1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,480 Speaker 1: I've said this once before. It's not your problem until 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: it's your problem. I think what we've seen in the 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:10,239 Speaker 1: past is people will see, you know, these organized crime 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: groups having conflict within themselves, and it's okay, that's okay, 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: it's over there, it doesn't affect me. But when you're 6 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: having these sorts of shootings occurring where it's close to 7 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: playgrounds or shopping car parks and it is close to you, 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 1: it is then your problem. 9 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 2: So this is it. This is the end of the line. 10 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 3: You last heard from my colleague News Corp Australia's national correspondent, 11 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 3: Stephen Drill back in episode three when he was in 12 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 3: a Narco tunnel underneath the US Mexico border. But right 13 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 3: now he's standing alone on a road full of multimillion 14 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 3: dollar properties where there's one that really stands out. 15 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,919 Speaker 2: This house is like it kind of looks like a spaceship. 16 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:18,320 Speaker 2: It's it's beautiful. 17 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:21,839 Speaker 3: Stephen's back home in Australia. 18 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 4: I'm in a street in Melbourne. It's the city where 19 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 4: I live. You might call this a leafy area. A 20 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 4: leafy area is shorthand here in Melbourne for posh. The 21 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 4: street is full of very old English trees, and I'm 22 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 4: standing in the shade of one, which is good for 23 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 4: my lack of hair. 24 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 3: Despite the tree cover, it's still hot out. The sun 25 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 3: is fierce in the blue sky. Growing up in Australia myself, 26 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 3: I can remember just how hot it gets. 27 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 4: Black Wall, Black Gate. The door set well back just 28 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 4: the underground garage here would probably be bigger than my 29 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 4: entire house. 30 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 3: The house has white wolves, a home, cinema, a gym, 31 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 3: and big glass windows overlooking its private pool. 32 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 2: Now I'm just walking up to the front door. 33 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 4: I mean, this place looks like it's worth ten million dollars, 34 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 4: which is exactly what it was bought for just last 35 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 4: year by a man police allege is a member of 36 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 4: a money laudering syndicate called Long River. 37 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 3: The Long River Operation allegedly laundered hundreds of millions of 38 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 3: Ossie dollars. 39 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 4: And I'm just about to knock on the door of 40 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 4: this ten million dollar house that is alleged to be 41 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 4: the proceeds of crime. 42 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 3: Stephen reaches out, presses the button on the intercom. His 43 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 3: heart beats faster. 44 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 2: No answer. 45 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 4: As a journalist doing these jobs, we even know what 46 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 4: kind of reaction you'll get on a doorknock like this. 47 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 4: What the police are saying is that people living here 48 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 4: brought this swanky property with criminal profits. 49 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 2: Nothing. I'll try again, but this. 50 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 3: Time someone answers. I'm Fiona Hamilton and from The Times, 51 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 3: The Sunday Times and News Corp Australia. This is the 52 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 3: final episode of Cocaine Inc. Episode eight, bringing it Home. 53 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 4: So far in this series, I've been to Columbia and 54 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 4: Mexico looking at where the cocaine business starts in the 55 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 4: coca plantations and how the drug is exported. Fiona went 56 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 4: to the Netherlands, where ports like Rotterdam act as distribution 57 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 4: hubs for this global industry. David was in Northwest England 58 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 4: looking at the retail arm of the business, the street 59 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 4: level dealers. Then he followed the money trailed to Dubai, 60 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 4: which led to a maze of different companies dealing in 61 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,919 Speaker 4: gold investment and trading. It felt like we lost the 62 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 4: trail at that point. What do the world's cocaine bosses 63 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 4: actually do with the money they've made from their crimes? 64 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 4: Does criminal money end up buying beautiful homes in suburban 65 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 4: streets in cities like the one where I live? Trying 66 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 4: to answer that question is how I ended up back 67 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,480 Speaker 4: home in Australia standing outside his house looking at how 68 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 4: those allegedly involved in organized crime take their profits and 69 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 4: spend it. 70 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 5: Hi, my name's Stephen Drill, journalist. I just was wondering 71 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 5: if the place has been seized by the police or 72 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 5: what's happening with it now. 73 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,359 Speaker 2: I just wanted to touch base. Are you the owner 74 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 2: of the property? 75 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 4: Okay, so I don't have permission to record, meaning you're 76 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 4: not going to hear the conversation. I can't see the 77 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 4: person I'm speaking to, but it's a woman. I guess 78 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 4: she's in her thirties. 79 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 2: She sounds weary. 80 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 4: I try explaining how the Federal Police have just rated 81 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,599 Speaker 4: twelve high street money exchange stores across the country and 82 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 4: are saying this house is linked to them. They're calling 83 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 4: it the most significant money laundering investigation in Australia's history. 84 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 2: The police allege the. 85 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 4: Company operated a bit like a bank, providing a system 86 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 4: for customers to transfer money in and out of the country. Only, 87 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:01,479 Speaker 4: according to police, some of the customers will organize criminals 88 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 4: and their money. 89 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 2: Hundreds of millions allegedly. 90 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 5: Came from cyber scamps and what the cops call trafficking 91 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 5: illicit goods, which would be the kind of business we 92 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 5: followed around the world in this series. At the front 93 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 5: door of the ten million dollar. 94 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 4: House, the woman I'm talking to seems to hesitate, and 95 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 4: a man takes over the conversation. He doesn't say who 96 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 4: he is. When I ask, he says, they don't know 97 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 4: anything about police rates. They've just moved in and they're 98 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 4: only tenants, he says. The owners aren't at home right now, 99 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 4: so they can't talk. Puzzled and disappointed, I say thanks 100 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 4: and walk back out. 101 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 2: But something's nagging at me. So there's someone living in there. 102 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 5: Now, let's go and see what else there is here. 103 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 2: I'll just come knock on the neighbor's door. 104 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:08,600 Speaker 4: Now, this might seem weird trying to talk to the neighbors, 105 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 4: but as a journalist, I've lost track of the number 106 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 4: of stories I've got just by knocking on doors. Does 107 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 4: anybody else in the neighborhood know something anything? When you're 108 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 4: working on a story like this, you never know what 109 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 4: tiny bit of information might be the missing piece that 110 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 4: helps you solve the puzzle. And I want to know 111 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 4: how this house might be caught up in the Long 112 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 4: River Syndicate. So I try some neighbors doors. 113 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 5: The dog is certainly home there, but it's a little 114 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,239 Speaker 5: white fuck your dog. Nothing too scary, which can happen 115 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 5: sometimes on door knocks. 116 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 2: But I'll keep moving. 117 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 4: Because all I know is what the federal police are saying, 118 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 4: that the Long River Syndicate provide organized crime a way 119 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 4: to move their money here without it being traced by 120 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 4: the authorities. Money that could have come from allegedly trafficking, 121 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 4: A list of goods which could be drugged, like cocaine. Now, 122 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 4: the house immediately next door, she has a some string 123 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 4: tied around the gates. 124 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 2: It doesn't look like you can come into that one. 125 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 2: Hell from there, I just pressed the doorbell, see if 126 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 2: anyone comes out. 127 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 5: Do you understand why I think the effort is worth it, 128 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 5: spending hours in the hot sun knocking on strangers doors. 129 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 5: I need to take you back a few days to 130 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 5: when I got a call from a source. 131 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 2: This call was unusual. The source said something was going 132 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 2: to happen. 133 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,319 Speaker 6: I can't tell you too much about it, but they. 134 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 2: Wouldn't say what. 135 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 4: They just said to be free on a certain day, 136 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 4: so I knew it was going to be big. In 137 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 4: the meantime, I waited, I kept looking at the cocaine business, 138 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 4: which seems to be on a bull run. 139 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 7: In the almost thirty years I've been in law enforcement 140 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 7: and intelligence, I haven't seen the scale of cocaine that 141 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 7: we've seen consistently hitting our shores in the last twelve 142 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 7: to twenty four months before in my career. 143 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:29,079 Speaker 4: This is Matt Rippon, Deputy CEO Intelligence at the Australian 144 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 4: Criminal Intelligence Commission or ACIC. 145 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 7: The main reason is because of the profit margin to 146 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 7: be made. There are a lot of logistics and arrangements 147 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 7: that need to be made between uplift from the style 148 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 7: of coca leaf in Columbia, for example, to make it 149 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 7: all the way to the streets of Sydney or Melbourne, etc. 150 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 7: So it's a real global enterprise. 151 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 4: We're talking in Matt's headquarters. It's a hard place to find. 152 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 4: There's no marking on the bill. Security is tight inside 153 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:09,119 Speaker 4: these walls. Law enforcement spy and criminals. They access messages, 154 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:12,239 Speaker 4: monitor the movement of people and cocaine. 155 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 7: The law enforcement actually been really successful in recent years 156 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 7: in seizing some really large consignments of cocaine. You may 157 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 7: recall one point eight ton of cocaine was actually seized 158 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 7: in Peru. 159 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 2: One point eight tons. 160 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 4: I do some mental calculations, as I learned at the 161 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 4: port in Cardagena back in episode three, the value of 162 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 4: cocaine changes depending on where it is in the global 163 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 4: supply chain. In Peru, where it was seized, that one 164 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:53,679 Speaker 4: point eight tons might have been worth around five million 165 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 4: US dollars. Wholesale, it's almost four million pounds or seven 166 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 4: and a half million is STI dollars. While the time 167 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 4: it's trafficked all the way to Australia and sold by 168 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 4: the gram on the streets of Sydney or Melbourne. 169 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 2: That value rises by a lot. 170 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 4: It could be worth more than three quarters of a 171 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 4: billion dollars US over six hundred million pounds or one 172 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 4: point two billion Ousie dollars. Another way of looking at 173 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 4: it is that much cocaine would be enough to supply 174 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 4: every user in Australia for six months. 175 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 7: That seizure was actually linked to one of the highest 176 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 7: level threats to this country. So attached to that syndicate, 177 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 7: you had another one point one ton of cocaine that 178 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 7: came into New South Wales from Panama. 179 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 4: When he talks about high level threats to the country. 180 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 4: Matt means it much of Australia's cocaine import are thought 181 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 4: to be linked to an international cartel known as the Kinahans, 182 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 4: the Irish cocaine cowboys, who are currently thought to be 183 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 4: in the United Arab Emirates. The Kinahans are being investigated 184 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 4: around the world, including over links to the Islamic militant 185 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 4: group Hezbollah and Iran's intelligence services. In twenty twenty two, 186 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,679 Speaker 4: the US government offered a five million dollar bounty for 187 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,079 Speaker 4: information leading to the arrests of the gang's leaders. 188 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 8: Buzz of today, the Kinahan transnational criminal organization joins the 189 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 8: ranks of Italy's Camorra, Mexico's Los Zetas, Japan's Yakaza, and 190 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 8: Russia's Thieves and Law Also as of today, the result 191 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:50,199 Speaker 8: of these sanctions, these individuals are immediately served from the 192 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 8: US financial system and any assets brought property under US 193 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:56,920 Speaker 8: jurisdiction are immediate blocked. 194 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:01,079 Speaker 4: At this moment, the Kinahans the suspective of hiding out 195 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:04,959 Speaker 4: in Dubai, where David was in the last episode. Together, 196 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 4: these different interlinked criminal groups represent a huge international challenge 197 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 4: to any single police. 198 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 7: Force in twenty twenty three. In February, you had two 199 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 7: back to back large cocaine importations, three hundred kilo importation 200 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 7: off the coast of Western Australia, and then you had 201 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 7: three point two ton seased in New Zealand. 202 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 5: That's a lot of money in one shipment. That's billions 203 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 5: of dollars of street value. 204 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 7: It is billions of dollars. And the interesting thing here 205 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 7: is that because of the profit margin that can be 206 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 7: made from coca leaf all the way through to finished 207 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 7: product on the ground, they can afford to lose a 208 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 7: particular consignment. It's not a good outcome for them, but 209 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 7: they actually factor in losses into their business model like 210 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 7: any good company structure would. 211 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 4: Fact In Rotterdam, where Fiona was in episode four of 212 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 4: this series, research suggests authorities sees just over half of 213 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 4: all drug shipments. Other law enforcement people I speak to 214 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 4: say the average might be less. Roughly one in four 215 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 4: cocaine shipments is picked up. Either way, the cocaine traffickers 216 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 4: still make a profit, although that doesn't stop them lashing 217 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 4: out when a shipment is lost. 218 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 3: Good morning, first of breaking Years, and we are three 219 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 3: hours into a gangland man hunt in Sydney. 220 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 2: A man executed in Sydney. 221 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 4: A bloody gang war has caused more than twenty deaths 222 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 4: in recent years. 223 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 5: Another man hunt is under way tonight after the daylight 224 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 5: shooting of a former biking. 225 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 4: Sparked by a dispute over a missing shipment of cocaine, 226 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 4: now thought to have been seized by the Federal police. 227 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 9: A man has been shocked dead in a front yard 228 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 9: at Fairfield Heights in Sydney's Tit for Tat gangland war. 229 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 7: Organized crime groups act like a genuinely global business, but 230 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 7: what we're seeing in the environment that's been somewhat different, 231 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 7: particularly in the last three to five years, has been 232 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 7: collaboration across organized crime groups that traditionally wouldn't work together. 233 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 7: We're seeing cocaine importations where you have Mexicans working with 234 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 7: Chinese organized crime, working with outlaw motorcycle gangs in Australia 235 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 7: to make sure that they compartmentalize their business appropriately to 236 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 7: protect the head of the syndicate, but also to make 237 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 7: sure that they capitalize on the capabilities that they all 238 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 7: have at various points in the supply chain. 239 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 4: That complicated supply chain where cocaine can travel through several 240 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 4: different countries, passing between different criminal groups who are now 241 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 4: working together. That's a strength of the modern drug operation. 242 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 4: The person who's ultimately in charge is not exposed. 243 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 2: He or she is like the. 244 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 4: Chief executive, safe inside their boardroom, while different groups from 245 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 4: different countries handle all the actual work. 246 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 2: But listening to. 247 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 4: Matt, I learned that this is also a weakness because 248 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 4: the longer the chain becomes, the more weak links it contains, 249 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 4: meaning more opportunities for law enforcement to find those links 250 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 4: and break them. The day comes when my source had 251 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 4: told me something big is going to happen. Before dawn, 252 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 4: hundreds of Australian Federal Police officers launch raids across the country. 253 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 4: They see expensive looking cars and haul them away with 254 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 4: tow trucks, carry battering rams up to the gates of 255 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 4: expensive looking homes, and send uniform cops into twelve high 256 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 4: street money exchange stores in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. 257 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 4: The stores are part of a national chain with bright 258 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:12,159 Speaker 4: professional signs, shining white counters, smartly dressed staff and this 259 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 4: promotional video playing in the window. 260 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 9: Niha Wa Shu Gary Hardgrave. For almost twelve years, I 261 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 9: was an elected representative in the Australian government five years 262 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,360 Speaker 9: as a minister, including in immigration. As of twenty twenty two, 263 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 9: I'm joining the board of Shunxiang Currency Exchange the further overseas. 264 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 4: And getting a former Australian government minister like Gary Hardgrave 265 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 4: to promote it would have seemed a real seal of 266 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 4: approval to the. 267 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 2: Chang Jiang Currency Exchange to Australia. 268 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 4: Chang Yang is Mandarin Chinese, it translates as Long River. 269 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 9: The Australian government has strong oversight, but shun Xiang Currency 270 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,679 Speaker 9: Exchange has an even higher level of reliability, with water 271 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 9: tight security processes in place to guarantee the safety of 272 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 9: your facts. 273 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 4: There's no suggestion Gary Hardgrave, the former government minister, knew 274 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 4: anything about what was allegedly going on at Changing. He's 275 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 4: not been accused of any wrongdoing and would later say 276 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,439 Speaker 4: he'd cut all ties with the company and had no 277 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:24,760 Speaker 4: day to day involvement in its operations. But this morning, 278 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 4: looking at the scale of the police operation, the cops 279 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,719 Speaker 4: walking out carrying computers and stacks of paperwork, it became 280 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 4: clear this really was as big a deal as my 281 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 4: source had promised. 282 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 10: This is the most significant and complex AFP led money 283 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 10: laundring investigation in the nation's history. 284 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 4: This is Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Demeadow speaking 285 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 4: at a press conference following the raids in October twenty 286 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 4: twenty three. I'm sitting among the press pack, frantically typing 287 00:18:59,119 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 4: to get down his work. 288 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 10: The AFP alleges the chang Jing Currency Exchange is a 289 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 10: front for a mining laundering syndicate that transfers dirty money 290 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:11,360 Speaker 10: for large criminal enterprises. 291 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 4: The police allege Changjang transferred over ten billion Aussie dollars 292 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,439 Speaker 4: just over the past three years. That's over five billion 293 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 4: pounds or nearly seven billion US dollars. Most of that 294 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 4: was legal, the cops say, but they also allege criminals 295 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 4: were allowed to move money in and out of the 296 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:36,959 Speaker 4: country by mixing it in with the legal transactions. In 297 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 4: this way, the Federal Police allege around two hundred and 298 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,479 Speaker 4: twenty nine million Aussie dollars was laundered, money from what 299 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 4: police call a serious violent. 300 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:52,200 Speaker 10: Act money laundering is not a victimless crime, and. 301 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 2: Also money from trafficking illicit goods. 302 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 10: Even after more than twenty years in law enforcement and 303 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,920 Speaker 10: as a former law myself. The amount of money allegedly 304 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 10: laundered still surprised me. 305 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:10,959 Speaker 4: The police call it an industrial scale operation. Seven people 306 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 4: were arrested in the raids. Some could face life imprisonment, 307 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 4: the cops say, although the accused insist they're innocent. According 308 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:25,119 Speaker 4: to the cops, they'd been living the high life. I 309 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:29,760 Speaker 4: keep typing taking it all in as the press conference continues. 310 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 10: By eating at Australia's most extravagant restaurants, drank wine and 311 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 10: saki values and the tens of thousands of dollars, traveled 312 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 10: on private jets and drove vehicles purchased for almost four 313 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 10: hundred thousand dollars. One alleged offender lived in a home 314 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 10: worth more than ten million dollars. 315 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,879 Speaker 4: That's the ten million dollar house, the one with the 316 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 4: gleaming white walls that looks something like a spaceship where 317 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,440 Speaker 4: we started this episode. 318 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 6: Hi, how are you going? 319 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:03,199 Speaker 2: My I's Steve on the journalists. 320 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:08,159 Speaker 4: So, now that I know my source is correct and 321 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,880 Speaker 4: this is a big deal, I want to know more 322 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 4: about this alleged money laundering operation. 323 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: Hi. 324 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 2: My name's Stephen Drell. I'm a journalist. 325 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 5: I just was wondering if the place has been seized 326 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 5: by the police, or what's happening with it now. I 327 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 5: just wanted to touch base. Are you the owner of 328 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 5: the property? 329 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,640 Speaker 4: When the people inside so they can't help because they're 330 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 4: only tenants and have just moved in. I start talking 331 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 4: to the neighbors because if the cops are right and 332 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 4: this house was bought by people caught up in international 333 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,679 Speaker 4: money laundering operation, then this could be the very last 334 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 4: step in the kind of global criminal business we've been 335 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 4: following ever since the Cokerfields in Colombia, where the money 336 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 4: made by organized crime gangs is moved into a new 337 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 4: country and those involved allegedly spend it on seemingly legitimate 338 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 4: purchases like fast cars and fancy houses or like this house. 339 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 6: Just wanted to talk about your neighbors. 340 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,399 Speaker 2: Have you near people moved in recently? So I got 341 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 2: chatting to a neighbor. 342 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 6: Is there new tenants in the house or same people? 343 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 6: But there's no there has there been any removal trucks 344 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 6: or no removal trucks that's from the same people there. 345 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 5: Yeah, appreciate it. 346 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 4: It's hard to hear on the audio what the neighbor says, 347 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,120 Speaker 4: but he's just told me he hasn't seen anybody moving 348 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 4: in recently, no removal trucks. Wondering about that, I stand 349 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 4: in the shade of a tree, get my phone out 350 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 4: and reread news reports of the police rate. Now I'm 351 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 4: just going back through the news articles because I think 352 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 4: I may have missed a trick here. I know that 353 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 4: there was a husband and wife who were arrested, so 354 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 4: I'm just going through now and checking which of the 355 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 4: people it might actually be. Now, there were three people 356 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 4: who were granted bail, and now I'm not going to 357 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,399 Speaker 4: use their names here in this podcast, but there were 358 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 4: three people granded bars. So it's possible that the people 359 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 4: who were grounded batt are those people we just spoke 360 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 4: with on the intercom. 361 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:34,880 Speaker 2: Perhaps weren't genants. 362 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 4: But were actually the people accused of being involved in 363 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 4: this money laundering syndicate. According to the police charge sheets 364 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 4: which were tended in court, the couple who bought this 365 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 4: house a part of what the police are calling the 366 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:55,640 Speaker 4: Long River money laundering syndicate. That syndicate was named after 367 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 4: the chain of Shining money exchange officers that were raided 368 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 4: last October. Investigators have traced millions going into the bank 369 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 4: accounts of one of the owners of this house. The 370 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 4: police also alleged that some of those who were arrested 371 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 4: coached others to create company structures and false documents to 372 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 4: conceal the proceeds of crime. The charge sheets use what 373 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:22,679 Speaker 4: seems like the language of accountants talking about different businesses, 374 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 4: beneficiaries and assets, funds, transfer instructions, taxable declarations. This all 375 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 4: feels a long way from where I started this series 376 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,920 Speaker 4: with Jose the Columbian police officer who lost his legs 377 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 4: to a landmine, fighting a bloody war in the drug plantations, A. 378 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:46,440 Speaker 11: War on drugs. 379 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: I mean times have changed the AFP, we don't focus 380 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 1: on commodity with matured our approach. 381 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:59,439 Speaker 4: Kirsty Schofield is the Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner in 382 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 4: charge of the Forces Crime Command, meaning she oversaw the 383 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 4: investigation into alleged money laundering by the chang Xiang Currency Exchange. 384 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 4: In person, she's all smiles, tan skin. She could be 385 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 4: an Aussie surfer, but that hides an inner toughness. As 386 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 4: a detective, she worked CANi terrorism, an organized crime we 387 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,439 Speaker 4: caught up after the chang Xiang police raids, but it's 388 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 4: an open investigation. So Kirsty wasn't going to talk about it, 389 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 4: but from what she would tell me, it's obvious that 390 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 4: Kirsty knows the cocaine business. She's thought about it deeply. 391 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 4: Any major cocaine bust that involves Australia or Australian police 392 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 4: based it over thirty offices worldwide comes across her desk. 393 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 11: It's much bigger than a commodity. 394 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: It is a global business and we really do look 395 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: at it as a whole business. 396 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 11: We just don't target the drugs. 397 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:02,400 Speaker 4: Where this is relevant is the idea of accountants. Kirsty says, 398 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 4: there are professional criminal groups out there who provide a 399 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,639 Speaker 4: service to other crime gains, helping them process their profits, 400 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 4: moving money in and out of countries and taking a 401 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 4: cut in the process. 402 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:17,679 Speaker 11: We look at the finances. 403 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 1: We actually try to disrupt the whole business model. We 404 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: look at the key enablers of what constitutes their business structures. 405 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: We make it hostile onshore and offshore wherever they're operating. 406 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 2: So, yeah, you're saying it's asrupting the business. 407 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 5: I mean that comes to the next point of are 408 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 5: necessarily trying to arrest everybody? Is that the most effective 409 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:41,159 Speaker 5: way of curbing the drug businesses and the drug trade. 410 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,679 Speaker 1: I don't think we can arrest our way out of 411 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: this at all. So we are really focused on targeting 412 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,640 Speaker 1: those people that when we take them out, it has 413 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,960 Speaker 1: a significant impact on their ability to run a business. 414 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: Who is it that moves their money? We take their money, 415 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: We take the money in the profit out of the crime. 416 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:01,439 Speaker 1: Who is it that they really for their logistics? And 417 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,399 Speaker 1: you'll find there'll be a key person across several organized 418 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: crime groups that helps with logistics, and we'll target that person. 419 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,679 Speaker 4: Kirsty's saying this reminds me of a line from an 420 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:16,239 Speaker 4: old movie called Wall Street about a young stockbroker who 421 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 4: wants to make his fortune in New York during the 422 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 4: nineteen eighties. 423 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 11: Money never sleeps, Paw. 424 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,680 Speaker 9: Just meet eight hundred thousand Hong Kong Gold. 425 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:28,639 Speaker 2: It's been wired to you. 426 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 4: Money never sleeps. That's Gordon Gecko played by Michael Douglas 427 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 4: in the movie. The young broker starts making money, only 428 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,159 Speaker 4: it corrupts him. It becomes like the money is in charge. 429 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 4: He can never stop. Kirsty says, the same is true 430 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 4: of those working in the illegal business world. 431 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 11: They do not stop. They are twenty four to seven. 432 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: They conduct multiple business deals at the one time, and 433 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: they are motified by money, greed and ego and that 434 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:00,640 Speaker 1: drives them. 435 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 2: It's power that's led to more conflict. 436 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 11: That's right. It's all over money. 437 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:06,240 Speaker 2: You know. 438 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: They want to control certain parts of the business, so 439 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: the conflict is generally associated with that. What's happening now 440 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:15,439 Speaker 1: is people are getting caught in the crossfire. They no 441 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,880 Speaker 1: longer do that sort of business away from public attention. 442 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,200 Speaker 1: They're more comfortable to do it in the public arena. 443 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,840 Speaker 5: When we've send dead bodies in Sydney streets where kids 444 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 5: are walking past, that's right. So it's coming to people's 445 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 5: doorsteps now. 446 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I've said this once before, it's not your 447 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: problem until it's your problem. I think what we've seen 448 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: in the past is people will see, you know, these 449 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: organized crime groups having conflict within themselves, and it's okay, 450 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: that's okay, it's over there, it doesn't affect me. But 451 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: when you're having these sorts of shootings occurring where it's 452 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: close to playgrounds or shopping car parks and it is 453 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: close to you, it is then your problem. 454 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,959 Speaker 5: And what would you say to say someone who's taking 455 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:03,719 Speaker 5: cocaine this week, candid insat Sydney or London, because it's happening. 456 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 2: I mean, we can't pretend that it's not. 457 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: Just don't do it. Sometimes I feel that just forces 458 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 1: on deads. I find that one of the complicated factors 459 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: is how do we explain to those taking drugs of 460 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,480 Speaker 1: reasons not to do it because they feel it's part 461 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: of their life. 462 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 2: Where do you stop and what do the police just 463 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 2: say up? 464 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,240 Speaker 5: Do we give up? Do we just let this go? 465 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 5: Or how do you actually keep trying to fight against 466 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:30,600 Speaker 5: the criminal organizations? 467 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: The option to give up is not there. I mean, 468 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: what would it look like if we did give up? 469 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: What does it mean for the world. There's all these 470 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: other part of society doing the right thing. There's just 471 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: such an inequity in it. And is it hard, yes 472 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: it is? Is it worth it? Definitely? It's not just 473 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: about arresting somebody. That's old policing mentality. It's very different. 474 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: We look for different ways to do business. We look 475 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 1: at all forms of disruption make it hostile for them 476 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 1: to operate wherever they are. 477 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 11: In the world. 478 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 4: After speaking to Kirsty, that idea stays with me. The 479 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 4: police are looking for different ways to do business, because 480 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 4: the old way of doing business by simply trying to 481 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 4: arrest the people selling the drugs, isn't working. Standing outside 482 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 4: that ten million dollar house, I decide to go back, 483 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 4: determined to find out who owns it. I'll reach out 484 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 4: and try the intercom again. The man answers again, I 485 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 4: don't have permission to record the conversation. But this time 486 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 4: he and I get talking. It's not easy talking through 487 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 4: the intercom. It keeps cutting off after a few seconds, 488 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 4: so one of us has to press the button again 489 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 4: to talk, and the man on the other end keeps 490 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,800 Speaker 4: pressing that button like he really wants to talk to me. 491 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 4: I ask, be you sure you're not one of the 492 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 4: people involved in the Long River alleged international money laundering operation. 493 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 2: He says, no, but they are relatives. 494 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 4: You can't say where his relatives are right at this 495 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 4: moment that does say that police phrase came as is 496 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 4: shocked to them all. The man says his relatives are 497 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 4: innocent of what police say about them, their entrepreneurs, successful 498 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:30,360 Speaker 4: business people. He says, is international politics involved, maybe some 499 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 4: racism because the people who have been arrested have Chinese heritage, 500 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 4: and the charges are not proven. He starts talking about 501 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 4: how the police announced having seized are four hundred thousand 502 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 4: dollar Mercedes. But what didn't get said was that his relatives' 503 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 4: business men dealing with millionaires and billionaires, and according to him, 504 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 4: you can't do that if you're driving around in a 505 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:03,120 Speaker 4: Toyota or Rayande. He says the police only found seventeen 506 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:07,000 Speaker 4: thousand dollars in cash during their raids, which was actually 507 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 4: a gift for a baby's first birthday. He doesn't say 508 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 4: who the baby is, only that its parents were taken away. 509 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 4: I think he means they were arrested, leaving the baby 510 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 4: waking up in the night crying for mummy and daddy. 511 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 4: He goes back to how the police were talking about 512 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 4: lavish lifestyles, including a private jet. He says they actually 513 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,600 Speaker 4: got a deal like a subscription where they could fly 514 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 4: on private flights that would otherwise be empty, which he 515 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 4: says made it cheaper than flying with a commercial company. 516 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 4: Apparently the private jet also looked better. He says, his 517 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:49,160 Speaker 4: relative reputation has been tarnished. Their bank accounts have been frozen. 518 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 4: There are one hundred and fifty employees who don't know 519 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 4: if they have a future. We stand there talking for 520 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 4: what feels like half an hour. The intercom keeps cutting out, 521 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 4: but he sticks at it, pressing the button on his 522 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 4: side to keep going. 523 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 2: He keeps coming back. 524 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 4: To the point that his relatives were just business people, 525 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 4: and the police don't understand the business. Eventually, the conversation 526 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 4: comes to an end. I go to turn away. Then 527 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 4: somehow the door opens. The man I've been talking to 528 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 4: from outside the house is standing there, looking surprised, like 529 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 4: maybe he pressed the wrong button on the intercom and 530 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 4: didn't mean for the front door to open. We're face 531 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 4: to face. I reach out and shake his hand, and 532 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:45,720 Speaker 4: I believe. 533 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 5: What he's told me that he's not one of the 534 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 5: people allegedly involved in this money laundy operation, meaning he's 535 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,640 Speaker 5: just like so many people we've met during this investigation, 536 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 5: and innocent who's paid the cost of an alleged criminal 537 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 5: business operation that spans entire countries. This man was left 538 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,320 Speaker 5: holding the baby. He says, he'll pass my name and 539 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:07,600 Speaker 5: number onto his relatives. 540 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 2: They never call walking away. 541 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:18,280 Speaker 4: I think that was extraordinary, and at the same time, 542 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:23,680 Speaker 4: it was very ordinary. Face to face, we were just 543 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 4: two people standing in the doorway of a house not 544 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 4: far from where I live. After spending months on this investigation, 545 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,719 Speaker 4: I've ended up back in my home city. Walking to 546 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:38,799 Speaker 4: my car, I look up and down the road at 547 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:42,560 Speaker 4: all the houses and think about where this journey's brought us, 548 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:47,280 Speaker 4: Following the money to where the police allege the trail 549 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 4: ends with ten million dollars being spent on a nice 550 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 4: house in a wide street in a leafy suburb in 551 00:34:57,600 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 4: a pleasant city. 552 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,000 Speaker 2: Very ordinary. 553 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:07,719 Speaker 4: He could be any house on any street near where 554 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:09,440 Speaker 4: I live, or you do. 555 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 11: So. 556 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:21,360 Speaker 4: Looking back over this entire series, we have Fionna David 557 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 4: and I got to. 558 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:26,759 Speaker 2: Well. 559 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:31,399 Speaker 12: Following the money from Colombia to Mexico, the Netherlands, the UK, 560 00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:36,719 Speaker 12: to the UA and Australia. We found a complex and sophisticated, 561 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 12: multi billion dollar operation and. 562 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:46,840 Speaker 3: It's only getting stronger. If Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord, 563 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,920 Speaker 3: helped create the modern cocaine industry and. 564 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 9: He lead Colombian police unit killed Pablo Escobar in a shootout. 565 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 3: Then his death in a shootout in nineteen ninety three 566 00:35:58,440 --> 00:35:59,680 Speaker 3: certainly didn't kill it. 567 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,719 Speaker 1: Columbian authorities say its message to other drug lords is 568 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:05,000 Speaker 1: to surrender or. 569 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 2: You will be killed. 570 00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 3: In fact, production expanded in the years after and is 571 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,440 Speaker 3: now at record highs, with. 572 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 4: People living in our two countries Australia and the UK, 573 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:21,879 Speaker 4: the top two highest cocaine users in the world. In Colombia, 574 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:24,680 Speaker 4: I saw how government policy of trying to stop the 575 00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:29,000 Speaker 4: industry by cracking down on cocaine supply just isn't working. 576 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 12: When alas May let I arrive at their cinic, I 577 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:37,759 Speaker 12: create so much, but I. 578 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,400 Speaker 5: Am the only people who really lose out are the 579 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:44,359 Speaker 5: farmers and the cops send to enforce this policy, who 580 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:45,400 Speaker 5: don't always come back. 581 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:50,520 Speaker 2: And I say to May that forgive them. 582 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:58,640 Speaker 5: In Mexico, I learned its demand that drives the cocaine business. 583 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 2: I'm down here here in a Naco tunnel. 584 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,080 Speaker 4: We're about eighty minutes from the Mexican border, and to 585 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:05,560 Speaker 4: be honest, it's just quite frightening. 586 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:09,120 Speaker 5: There's some timber today with a drug multiplying in value 587 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:12,200 Speaker 5: as it moves through each stage of the supply chain. 588 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:17,239 Speaker 3: In the port of Rotterdam, the cocaine industry is now 589 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:22,080 Speaker 3: so vast it uses the same shipping containers as any 590 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:26,480 Speaker 3: other global business would to move its product. The industry 591 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,240 Speaker 3: corrupts everything it touches. 592 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:31,480 Speaker 2: We have a big problem in the bort of Rotterdam 593 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:32,640 Speaker 2: with cocaine. 594 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 3: From port workers to gang leaders who have no regulator 595 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 3: to turn to, so end up building themselves a torture 596 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:43,400 Speaker 3: chamber to adjudicate their business disputes. 597 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:48,680 Speaker 6: Sounds like what the fuck a torture sellers. 598 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:55,239 Speaker 12: In Merseyside, the same violence spills out onto the streets 599 00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,520 Speaker 12: where cocaine is bought and sold, with vival gangs at 600 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:02,120 Speaker 12: war and innocent people suffer. 601 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,000 Speaker 2: I'd never go on there because you know what's from 602 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:05,640 Speaker 2: the wood church. 603 00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 12: I met other people prayed on because of their innocence 604 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:11,160 Speaker 12: or naivety. 605 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:13,160 Speaker 11: I couldn't believe how much it was. 606 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 12: He became cash mules. 607 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:19,919 Speaker 10: And I thought, what the fuck have I got myself into? 608 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:26,680 Speaker 12: Carrying money over international boarders, exploiting differences between countries' regulations 609 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 12: in Dubai while undercover. Some of the money might be 610 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,759 Speaker 12: for like drugs in the UK. I learned how that 611 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:38,640 Speaker 12: money can be traded through gold or through different accounting structures. 612 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,919 Speaker 3: Actually said al Filaci on there, but it's clearly him, 613 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:43,440 Speaker 3: He's clearly him. 614 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:47,120 Speaker 4: And then at home in Melbourne I found with police 615 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:50,360 Speaker 4: alage some of the profits of the money lauding operation 616 00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:53,719 Speaker 4: are spent on a house that looks like a spaceship. 617 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:58,759 Speaker 4: And Mitt Kirsty, the Federal Police Assistant commissioner, who said, 618 00:38:59,080 --> 00:38:59,759 Speaker 4: I think we. 619 00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:03,160 Speaker 1: Can risk our way out of this at all. 620 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:07,440 Speaker 12: If that is true, what can we do instead. Maybe 621 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:11,000 Speaker 12: it's about looking at the cocaine problem differently in the 622 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:15,759 Speaker 12: way we've approached in this series. As a business, it's 623 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:18,919 Speaker 12: just a commodity that has to go from H tob 624 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:24,160 Speaker 12: By following the money, law enforcement can find new ways 625 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:27,480 Speaker 12: to disrupt the cocaine industry and its kingpins. 626 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:31,400 Speaker 1: We actually try to disrupt the whole business model. We 627 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,080 Speaker 1: look at the k enablers of what it constitutes a 628 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:35,040 Speaker 1: business structures. 629 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:39,080 Speaker 12: By learning how each link in the supply chain works, 630 00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:44,719 Speaker 12: you can identify its weaknesses but also its strengths. It's 631 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:49,080 Speaker 12: not good enough to tackle it within state borders. Governments 632 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:51,600 Speaker 12: and countries need to work together. 633 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,799 Speaker 3: We know there's no easy answers, but we also know 634 00:39:59,239 --> 00:40:03,040 Speaker 3: from personal experience of covering these crimes and those impacted 635 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,640 Speaker 3: by them, that governments have spent billions over the decades 636 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:09,040 Speaker 3: on the drug war and they're still not winning. 637 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:11,440 Speaker 13: Only omadors be sure. 638 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:14,640 Speaker 2: And you shall love it early. 639 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,120 Speaker 13: We need school of gospel. 640 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:21,839 Speaker 5: At the scene where she was killed, Ellie's family came 641 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:25,160 Speaker 5: to lay flowers for a woman they so deeply loved. 642 00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 3: Those running the cocaine business are as dynamic, roofless and 643 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:36,920 Speaker 3: motivated as any successful capitalist, able to respond at speed 644 00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:40,960 Speaker 3: to market pressures in a way that government agencies and 645 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:47,359 Speaker 3: lawmakers simply can't. And fundamentally, the demand for what they're 646 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:54,120 Speaker 3: selling cocaine isn't going anywhere. So maybe dealing with cocaine 647 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:58,680 Speaker 3: ing on these terms like a business, like the business 648 00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,680 Speaker 3: it is, we can find a new approach. 649 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,880 Speaker 13: This is not a video game, this is real life. 650 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:11,279 Speaker 13: You go to a fucking pupmar Christmas Eve with a 651 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,680 Speaker 13: machine gules if it was someone going there with a 652 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:17,200 Speaker 13: baseball bat and have a grievance with someone. That's standards. 653 00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:20,319 Speaker 13: That happens every weekend. But you go somewhere with the 654 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:25,080 Speaker 13: machine matter when it is you go on, it's kill someone. 655 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:36,160 Speaker 3: Cocaine Inc. Was a joint investigation from The Times, The 656 00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:41,280 Speaker 3: Sunday Times and News Corp Australia. The reporters were David Collins, 657 00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:46,160 Speaker 3: Steven Drill and me Fiona Hamilton. The series was produced 658 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:51,320 Speaker 3: by Sam Chanterassak, with additional production by Andrea tz Evanson. 659 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:56,440 Speaker 3: The executive producers were Will Row and Dan Box. Audio 660 00:41:56,440 --> 00:42:00,600 Speaker 3: production and editing was by Jasper Leak, original music by 661 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:05,560 Speaker 3: Tom Birchall, Social and video by Kissie Bray, Sho Burrow, 662 00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:10,560 Speaker 3: Vanessa Graham and Chelsea Hardiman. Our legal team were Peter Samer, 663 00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:15,320 Speaker 3: Richard Murray and Stephen Coombs. The compliance editor was Claire Telford. 664 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:20,319 Speaker 3: The UK production manager was Oliver Adamson. In Australia, the 665 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:24,160 Speaker 3: project was overseen by Lillian Salagh. In the UK, it 666 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:27,440 Speaker 3: was overseen by Cap Ford, the executive producer of The 667 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:31,160 Speaker 3: Times Daily podcast the Story. The head of Times Podcast 668 00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:34,400 Speaker 3: is Tim Level and in Australia the podcast team was 669 00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:38,440 Speaker 3: run by Shannon Hollis. But that's not quite the end 670 00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:42,240 Speaker 3: of the series. We have two more bonus episodes still 671 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:46,440 Speaker 3: to come. In the first, David sits down with Stephen me, 672 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,600 Speaker 3: a former international cocaine smuggler, to talk about his wild 673 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:53,879 Speaker 3: ride with the Colombian cartels and why he left it. 674 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:57,360 Speaker 3: And I'll be sitting down with David and Stephen to 675 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:00,879 Speaker 3: answer your questions about the series. Don't forget to send 676 00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:04,040 Speaker 3: an email to Cocaine Inc. At The Times dot co 677 00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:07,839 Speaker 3: dot uk, or get in touch with us directly. Our 678 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:10,880 Speaker 3: social media handles are in the show notes for the series.