AFP commissioner urges ‘conversation’ about link between Australians’ level of illicit drug use and organised crime

Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett speaks to the media during a press conference at the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Headquarters in Canberra, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Lukas Coch/AAP Published: September 15, 2026 2:58am EDT Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett has called for a national “conversation” about the link between Australians’ use of illicit drugs and organised crime violence. Barrett’s call comes after recent murders in Sydney linked to organised crime included two cases of mistaken identity in one week. Writing in The Nightly, Barrett said: “The conversation needs to be collectively louder about the dangers of illicit drug use and linking it to the organised crime violence in our communities and the impact it is having on our national security. "Australians take too many illicit drugs, and it is absurd how much money users are willing to pay for them.” We should “refuse to normalise illict drug use”. Barrett said at this year’s Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group Annual Principals Meeting (that includes Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada), many participants said it was hard to get the public’s attention on the dangers of illicit drug use. “However, I believe Australians may now be open to having this conversation because of the shocking shootings, including mistaken identity shootings, linked to organised crime in NSW,” Barrett wrote. “It is important to note that this is not a NSW problem — it is an Australian problem, and mistaken murders at the hands of organised crime gangs have also happened in other states.” The New South Wales government announced after the two recent mistaken identity killings that it would bring in life sentences for people planning gang-related murders, and adult time for youths who committed these crimes. The gangs have been employing young people to carry out murders, which has increased the risk of mistaken identify crimes. The state government will introduce the new measures into parliament this week and expects to have them through by October. Barrett wrote that most criminal gangs operating in Australia “will be drawn to products that make them obscene profits. "Many of the crime gangs responsible for cocaine, methamphetamine or heroin trafficking are also responsible for illicit tobacco importations.” In the criminal gig economy, onshore and offshore crime gangs are tasking out their criminal reprisals to Australian youth, some just in their early teens. This new pipeline of young offenders has little impulse control and can be even more reckless than other older criminals". She also pointed to how “organised crime can use AI to help evade law enforcement detection”. Want to write? Write an article and join a growing community of more than 233,000 academics and researchers from 5,612 institutions. Register now