States join forces to fight Indigenous community smuggling

South Australian police are working with Northern Territory and Western Australian officers to crack down on the smuggling of petrol and alcohol into Aboriginal communities.

The officer in charge of South Australia's far north, Superintendent Peter Anderson, says two police officers are about to be posted to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands.

He says more positions will also be advertised as soon as new police housing is built.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Anderson says the three states plan to work together to prevent the transport of prohibited substances onto Aboriginal lands.

"I met with the commander of the southern area of the Northern Territory police and we held a joint discussion with officers from Western Australia," he said.

"I would envisage that, given the strong support for this initiative that exists, that we would, in the near future, be working together on joint operations to combat this practice."

Superintendent Anderson hopes the new housing will be completed by the end of the year.

"We didn't have a lot of applicants as we may have hoped but we will forge ahead and the other positions, as they become available, will be advertised, and we would hope that other officers will consider a posting to the lands," he said.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/petrol.html
Pubdate: Thur, 29 September 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
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