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Sydney store owners caught on camera selling ice pipes under the counter

The drug Ice is now so commonplace across Sydney you can buy an ice pipe easily in a shop.

It may be under the counter and illegal but it's also widespread, as we discovered in a Seven News investigation.

They're illegal to sell but as we found, meth pipes are available across Sydney, if you know what to ask for.

They're illegal to sell but as we found, meth pipes are available across Sydney, if you know what to ask for. Photo: 7 News
They're illegal to sell but as we found, meth pipes are available across Sydney, if you know what to ask for. Photo: 7 News

In one suburban Sydney shop there are hundreds of items on display. But the one we're after is hidden in a backroom.

The shopkeeper brings out a box and soon we're shopping for ice pipes. The only decision - which size to choose.

Inside a Chinatown tobacconist we found them. Photo: 7 News
Inside a Chinatown tobacconist we found them. Photo: 7 News

Twenty dollars and we're on our way. But soon after, the shopkeeper is less forthcoming.

"I don't know the customer uses this for what," he insists.



Inside a Chinatown tobacconist we found them, and at another store in Darlinghurst.

They may not be in plain sight as they rest in back rooms and underneath the counter, but you can guarantee the drug paraphernalia is in the line of sight of police.

"They're thumbing their nose at a very explicit law to say that selling these pipes is no different or better than supplying the drug itself," said Police Minister Troy Grant.

"Wherever we can find this practice occurring, we will throw the book at them."

The drug Ice is now so common place across Sydney you can buy an ice pipe very easily in a shop - like this place in Darlinghurst. Photo: 7 News
The drug Ice is now so common place across Sydney you can buy an ice pipe very easily in a shop - like this place in Darlinghurst. Photo: 7 News

The law is clear. A person who sells an ice pipe is guilty of an offence.

Those caught can face heavy fines and up to two years in prison.

Two stores uncovered in the Seven News investigation are part of the Tobacco Station Group chain, or TSG, with franchises in shopping centres and airports.

A company spokesman said: "Under no circumstance does TSG Head Office condone the sale of illegal products in its franchisee stores."

Seven News has handed details of the stores to Police.