WEBVTT - George Marrogi's prison telephone 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:05.760 He was accused of bashing two prison guards years earlier 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.160 because he spent too much time on the phone and 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:10.840 they tried to tell him to your times up on 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:13.160 the phone and he dealt with them. So you'd be 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:15.400 a brave prison guard to tap him on the shoulder. 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.200 Are they shy? They like members of the Melbourne Club. 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:19.239 They don't like publicity. 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.640 Some of them enjoy it, some of them try to 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.040 keep a low profile. Yeah, they started off making their 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.159 own hoodies and merchandise, but they really that maybe that 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:29.920 wasn't such a good idea. 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.080 I'm Andrew Rules Life and Crimes. Today in the Life 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:37.159 and Crimes headquarters, we're talking to Reagan Hodge, who is 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:40.680 one of our brightest young crime reporters. Reagan, what brings 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:45.800 you here? You've been looking into the story of George Morogi? 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.120 Is that right? And he said, how you pronounce it? 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:48.440 It is. 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:50.760 It's great to be here too, Thank you. So the 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:54.800 AFP have talked about with us the master class in 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:59.200 convicting George Morogi from inside bar And Prison, the state's 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.960 toughest prison, and it was a massive investigation. They've done 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.000 an extremely good job and they've landed him in prison 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:07.399 for a lot longer. 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:09.640 We'll look at the history of George Morogi a little 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:11.880 later in the episode, but just tell us what the 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:14.080 AFP have found out, How did they pull that off? 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.920 What gave them their start in this fiendish plan to 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.520 nail a bad guy? A little bit more. 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:24.600 So, this was a state and federal investigation and they've 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:27.160 done it really well. It started off with a tip 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.520 off about a drug shipment coming in from overseas, and 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:33.760 then that sort of encouraged them to start what was 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:37.040 known as Operation eagles Peak from the AFP. 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:42.679 Eagles Peak interesting combination of words, and how did eagles 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:43.560 Peak unfold? 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:46.720 So they started, I guess, seeing these repeat shipments of 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.440 up to four hundred kilograms being imported into the country, 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:54.280 and they believe it was methamphetamine and heroin being sent 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:59.720 from Malaysia into a company in George Moroghi's girlfriend's name. 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.280 So George Morogi had orchestrated these deliveries from inside prison, 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:09.280 using his crooked network outside, using codd telephone calls all 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.280 the rest of it, and the authorities had realized that 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.800 there were certain shipments coming in that were suspicious. What 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:21.000 had the bad guys disguised those shipments. As you know 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:23.560 clearly they were drugs, but what were some of the 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:25.000 cover stories for those shipments. 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.560 Well, the one that broad him unstuck was a big 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:31.320 shipment of methamphetamine and heroin disguised as green tea bags, 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:35.640 green tea bags and magnets that were brought in from overseas. 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:39.520 Sixty nine kilograms worth of that gear. And that was 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:43.600 the result of the AFP's target development team. They've listened 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.800 to hundreds of hours of Morogi and his girlfriend on 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.160 the phone from inside prison. Investigators say he would spend 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:52.440 up to six hours a day on the phone. He 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:56.959 was prolific on there. He was accused of bashing two 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:00.280 prison guards years earlier because he spent too much time 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:02.400 on the phone and they tried to tell him to 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.200 make your times up on the phone, and he dealt 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:07.640 with them. So you'd be a brave prison guard to 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.440 tap him on the shoulder. So he basically did as 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.480 he pleased in there. Sometimes on the phone he would 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:16.720 speak for twenty or thirty seconds with his girlfriend on 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:20.399 the outside, using these fake code words, but he would 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:22.919 tell the guards he was talking to his lawyers. 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:25.919 And how did he organize that? How did anybody believe 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:27.200 that that he was talking to lawyer. 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:32.560 Well, investigators aren't allowed to listen to conversations with lawyers 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.160 from inside prison, so I guess they've just taken his 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:38.320 word for it. And little did he know that the 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:42.400 AFP were tapping his girlfriend's phone, who was later arrested. 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:45.680 He led guilty over this. So they'd been listening to 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:49.040 hundreds of hours. They sat for months listening to these 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:52.720 thirty second conversations or half an hour conversations. 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.600 You're not allowed to tape a real lawyer, but you 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.680 can certainly tape Marggi's girlfriend pretending to be a lawyer. 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:01.480 Once they figured that out, they were quite happy to 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:02.800 sit in on those conversations. 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:04.920 It's quite a marvelous plot line, it is. 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:07.920 And yeah, as I said, we've got to give credit 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:12.360 to the target development team for those painstaking hours sitting 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:17.160 listening to those conversations, and they've pieced together code words. 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:19.800 It would be so difficult to do that, piecing together 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:24.400 these code words that don't really make sense sentences the AFP. 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.880 They've said broadly, criminals might use the word I for 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:33.760 iotaine and even trying to decipher what a conversation which 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:38.680 might not be suspect or suspicious, but then deciphering how 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:42.080 that is being translated to can you move these drugs 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:42.800 into Melbourne? 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.039 Right? And it's interesting I wonder when I first read 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:49.839 this story how they'd established that code, given that he's inside, 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:54.159 how he'd sort of worked out keywords so that she 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:56.240 would know what the keywords what he was talking about. 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:01.279 It's fascinating somehow they've been able to communicate certain things 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:01.960 they reckon. 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:04.560 He spent probably sixty percent of his time on the 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:09.400 phone in jail, was orchestrating these criminal activities from the inside, 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.480 and they suspect he did a fairly good job of it, 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.720 as a lot of it did get into the country successfully, 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:20.800 but AFP say they were over the moon to finally 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:24.520 charge him further once inside bar and prison. 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.520 Does this suggest to you that Moragi had a pretty 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:34.360 watertight network of efficient operators working for him overseas end 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.400 in Australia that she could tap into. She could ring 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.600 Charlie or George or Harry and say do this, do that, 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.479 George wants this, George wants that she able to just 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:48.760 ride on the coattails of an existing structure, gang structure 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:49.640 or whatever. He might call it. 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.240 So he's a notorious crime family. The gang he established 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.880 while inside bar and prison, I'm sure they had a 0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:01.040 major role in helping orchestrate these shipments into Australia and 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.600 into Melbourne specifically, and with the help of his girlfriend 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.880 as sort of a connection to that, he was still 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:13.320 able to haul in tons of drugs from overseas while 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:14.000 inside prison. 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:19.200 This case is further proof of crime's multicultural appeal or 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:21.960 appeal to multicultural players, because the girlfriend is. 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.440 Who Antonetta Manella. 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:26.680 Manella, and of course long term listeners will recall the 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:31.159 Manella name because the Manelas have been leading members with 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.640 those of them who survived and not many have leading 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:39.279 members of the Italian crime groups in Melbourne for decades, 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:42.360 I would suggest based around North Fitzroy in the good 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.560 old days when the old Originals turned up after World 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:50.120 War II around North fit Troy Fitzroy and I think 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:53.680 there were at least three brothers, and certainly two of 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:57.839 them were murdered and one of them had a house 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:01.480 in May Street, North fit Troad, which is now occupied 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:06.560 by a leading Australian author and a Storian, and the 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:11.520 neighbors were very relieved when the Manellas moved out. There 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.480 was one of them that was killed. Sadly. His name 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:18.800 was Salvatore, so his short name was selm Manella, Selmanella. 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.520 Not bad, not bad. Of course, the Manellas were very 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:28.720 closely associated with the likes of Alfons Gangatano and Mario 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.360 Condello and all the rest of that sort of Carlton 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:36.440 crew of no good skis. But in the next generation 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:41.800 they've reached hands across the arrow, or across Saint George's road, 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:46.080 or across something, and the young Manela girl has taken 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.840 up with George Morogi, who is by no meansertainment. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:53.040 And she will serve the next thirteen years in Dame 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:58.360 Phyllis Frost Center, the Victoria's Women's prison. So for her 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:01.400 alleged role in orchestra adding these shipments, is. 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:03.320 That a third on in this case a lucky number 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.480 or an unlucky number? What do you think? 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:06.480 How do you say it? 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:08.240 Oh? I think it's a bit unlucky for. 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.960 Compared to some of the bread up, a. 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:18.600 Bit unlucky when some people kill people and get fewer years. 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:23.200 Absolutely so, George Murraghi has had extra time added to 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.160 his sentence, and that extra time, of course, is for 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.080 this big drug bust that the AFP has so cleverly 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.760 pulled off. But why was he in jail already? 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:36.400 This was a brazen alleged murder he executed on a 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:40.080 Sunday afternoon September twenty sixth, twenty sixteen, where he shot 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:45.760 and killed drug rival Owz Campbellfield Plaza, a daylight shooting. 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:48.280 Very brazen, very brazen. 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.080 We've seen a few in recent times of a similar nature. 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.800 And he launched a bid to sort of have that appealed. 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:01.640 His conviction appealed last year. There was some pretty damning 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.120 evidence against him, which we can go into if you like. 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.360 I'd be very now am I writing saying I've recently 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.400 seen some footage of this. We've got red cars and 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:12.840 got bugs in hoodies running and all sorts of things. 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.959 How do they underneath? How do we know who's underneath 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:18.240 the hoodie? In each case? 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:22.400 The footage is pretty damning. It's taken from a shopping center. 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:26.439 You see this banged up holding commodore approach the bus 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:30.360 stop where three men are standing. One was Oars and 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:31.800 two of his associates. 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.000 They became fairly perturbed, very quickly. 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.960 They did and the vision is pretty confronting. It shows 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:43.080 allegedly a hood of George jump out of the car. 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:47.080 He's stormed the bus stop and just started firing shots 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:51.640 at these this group. He's hit cader Oz, who was 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:55.959 a drug rival, and just chased him for twenty fifty 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.880 meters or so, blasted him with eleven shots, hopped back 0:09:59.880 --> 0:10:03.640 in his Commodore and taken off down Campbellfield. 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:06.920 And did a little bit of dangerous driving. I think 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:09.920 I noticed that great big intersection when I'm familiar with 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.240 because I've spent many years driving down that road. He 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.360 just pulled across, did a right hand turn in front 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:17.480 of all the traffic, and away he. 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:21.720 Went, Away he went. They later abandoned that banged up 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:23.040 red commodore nearby. 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:24.680 Did they burn it? 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:28.600 They didn't, And that was a significant part of this. 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:30.360 What did he leave in the car? 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:33.920 He left a bit of cardboard which eventually had his 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:38.120 DNA written all over it. And that cardboard was from 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:42.439 a bullet box which they reckon held nine millimeter ammunition. 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:45.200 They'd probably be right about that. 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.160 And his DNA was on that and that was one 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:52.680 of the major factors in securing a conviction against George Morogi. 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:56.320 The jury decided that George was a bad boy. And 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.280 how many years did George get? Third time would have 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:00.520 been a lucky number for him. 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:02.640 Absolutely, because he got thirty two. 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:03.800 Thirty two, that's quite a lot. 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.720 It'll be an old man before he's eligible for parole, 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:11.839 twenty forty nine that year, so he's got a lot 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.800 of time to think of what he's done inside bow 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:16.360 and Prison. The state stuff is jail. 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.559 Would he be wondering, do you think late at night, 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:21.120 four o'clock in the morning, you know, just as the 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.800 first shift change starts up and the roosters are crowing 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:29.720 over in the suburbs, would he be thinking, I don't 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:32.280 know if it's all worth it? Thirty two years in here. 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:34.959 It'd be fascinating to be inside his mind, wouldn't it. 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:39.079 You'd think, is he thinking of plans for when he's 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:43.360 out and yeah? Or is he thinking I'm going to 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.720 turn my life around and stay out of this business 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.960 once I'm out, when I'm almost an elderly man. It 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:51.800 would be fascinating. Who knows? He may still be having 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:53.480 connections on the inside. We don't know. 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:58.120 Well, I guess jail is its own little ecosystem or 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:00.880 fairly big ecosystem in some ways, and that those who 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.760 are at the top of the tree, it's a lifestyle 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.880 of its own. They have their relative luxuries compared with 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.080 other guys. They've got a better television or a better bed, 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.640 or a better food or whatever whatever it is, and 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.960 they can sort of lose themselves in the everyday give 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:17.600 and take of living inside of prison. 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.040 And he's become quite used to it. He's barely spent 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:24.040 twelve months of his adult life outside of prison, is 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:29.040 that right. He's basically been in prison around Victoria for 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:33.400 basically his old adult life. Really migrating to Australia and 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:34.840 into Melbourne as a young. 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.120 Boy got into trouble pretty early, he did. 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.560 We spoke to some of his old childhood friends on 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.280 health Sun dot com dot au and they've described him 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:46.840 as being a teacher's pet. That's a quote to an 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:50.120 quote absolute menace in just a few years. 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:52.520 Really, And where did they come from? His parents? What 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:56.760 sort of people were they were they hardworking tradesmen whatever. 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:59.840 Well, they fled Iraq when he was just six years old, 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:04.360 before he started school. They fled to Syria for a year. Obviously, 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:08.080 that's a pretty troublesome place. Things didn't work out there, 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.400 so they've come straight to Melbourne when he was six 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:14.760 or seven. Three kids, obviously George is one of them. 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:18.079 Box Forest's Secondary College is where he started his schooling 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:22.360 as a young teenager, which our listeners may recall. That's 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:23.480 now Glenroy College. 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.320 Oh, it's glen Roy College. The box Forests out there 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:27.760 in the book the cemeteries out in. 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:31.280 The northern suburbs. Yes, and he was only a short, 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:33.079 little fella, not much of him. 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:34.360 Didn't stop Napoleon. 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.000 Well, No, he was picked on because of his size 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.200 at school, oh dear, But that quickly turned once he 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.440 became bigger and stronger. He started to fight those people back, 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:47.000 so much so that he would start to carry knives 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:50.480 at school. He would carry fifty dollar notes, which back 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:53.960 twenty years ago was a significant amount for a teenager 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.480 to carry, let alone now exactly. And we're unsure if 0:13:57.480 --> 0:13:59.600 he left or was kicked out of that school, but 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.560 there was a bit of instability with his family in 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:05.360 those years, and he moved in with his old man 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:09.720 and then enrolled at broad Meadows Secondary College, which is 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.800 notoriously tough is a school, but yeah, certainly it's a. 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.719 Lovely school and it's just it's unlucky that now and 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:18.839 again some hard cases. 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.880 Go there and hello to our friends in the Northern suburbs. 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:23.880 But no, it was a certainly a tough upbringing for 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:29.440 George and rough life. He's lived some of that through 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:34.080 his own choice, but certainly as a child moving migrating countries. 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:38.400 Yeah, to a fractured life. To be serious, he's fractured 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:42.480 life from a young age in things like refg Camp's 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:46.960 very tough places where survival is difficult, and that would 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:51.120 explain why he's a disturbed character. Well, I know we 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:53.640 joke about it, but the reality is a lot of 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.440 these guys that we talk about damaged people, and they've 0:14:56.480 --> 0:15:00.960 been damaged by circumstances that affect their family when they're 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:01.440 very young. 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.640 Yeah, families can be fairly unstable and that can throw 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.480 around all sorts of options for and just speaking generally, Yeah, 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.480 people who've found themselves on the wrong side of the law. 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:15.360 It's it's not a great way to kickstart your life. 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.720 And if you're hanging around the wrong people, or your 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:21.080 parents have been hanging around the wrong people, it's it's 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:23.040 the writings on the wall in some cases. 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:27.120 Indeed, I've seen examples of that with teachers and editors 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.400 and all sorts of people. What the letters in CF 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:32.880 suggest you National Conservation Foundation. 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.600 Not quite notorious crime family. 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.560 Oh I see, okay? And who are they again? You've 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:39.360 mentioned them before. 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:42.320 There are a few of them, some we I believe 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:42.960 we can't name. 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.840 Oh these members of members of. 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.840 This notorious crime family gang. 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:49.960 But they shy. They like members of the Melbourne Club. 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:51.000 They don't like publicity. 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:53.360 Some of them enjoy it. Some of them try to 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.800 keep a low profile. Yeah, they started off making their 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.800 own hoodies and merchandise, but they really that maybe that 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:03.440 will isn't such a good idea. But they're suspected in 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.240 a lot of the drug shipments and drug deals around Melbourne. 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.680 And they're heavily entrenched in organized crime and. 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:16.920 Across some ethnic groups or heavily Iraqi or what you know, 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:20.400 Middle Eastern Middle Eastern, by and large, basically with the 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.640 odd aberrations such as Miss Manila. 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:25.320 A few minor exceptions that. 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.520 Can happen in people fall in love Romeo and Juliet. 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.680 It is it's the human condition, Reagan, That's what happens. 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:34.680 Just can't help, but sometimes they can't and then they 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.720 do bad things. So, Reagan, the big question here is 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:41.760 the AFP have had a win, a big win. But 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:45.280 is it a big win in terms of the total 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:47.920 amount of drugs brought into this country? Is it a 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:51.520 significant amount of drugs they've stopped. Did it affect the 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.080 market that you think or is there any feedback about 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:55.600 any of that? How do you rate it? 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:59.560 So George Morogi was one of five of the big 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:03.040 name the AFP were after, right, he's a top five, 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.840 he was a top fiver, and so they were over 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.439 the moon, as I said, to arrest him again and 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.720 lay further charges. At least another one of those five 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:16.239 has been arrested, and as you can imagine, they are 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:19.240 fairly tight lipped on the remaining three of these top 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:21.440 five organized crime players. 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:23.800 And if you were one of those other three or 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:26.640 close to them, would you be sleeping soundly or would 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.280 you be worried about you know, who's listening. 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:34.000 I wouldn't be sleeping all that easy given the AFPs 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:40.000 and Victoria police's a masterclass, as I said, tapping phone calls, 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:41.640 and you never know who's listening. 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:43.720 If you were one of these guys, would you move 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:45.240 house like every day? 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.080 I would be very cautious of where I'm living, who 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:52.680 I'm associating with, and even the security measures around my property. 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:58.800 What about our starcross lovers. That's George and what's miss 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:02.800 Manella's name? And oh yeah, it's a beautiful note. George 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:07.240 and Antoinette. Has the relationship flourished under these conditions? Or 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.120 is it withered? You give him one. He's in a big, 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.080 bad jail and she's in another jail. They can't really 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.640 bring each other much. I don't suppose unless they've both 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:19.520 got legal telephones, we'd say might have. Is there any 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.080 feedback about the romance. 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.280 Not that I'm aware of. You never know how these 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:28.520 things can flourish when they're apart. Long distance relationships have 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.119 worked in the past, yeah, but a lot of the 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:33.000 times they do come unstuck. 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:35.640 So Reagan George is going to be in their very 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:36.200 long time. 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:38.360 He will be in for a long time. But there 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.800 were pretty big plans to get him out. So upon 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:43.680 the AFP listening to these hundreds of hours of calls, 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:48.280 they heard an alleged plot for a prison escape George 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:51.960 to be a free man. One of them allegedly included 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.840 the use of a helicopter, Oh totally above bar and 0:18:55.880 --> 0:19:01.600 prison and saving the Big George from the Big House. 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:03.080 Is that a fact? 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:04.280 Imagine that for a story. 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.280 It is wonderful. And these plugs they're desperate, They've got 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.760 a lot of time to think and access to a 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:14.320 lot of money outside. You would think it is fascinating. 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:16.919 And of course you may or may not remember that 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:20.359 many years ago there were people locked up for drug 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.360 offences in Pentridge Prison and they had a set up 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:30.640 to a former British Special Services and whatever to fly 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.800 a helicopter into Penridge, pick them up and spirit them 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:36.960 out to a park in the nearby suburb. They're going 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.600 to then run into a nearby flat, get massive makeover 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:45.040 makeup and then get put on him in a boat 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:47.320 on the back of a truck and the boat will 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:48.679 be taped down the back of a truck and they 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.760 would be taken into state and then they were going 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:54.560 to float the boat off and drive it to Malaysia 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.560 or New Guinea or Papi in New Guinea, whatever and escape. 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:00.879 But of course it all came unstuck because the police 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:04.399 were listening to the pilot in the room next door 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:07.439 at a leading Melbourne hotel and they were able to 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.639 stop that plan before it got off the ground. Yeah, 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:13.360 before the chopper got off the ground. They were able 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:15.960 to but it actually made a lot of scenes. They 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.440 probably could have got away with it as Indeed, there 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.640 was of course a great case in Sydney where John 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:27.639 Killick bank robber or similar escaped from silver Water Prison. 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:31.760 I think it was because he's Russian. Girlfriend Lucy Dudco, 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:34.800 I'm going to say she was Russian, had got a 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:37.679 ride with a chopper pilot and pulled a gun and 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:41.560 made land into prison and I mate run over and 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:43.960 jumped on and they took off and they escaped for 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:47.080 a very short time. This is starcross lovers, blonderful stuff. 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:49.480 The Ballad of John and Lucy. 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:53.480 One of the other alleged plots to break free from 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:57.800 Barwin was upon going to court for one of his 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:01.399 many schedule meetings. Yep, the AFP heard that he was 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.880 allegedly going to just try and break free from the guards. 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:05.600 Yeah. 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:08.960 You know those shots how magnificent photographers get. Yes, they've 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:11.480 got a split second. They have to get the shot 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.880 as they're walking from the prison van to the court 0:21:14.160 --> 0:21:18.080 in the CBD. They believe Morogi was going to try 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.400 and break free at that instance and run through the CBD. 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:25.240 Can you imagine that with his hands in cuffs. Do 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:28.200 you know anyone that can break free of vancuffs? Because 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:28.840 that was his plan. 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:30.919 I suppose as long as his feet weren't shackled, he 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:34.640 could still run, but he wouldn't run very well, and 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:36.600 he would count on the prison office as being a 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:39.440