The lure of wealth.

Sometimes a triumphant news story has the opposite effect of what was intended. This week the media splashed an account of a hugely successful police operation that nabbed a group of drug dealers. The highlight of this story was the discovery and confiscation of over eleven million dollars in illicit profits. The story went on to describe the confiscation of a veritable Aladdin's cave of jet skis, jewellery, luxury motor vehicles - and an incredible gold plated hand gun.
The cameras concentrated on the image of a vast pile of money discovered in the roof cavity of a house in Wollongong. Bundle after bundle of $ 100 and $ 50 dollar notes, neatly wrapped in plastic and amounting to over ten million dollars.
All of this the profit from drug dealing ! How many people in the community will lust after this type of reward - and with it the luxury lifestyle revealed by all those items of such a lifestyle seized by the police ? Even bigger and better than a major win in Lotto ! The crazy thing is that the money discovered in a house roof cavity was funds the dealers simply didn't know what to do with. They had their lifestyle - and the money in the roof was merely surplus funds - waiting until they figured out how to launder it !
Within days a second story followed. This concerned a soldier in the Australian Defence Force who was caught selling five hundred Ecstacy tablets to undercover cops for $ 2500. A search of his premises discovered $ 44,585 in profits stashed away in a cupboard.
These stories are going to tempt many to consider drug trading as a way of getting incredibly rich. There are disincentives in the form of gaol time - but to many the lure of incredible wealth will overcome any scruples about what danger to others is involved in drugs and the risk of incarceration " goes with the territory " as many criminals believe !
Perhaps such stories of police success are not a deterrent when at the same time they reveal the lifestyle that goes with being clever and avoiding detection. For many, a few years living the ultra good life would be ample compensation for a further few years in the prison system.
Time will tell, but this news story is less likely to bring about a reduction in drug dealing !