15 people arrested during drug raid in Perth

Police arrested 15 people during a two-week secret raid on clandestine methylamphetamine laboratories across Perth.

During the operation, police raided 18 properties and found seven clandestine drug labs, two of which were in the middle of cooking and another was located directly opposite a busy playground in Bayswater.

As part of the operation, police charged eight people with 41 criminal offenses, including the manufacture of methylamphetamine and drug possession.

Det-Supt Charlie Carver, of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said police were receiving valuable information from pharmacies about the sale of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in amphetamine.

Only ten percent of pharmacies fail to record the sale of pseudoephedrine. Det-Supt Carver said one pharmacy was currently under investigation on suspicion of illegally selling the chemical.

The number of Clan labs discovered in Perth this year has increased by 500 percent. Last year, police discovered 24 labs, this year the number is 124.

“The chemicals used by the criminals in this extremely dangerous process are highly explosive and have been proven to cause large explosions in homes and start bushfires in and around Perth,” Det-Supt Carver said.

The operation included raids on private homes, tenement houses and remote hideouts in the bush.

The toxic byproducts of the manufacturing process were often dumped into sewers or gardens.

Sarah Lau, spokeswoman for the ChemCentre, said chemical residues spilled on floors and in gardens were particularly dangerous for young children who would crawl around in the toxic residues.