Drug dealers turn to trade in snakes

Andrew Mathieson
Armed Geelong drug dealers have developed a trade in illegal snakes to supplement their incomes, according to authorities.
The state’s leading wildlife investigator said police raids on properties involved in the snake trade had also uncovered drugs, unlicensed firearms and other prohibited weapons.
Senior investigator Keith Larner said Norlane, Corio, Lara, Breakwater and Whittington had the state’s highest rates of wildlife trafficking during an ongoing operation over the past eight years.
The sting had uncovered corn snakes as a preferred species of Geelong traffickers, Mr Larner said.
“What we know is there has been a large number of people in Geelong and also Lara who have been keeping, breeding and selling these exotic reptiles,” he said.
Department of Sustainability and Environment had seized snakes from about half a dozen Geelong residents in the past few months.
Mr Larner said raids involving police to issue search warrants had found a correlation between the illegal snakes and other serious crimes.
“There are lots of people who grow hydroponic crops of cannabis who breed illegal snakes, while some also breed legal snakes,” he said.
“We found that this supplements their income or their Centrelink payments or pension.”
Mr Larner said authorities had linked drug possession, mainly cannabis or pills, to 38 per cent of illegal corn snake cases in the state and to 17 per cent of seized unlicensed firearms and prohibited weapons.
About 80 per cent of offenders broke the law despite holding licences to own legal wildlife.
“What we find is that people know what they are doing is wrong, they’re well-aware of the penalties and they take the view that the law doesn’t apply to them,” Mr Larner said.
“These people tell you this when you interview them.”
Mr Larner said Lara perpetrators were among the most careless about the risk of illegal snakes transmitting exotic diseases.
“People I have dealt with in these semi-rural properties probably think they’re not subject to any scrutiny but we collect intelligence, target these people, then we execute search warrants,” he said.
Corn snakes, native to North America, could fetch up to $1000 each for some colours, Mr Larner said.
Stricter controls on postal parcels had led to a surge in “body packing”, a practice in which traffickers fix illegal animals to their bodies.
Mr Larner said offenders risked 10 years in prison for importation of exotic wildlife and five years for possession, with fines up to $110,000 under Commonwealth law. Authorities would take no action against people who phoned 136 186 to voluntarily hand in the snakes, he said.