to September 30, there were decreases in incidents of theft, burglary/break-and-enter and property damage.
Sunshine police’s Inspector Dave Byrt believes Brimbank is a safer place to live than four years ago and that an increase of reported drug crime is a reflection of proactive policing.
“These are detected offences, not reported offences, which is a direct indication of the work we’ve done in the proactive detection of crime,” he said.
“Like weapons and explosives, it’s a detected offence, which is a direct reflection of police activity.”
He said the drug crime increase was “a double-edged sword”. “It’s pleasing but also concerning,” he said.
“Ice is our main concern because of the flow-on impact.”
Meanwhile, Brimbank drivers featured heavily among those caught in unregistered vehicles, driving disqualified and driving above the legal blood-alcohol limit across the north-west during a 22-day statewide police operation from December 13.
In Brimbank, Operation Roadwise caught 29 drink-drivers, 34 disqualified drivers, 39 unlicensed drivers, 120 speeding drivers, 40 not wearing seatbelts, 27 drivers using mobile phones, and 127 driving unregistered vehicles.
