Australia’s booming drug consumption among affluent professionals has helped turn the country into the world’s unlikely cocaine capital, fueling criminal networks linked to murder, human trafficking, and extortion, according to a Bloomberg report.

Michael Barnes, who stepped down this week after more than five years leading the New South Wales Crime Commission, told the news agency that cocaine use has become normalized among white-collar Australians, including “lawyers, accountants, [and] doctors.” 

Roughly 4.5% of Australians use cocaine annually, double the U.S. rate, according to the latest United Nations World Drug Report statistics cited by Bloomberg. A wastewater analysis by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission found national cocaine consumption jumped 69% to a record in the 12-month period ended August 2024.

Australia’s isolation has not prevented it from becoming a lucrative market for international gangs, with cocaine fetching around A$300 ($213) per gram in Sydney—nearly double London prices, according to the report. Estimates by the Australian Institute of Criminology indicate serious and organized crime drained A$82.3 billion ($58 billion) from Australia’s economy in 2024, up 20% from the prior year, with illicit drugs being the biggest component.

Cocaine trafficking also sits at the center of a broader crime ecosystem that includes murder, arson, and offshore scam centers, according to Bloomberg, which outlined how ordinary citizens are sometimes bribed with cash and coke to help smuggle the drug into the country. 

The Australian government is fighting back, in part by tasking AUSTRAC with overseeing real-estate agents, lawyers, and accountants for anti-money laundering compliance, beginning in July. The three professions are often used by drug traffickers to launder illicit proceeds, according to the report. 

Read more at Bloomberg