The WA government is introducing stronger police search powers in an attempt to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the state.
The enhanced powers will be enabled at 22 locations around WA, including road and rail crossings at border checkpoints, airports and sea ports, and would allow vehicles to be searched without reasonable suspicion.
Premier Mark McGowan said border restrictions introduced after the onset of COVID led to a decrease in the use of methylamphetamine.
"These laws are about saving lives, about preventing drugs from coming into Western Australia," he said.
"They're based upon the evidence over COVID of what worked.
"We found through our testing of our sewerage system that the amount of meth in our sewerage system in the metro area went down by 50 per cent and in some regional areas by up to 73 per cent."
The premier said WA, like Tasmania, could put in effective border controls to reduce drugs, and drug-related crime.
"That's burglaries, other crimes that relate directly to people seeking to obtain the money to buy drugs.
"It was a remarkable thing that occurred, it showed that having some enhanced restriction on your borders will reduce drug-related crime and drugs in our community.
"Everyone noticed it."
The stronger search powers will apply to Perth Airport as well as the airports in Broome, Busselton and Port Hedland.
The ports of Ashburton, Geraldton, Fremantle, Esperance, Albany, Wyndham and Port Hedland will also be captured as well as the border crossings on the Eyre Highway, Victoria Highway, Tanami Road, Duncan Road, Great Central Road and Rawlinna Rail Siding.
Capabilities would include "high visibility searches" of vehicles and people using electronic wands and detection dogs.
A search of an individual would still require police to have a reasonable suspicion.
New laws to 'break the power' of bikies
Police Minister Paul Papalia said it was about disrupting the plans of organised crime.
"This really enables us to focus on disrupting and breaking the power the outlaw motorcycle gangs have on our communities," he said.
"They are the people who distribute these illicit drugs.
"They come in from overseas, they come in from interstate, they're delivered to Western Australia by Triads and Mafia and cartels overseas, and then they are distributed, predominantly in Australia by outlaw motorcycle gangs."
The Police Commissioner Col Blanch said that for those involved in the drug trade, a kilogram of methylamphetamine was worth up to $500,000.
"So the risk has to be very high for them to stop impacting on our community with this drug of death," he said.
"When they see these laws, they will consider the risk too high.
"These laws are extremely strong, and world-leading."
Commissioner Blanch said property crime was still not at pre-COVID levels.
