“Australia’s cocaine trade illustrates how strong domestic demand, exceptionally high prices and globalised criminal supply chains can sustain a resilient illicit market,” writes CLIVE WILLIAMS.

As of this month, cocaine use in the ACT appears to be at or near record highs. 

Nationally, Australia has one of the highest reported rates of cocaine use among developed countries.

According to the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 4.5 per cent of Australians aged 14 and over – around one million people –  used cocaine in the previous 12 months, making it the third most commonly used illicit drug after cannabis and methamphetamine.

Who then are the consumers? 

Cocaine users are mainly young adults aged 18-34. While men have always used more, the gender gap is narrowing, with notable rises among young women, particularly those aged 18-24. 

Use is significantly higher among employed individuals, those in higher socioeconomic groups, and people with tertiary education, especially in professional or white-collar occupations.

Use is far more prevalent in Australia’s capital cities than in regional or rural areas, with elevated rates in NSW and Queensland. Many users are polydrug consumers who combine cocaine with alcohol, cannabis, or MDMA, often in binge patterns at parties, festivals, or social settings.

This profile – urban, employed, and relatively affluent – distinguishes cocaine from methamphetamine, which has a broader demographic reach including more disadvantaged and regional users.

This Australian cocaine demand supports a large and growing domestic market. 

Recent wastewater monitoring indicates cocaine consumption has continued to rise to record levels in 2024-25. High street prices –  commonly hundreds of dollars per gram – generate billions in illicit market value and continue to attract transnational organised crime.

Cocaine primarily originates from coca cultivation in Colombia, with Brazil and other South American countries serving as key transit points. It reaches Australia via long maritime routes across the Pacific. Traffickers employ commercial shipping containers, yachts, fishing vessels, “mother ships” and semi-submersible vessels.

Air cargo, mail and smaller vessels supplement bulk maritime shipments.

Pacific islands such as French Polynesia, Fiji and Vanuatu have emerged as important transshipment hubs.

Multi-tonne shipments routed toward Australia 

Recent law enforcement operations have intercepted vessels carrying multi-tonne shipments routed toward Australia.

In January, authorities in French Polynesia intercepted about 4.87 tonnes of cocaine believed destined for the Australian market.

Brazilian crime groups such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), Mexican cartels, and Balkan criminal networks often co-operate with Australian retailers.

Australian law enforcement – including the AFP, ABF, and ACIC – has recorded major seizures in recent years.

In 2025, authorities seized about 7.8 tonnes of cocaine, a significant increase on previous years, with an estimated street value of about $2.5 billion.

In May 2025 alone, authorities intercepted more than one tonne of cocaine aboard a vessel off the NSW coast near Nambucca Heads. Large multi-tonne maritime interceptions and hundreds of smaller detections now occur annually.

How much doesn’t get intercepted remains difficult to determine because of the covert nature of the trade. However, adequate supply continues to reach the domestic market, as indicated by wastewater data, sustained availability and stable prices.

No single Mr Big dominates the trade. Instead, cocaine trafficking into Australia involves transnational syndicates rather than rigid hierarchical empires.

Australian-based facilitators, including networks linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs, such as the Comancheros, often manage local logistics, distribution, debt collection and money laundering. International partners from South America, the Balkans and elsewhere supply product and co-ordinate transportation.

Driven by profit-seeking organised crime

While global drug trafficking can intersect with terrorism financing in some source regions, terrorist organisations do not play a meaningful operational role in the networks supplying cocaine to Australia. The trade is overwhelmingly driven by profit-seeking organised crime.

There are also concerns about the broader environmental consequences of illicit drugs. Cocaine and its primary metabolite, benzoylecgonine, enter waterways through human excretion and incomplete removal by wastewater treatment plants.

A 2026 Griffith University-led study exposed juvenile salmon to environmentally relevant concentrations of cocaine and found the exposed fish swam up to 1.9 times farther per week and dispersed more widely, increasing their vulnerability to predators.

Australia’s cocaine trade illustrates how strong domestic demand, exceptionally high prices and globalised criminal supply chains can sustain a resilient illicit market. Despite increasingly sophisticated interdiction efforts by authorities, consumption continues to rise.

Effective responses therefore require not only a continuing focus on supply interdiction but also on strategies to reduce the Australian demand for cocaine.

Prof Clive Williams MG is a criminologist and director of the Terrorism Research Centre (clive.williams@terrint.org)