1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: This absolutely perfect car has been reduced and he sent 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: us photographs of this. It's striking, no wonder, he said. 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: He almost cried. It's just the shell of a car. 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,959 Speaker 1: There's just a bit of the body or the bonnet. 5 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:20,799 Speaker 1: The doors are all gone, the sun roof's been ripped out, 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: the boots gone, the motor's gone, the transmission's gone, the 7 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: wheels are gone. It's only the shell of the car 8 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: that's left. I'm Andrew Rule. Is this life and crimes today? 9 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:39,559 Speaker 1: Car theft. It's the crime that's been going on for 10 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: a good hundred years, ever since the pioneers of car 11 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: theft jumped into great Granddad's Tea Model Forward and just 12 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: drove it away at a very low speed. Because back 13 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: in those days, in the nineteen twenties, when the Tin 14 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: Lizzy as they were called, was mass produced by Henry Ford, 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: they were everywhere around the English speaking world, and they 16 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: were very easy to take because I don't think there 17 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: was any security attached to them really, And as time 18 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,680 Speaker 1: went on, of course cars became notionally more secure. They 19 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: ended up with ignition keys and all the rest of it, 20 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: and of course the thieves just kept up with the 21 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: technology and by the time I was a young person 22 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: learning to drive, every scaleywag around the place, every bad 23 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: boy in every in form at school. You had a 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: hot wire or car, they could pull the wires out 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 1: from behind the ignition keys, twist two together and start 26 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: the car. Others use screwdrivers, etc. Pretty simple if they 27 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: knew how. Then car makers got more ingenious and more ingenious, 28 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: and they used immobilizers and all this sort of stuff, 29 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: and people started to make steering locks. We all at 30 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: some stage have owned a big, ugly thing called a 31 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: club lock, which I think had the advantage of deterring 32 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: the casual thief. The casual thief would walk along and 33 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: see a steering lock on a car and go to 34 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: the next car. Did have that advantage, but of course 35 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,519 Speaker 1: the reality was that if they were on good cars 36 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: that professional thieves wanted, and when I say good cars, 37 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: cars that were saleable or highly usable for committing crimes, 38 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: it wouldn't deter them much because they could cut off 39 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: a steering lock fairly rapidly with probably initially with bolt 40 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: cutters or by hacksawing a little chunk out of the 41 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: steering wheel, which would disable the steering lock and make 42 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: it useless, and they'd still be able to steer the car. 43 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: So with every level of inventiveness used to deter thieves, 44 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: the thieves would inevitably come up with some other inventions 45 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: to steal cars. And that's the way it's gone now. 46 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: This appeared for a while to be a bit of 47 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: a thing of the past when makers carmakers started to 48 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: build into cars at the factory pretty high end anti 49 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: theft devices, and these were electronic in nature, and it 50 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: meant that your car was basically disabled electronically. And there 51 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: were also a range of aftermarket immobilizers available. I remember 52 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: having a very bad car. I wish somebody had stolen 53 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: this car. It never got stolen, I wish it had, 54 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: and it had a mobilizer, an after market a mobilizer 55 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: where if you put your hand down right down in 56 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,399 Speaker 1: the foot well and found a little switch, you could 57 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: turn it off or on or something, and allegedly it 58 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't start. Eventually, after a few months, I just left 59 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: it because I wish somebody had taken that car and 60 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: burnt it. And in the end I traded it in 61 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: on a new car to get rid of it, to 62 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: be honest, So where are we headed with this where 63 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: saying that the manufacturers got rolling and started to build 64 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: stuff cars so that thieves would find it hard. Now 65 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: for a while, Lamb, and I'm probably guessing early this century. 66 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: Let's say, you know, from the nineties through of the 67 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: first decade of this century, there was a time I 68 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: think when Karthif tape it off a bit because of 69 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: all this good factory made stuff. But everything goes in waves, 70 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: and what has happened is that the rise of cheap 71 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: computer technology has meant that every would be car thief 72 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: can now afford from eBay or Amazon or TMU or 73 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: somewhere to buy gadgets that are very sophisticated in concept 74 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: but very cheaply produced, and those gadgets electronic devices which 75 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: thieves can use to get into cars. Of course, all 76 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: this sort of gear is initially invented so that mechanics 77 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: and engineers and some owners drivers can service cars and 78 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: check the electronics and tune and all that sort of stuff. 79 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: But the problem is that those same devices, or they're 80 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: very near cousins, can be used by thieves to break 81 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: into cars, to disable the immobilizers and to bypass the immobilizers, 82 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: and to drive them away, And so we now have 83 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: a situation where people can walk around town. Thieves can 84 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: walk around town, or take the train around town, or 85 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: drive another stolen car around town, and they can approach 86 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: your car or any other car with a thirty dollars 87 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,919 Speaker 1: gizmo in their pocket or a fifty dollar gizmo in 88 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: their pocket, and that gizmo will allow them if they 89 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:42,839 Speaker 1: break into a car, which they do often by breaking 90 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: the quarter window behind the driver. If they break into 91 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: the car and open the door, they can then use 92 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: the gizmo to bypass the ignition and drive the car away. 93 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: The other thing they do is to carry another excellent invention, 94 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: wonderfully invention for builders and the tradees of all sorts, 95 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: and that, of course, it's the highly efficient and powerful 96 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: battery charged side grinder. Now this is a great thing. 97 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 1: If you've used to using the big, old heavy side 98 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: grinders that were plugged into the mains, you know how 99 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: powerful they are, but how clumsy and heavy they are. 100 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: But these ones, the modern trade always has, the Milwaukee 101 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: or the walt or the Riobi. They've got this good 102 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: gear with the quite light batteries, really powerful, strong light 103 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: portable and they jump in the car after breaking a 104 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: cord of window or whatever they want to do, and 105 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,840 Speaker 1: they hit whatever's holding it, such as the steering lock, 106 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:47,839 Speaker 1: with their angle grinder. And I have to tell you 107 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: that I've seen some tests done lately by a guy 108 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: who produces an excellent thing called a brake lock, and 109 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: he has done some tests with the steering locks, and 110 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: some of them can be cut up off in fifteen seconds, 111 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: some in twenty six seconds, some in fifty seconds. But 112 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: you know, even the really good Toyota steering lock, which 113 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: say Toyota self for two hundred dollars, pretty serious, but 114 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: a gear can be cut in lesser a minute, so 115 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: the net result is gone in less than sixty seconds. 116 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: The point we're driving at is that car theft is 117 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: not only always with us, it is back in fashion, 118 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: with a vengeance and worse. If you live in Melbourne, Victoria, 119 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: our town, our state is now the Australian capital of 120 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: car theft. We should have number plates in this state, 121 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: you know, not things like Victoria the Garden State or 122 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: Victoria the Education State. We should have number plates if 123 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: we were absolutely honest, Let's say Victoria the car theft Capital, 124 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: because that's what we have become ten years ago. Just 125 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: ten years ago, half the car stolen in Australia each 126 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: year were in New South Wales. Now that makes sense 127 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: because it is the most popular state. Guess what. Victoria 128 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: has absolutely flogged New South Wales in the car theF stakes. 129 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: In the last ten years we have overtaken car thieves 130 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: down here in Melbourne have overtaken the New South Wales 131 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: car thieves at an absolutely frightening pace. Now more than 132 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: thirty thousand cars a year are stolen in Victoria, more 133 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: than thirty thousand. It's a big number and it's rising. 134 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: Even more scary in some respects is the fact that 135 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: twenty percent of those cars and we're looking at six 136 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: thousand plus six to seven thousand on current figures, maybe 137 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: more a vanishing off the face of the earth. They vanish, 138 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:00,560 Speaker 1: They disappear, that's as if they never existed. Often sometimes 139 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: we find the smoking ruins of the shell of the car, 140 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: but often they just vanish. And that is a sign 141 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:12,719 Speaker 1: of two things. And one is that they've been absolutely 142 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: cannibalized and pulled apart for every movable part, and whatever's 143 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,559 Speaker 1: left just gets junked and ends up in recycling or 144 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: something like that, but the others and we're talking thousands 145 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: of cars a year from Victoria alone, let alone across Australia. 146 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: So we're talking what several thousand cars a year from Victoria, 147 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: maybe ten thousand cars a year from Australia are being 148 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: loaded in containers, either totally wholly as a car or 149 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: in parts to go to offshore places, to interesting foreign 150 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: countries where VIN numbers and identification numbers don't seem to matter. 151 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: They're very happy to buy them. Now, the rise of 152 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: the globelbal car, the rise of global brands, has promoted 153 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:10,079 Speaker 1: this a lot. The fact that the Toyota, the Japanese 154 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,440 Speaker 1: made Toyota, is now driven in probably most countries in 155 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: the world and much loved and admired across the world 156 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: as reliable and so forth. That has meant that there 157 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 1: is an inexhaustible demand for Toyota cars and Toyota car parts. 158 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,439 Speaker 1: And so Australians who have got the habit of buying 159 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: Toyotas for very good reason, because they are good value, 160 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: they are finding that they are being stolen at an 161 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: unprecedented rate because the thieves know they can sell them 162 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: in the Middle East and quite possibly in the Eastern 163 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: Bloc in Europe. Depending you know where they go and 164 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,679 Speaker 1: how they get there, they're very very salable. Of course 165 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 1: they still you know, they're still stealing Outes and Mercedes 166 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: and Porsches and all that stuff too, But the most 167 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: stolen cars in Australia tend to be Toyotas. A close second, 168 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: if it is second, is the Holden Comodore. Now we 169 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: no longer make Holden Commodores in this country because we 170 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 1: don't make any cars in this country. In fact, I'm 171 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,079 Speaker 1: not sure what we do make in this country, possibly 172 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: steering locks. But the Holden Commodore has been so enduringly 173 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,320 Speaker 1: popular and there's so many of them that there is 174 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: a very big market for spares spare parts. People want 175 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: them because they want to fix up the ones they've got, 176 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 1: and the fact that they're now getting more scarce means 177 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:44,200 Speaker 1: they are worth more as parts. It's the basic law 178 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,080 Speaker 1: of supply and demand. So when there are a lot 179 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: of Colden Commodores particularly out there, but a shrinking number 180 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: of them, it means that those people who have still 181 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: got the ones that are still going are very keen 182 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 1: to get parts for their car, and there a ready 183 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: market for car parts, which means thieves can grab them, 184 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: take them to a chop shop as they call them, 185 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: possibly a backyard panel better or whatever it might be. 186 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: You know, a nondescript rented factory and a factory block 187 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:21,560 Speaker 1: from anywhere from Corio to Dandinong, you name it. They're 188 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: there and they're pinching cars, they're pulling them apart, and 189 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:29,559 Speaker 1: they're selling the parts, or they are cracking them up 190 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: and selling them off. Sure variations on this story are 191 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:40,079 Speaker 1: not new. Regular listeners to this podcast will recall the 192 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: stories of a very big scoundrel called Rick Renzella. I 193 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: called him Tricky Ricky because Tricky Ricky became notorious back 194 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:52,199 Speaker 1: in the seventies and eighties for ringing in race horses. 195 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 1: He was the man behind one of the great racing 196 00:12:55,480 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: scams of racing history, and that was the ring in 197 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,720 Speaker 1: scandal of the early seventies I think seventy one down 198 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,560 Speaker 1: at Casteranton in the Western District, where he ended a 199 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: very slow and ordinary animal, a provincial racehorse from New 200 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: South Wales that was just about bugget called Royal School. 201 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: He entered that horse, Royal School in a particular race 202 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: against the crack sprinter of the Western District. I have 203 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: to say so this Royal School should never have been 204 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: able to beat the local champion sprinter. But what tricky 205 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: Ricky did was produce a horse under the other horse's name. 206 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,960 Speaker 1: And this horse was, in fact regal Vista, one of 207 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: the best sprinters of his generation. Now he wasn't quite 208 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: a champion, but he was pretty good. He was a 209 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 1: pretty good horse, and Rick Manzelro had paid pretty good 210 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: money for him. The horse had a little bit of 211 00:13:56,679 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: age on him, a few scars, including a big scar 212 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: on his rump. He had a great, big v marked 213 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: scar on his rump where he'd I think he'd cut 214 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: himself as a young horse on a fence or a 215 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: flage or something, and it was a very distinctive scar. 216 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: And those people that knew their race horses intimately, as 217 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: many trainers and jockeys and strappers do, they knew that 218 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: the horse was a scar on his rump was really 219 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:30,280 Speaker 1: regal Vista. And we've told this story before in this podcast. 220 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: Regal Vista won the race when Royal School never could have, 221 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: and he won it under the name Royal School, of course, 222 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: and the balloon went up because even though Rick Venzela 223 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: had got away with several ringings before this date. This time, 224 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: our Canni old trainer recognized the ringing horse, mentioned it 225 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: to another trainer, and they mentioned it to the Stewarts, 226 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: and then the police got involved. Tricky Ricky Renzala ended 227 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 1: up going to court and he ended up doing time 228 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: for being a very dishonest fellow. Now, Tricky Ricky loved 229 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: race horses, and he was very fond of horses, and 230 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: he probably treated horses better than he treated people, to 231 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: be honest. But his real trade was to be a 232 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: crooked car dealer. That's what he was very good at, 233 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: and that's how he started out, and that's what he 234 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: went back to when he got out of jail. And 235 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: he had a car yard down on the Bay side. 236 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: I think I'm going to say Mordielic mentone, and I 237 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: went there in nineteen eighty four because I wanted to 238 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: trade in my very sick, sorry and sad Triumph Dolomite, 239 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: which was a nice little English car that had seen 240 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: better days and it didn't actually have a working clutch 241 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: when I drove it about one hundred kilometers to get 242 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: to Renzella's car yard. But I knew when I got there, 243 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: i'd be able to swap it over for an old 244 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: Valiant ut that he had. So when we get there, 245 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: I bunny hopped this car into his yard and I 246 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 1: park it next to a fence so that it's hard 247 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: to open the door and all this sort of stuff, 248 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: and so nobody could see the ding in the door. 249 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: A bust it hit the side of my car, and 250 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: I went over and said, Rick, I just drove that 251 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: down from Kilmore and I want to swap it for 252 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: that I white you've got advertised. He said, oh, no worries. 253 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: I said, but one thing I'll I helped in the 254 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: Valiant and checked it. I said, oh, I think the 255 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: clutch in your Valiant might be a bit shot. He said, 256 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: I'll give you a clutch plate, all right. So he 257 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: gets a brand new clutch plate out of the back 258 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: shed and gives it to me. I said, I'll need 259 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: a road with histificate, which was problematic because it was 260 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: definitely not road with it. And he said hang on, 261 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: and he rings up the local garage just around the 262 00:16:54,280 --> 00:17:00,600 Speaker 1: corner and a blow delivers the robo certificate written out 263 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,880 Speaker 1: and signed, and he said a number thirty bucks and 264 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: no inspection and I just took it hopped in my 265 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: new old white Valiant Rocket and I drove it up 266 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: the road to killmore on its ball tires. And it 267 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 1: lived not happily ever after, but it lived for a while. 268 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: And I'm not sure who got the worst of the deal, 269 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: but it's a lineball just goes to show that even 270 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: honest people like me will try to take down a 271 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: car dealer just because you can. But Tricky Ricky had 272 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,119 Speaker 1: a few tricks up his sleeve. Selling dodgy cars with 273 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:44,640 Speaker 1: dodgy roadworthies was just light entertainment. What he actually did 274 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: was he rebirth stolen cars. I'm telling this story to 275 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 1: show that this is something that's always been with us, 276 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: but we haven't got rid of it. It's got worse. 277 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: So Tricky Ricky, who got into all that trouble with 278 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 1: the racehorses in the nineteen seventies. In nineteen ninety two, 279 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: this is a few years after I've traded in the 280 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: old Triumph on the old Valiant. Nineteen ninety two, the 281 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: owner of a stolen toyoud Land Cruiser noticed an ad 282 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: for a car very like he's missing one. He went 283 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: to a Mortielic caryard guess who's. And he saw the 284 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 1: car for sale without its number plates and he thought, 285 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: that's a cunning disguise, but I recognize that it's mine. 286 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:38,120 Speaker 1: And the hollow for the coppers. And the coppers arrived. 287 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: When they had a good look around Ricky's Mortielic car yard, 288 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: they found eleven land Cruisers in various stages of disassembly. 289 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,920 Speaker 1: The engine and chassis numbers have been changed. They sort 290 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: of grind them off and then stamp them with new 291 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: numbers and all sorts of stuff and new wheels fitted, 292 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: and they'd been reregistered. The tricky stuff, probably bribing someone 293 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:05,640 Speaker 1: somewhere to turn a blind eye. But who It turned 294 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: out that Renzella's crew of thieves. He was sort of 295 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: like Fagan with these thieves. He had all these blokes 296 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 1: working for him. They'd stolen fifty seven land Cruisers and 297 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: it sold seven for a start to Nhuru, which is interesting, 298 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,640 Speaker 1: which is not far away. They like a good land 299 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: Cruiser in Naru, as they do everywhere. Really. They love 300 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:31,239 Speaker 1: them in Darwin, they love them, in New Guinea they 301 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:35,160 Speaker 1: love them. In the Middle East they love them. And 302 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: Ricky got into a bit of hot water, but he 303 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: was eventually freed by the Supreme Court, which was the 304 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 1: mistake by the Supreme Court, because Ricky were straight back 305 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: into business. He just knew no other way than to 306 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: be a crook. And in late nineteen ninety three, you'll 307 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,919 Speaker 1: notice it's not a long time later, it's only the 308 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: following year, Tricky Ricky drove his Mercedes into Southland shopping 309 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: sets a car park and he dropped off what police 310 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: call an associate, that would be a tea leaf, a carthief, 311 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: and the associate impressed watching police police were watching, by 312 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: stealing a land Cruiser in ninety seconds flat back at 313 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: a factory in Hyatt. Oh, he'd moved. He said, I 314 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: can't be stripping these things that down not mortiolic anymore 315 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: because they're onto that. He had a rented factory in Highat. 316 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 1: Back at Hyatt were another twenty five land Cruisers being 317 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: dismantled for parts. Meanwhile, rick was pinched also for growing 318 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: a million dollars worth of hydropolic marijuana. Needless to say, 319 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: he went back to the slammer. Now, none of that 320 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: would have surprised his distinguished former defense council in the 321 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: Ringing case, a blood called phil Opus, who's no longer 322 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: with us, but Philips QC. It's a very defense counsel. 323 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: And in his book that he wrote about the ring 324 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: in case, he said Renzala could be described as cunning, 325 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: but not clever. Judge Rapki went into a bit more detail. 326 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: He said when he sentenced Renzala, he said the fraud 327 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,439 Speaker 1: was born in a mind that was primed by greed 328 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: and nurtured in cunning and then executed with boldness. And 329 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,520 Speaker 1: I think that sort of sums up Rick Renzela. He's 330 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,400 Speaker 1: no longer with us. Rick died, as I think we've 331 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,199 Speaker 1: mentioned before. Rick died not many years ago, and I 332 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: did advocate that somebody look in the coffin to make 333 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,879 Speaker 1: sure he was actually in it. But that's the story 334 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 1: for another day. Rick Wenzel is no longer with us, 335 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: but people like him very much are and they are 336 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: doing what he did, but on a bigger scale, in 337 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 1: what I would suggest is probably amongst the most organized 338 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,719 Speaker 1: crime in this country we've got. You know, let's look 339 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: at organized crime. We've got people bringing in tons of 340 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 1: literally tons of illegal drugs. That's big organized crime. We've 341 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: got people bringing in illegal armaments. I would suggest, not 342 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: as big as the drugs, but organized and we've got 343 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:27,720 Speaker 1: people ripping off the taxpayer on the big build in Victoria. 344 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 1: That's highly organized crime in its way, and of course 345 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: it's linked with the drug rackets and all. They're all 346 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: sort of holding hands, all these guys. And we've also 347 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: got organized car theft. Now thirty three thousand plus cars 348 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: stolen every year in Victoria, half of Australia's national car 349 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: theft numbers for a year. At least twenty percent of 350 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: them are finishing entirely. We mentioned that earlier. That is 351 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: many of cars, and most of them are going offshore. 352 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: This is highly organized crime. If you said to the 353 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: average accountant and airline pilot, you know, intelligent people who 354 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: know their way around, could you organize to export thousands 355 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: of cars a year to be sold on the black 356 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: market in the Middle East or elsewhere. I think they 357 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: would find that pretty challenging. It would be pretty hard 358 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 1: to do. It is highly organized crime and it must 359 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 1: have its tentacles in various branches of officialdom. They must 360 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: have certain people on side, and they must be getting 361 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,880 Speaker 1: tipped off about certain things to be able to get 362 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,440 Speaker 1: away with them. And I find it hard to believe 363 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: that law enforcement in Australia, the various state forces and 364 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:54,399 Speaker 1: the Commonwealth Police and whatever do not have some pretty 365 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: good idea who is mixed up in this trade because 366 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 1: it will go handing glove to some extent with importing 367 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: drugs and other contraband send cars out, bring stuff in. 368 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: Crooks love that. They love that synergy. It used to be, 369 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: send out wildlife birds and stuff and bring in drugs. Well, 370 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:16,920 Speaker 1: this puts that in the shade. How does that affect 371 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,639 Speaker 1: all of us? Well, it affects us because if you 372 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 1: drive certain sorts of car. You know, all cars are 373 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,920 Speaker 1: subject to theft in a way, but some are very 374 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: sought after. If you drive Toyota land Cruisers or any 375 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:35,879 Speaker 1: version of a Toyota four drive high Lux Prato, et cetera. 376 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: You drive Holden commodorees, particularly the good ones, the high 377 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: end Holden Commodores, the later models, the ones that are 378 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 1: really straight, the ones that are good Vight motors, et cetera. 379 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: The sought after models. They are relatively expensive when they 380 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 1: were bought. Some of them are worth fifty percent or 381 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: more than when they were bought new because if they've 382 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,200 Speaker 1: been kept with low mileage and looked after and garage 383 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: and all that sort of stuff. They are actually accruing 384 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: value year on year because they are going to get 385 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 1: rarer and Australians essentially love them. These are the cars 386 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 1: that remind people of when Brock was King of the Mountain, 387 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: and they have a reputation and an image that is 388 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: very potent in this country. And therefore they are very 389 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: saleable and the parts are very salable. And also because 390 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,399 Speaker 1: they are a part of the big family of General 391 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:40,120 Speaker 1: Motors cars, their most excellent Vight motors and transmissions are 392 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: very salable because they fit straight into other General Motors 393 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: products overseas. They're the same motives. They're the good American 394 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: V eight, the good American gearbox and slot straight into 395 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: Camaros or whatever it might be. And that is why listeners, 396 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:04,120 Speaker 1: you have situations such as is in July twenty twenty four. 397 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 1: Now this is about the beginning of the time when 398 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: Victoria started to become the carthf capital of Australia mid 399 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. It really took off in that time. 400 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:24,160 Speaker 1: During that month of July, a karate instructor called Mark Curtis. 401 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:30,640 Speaker 1: He's visiting his extremely ill brother in Mulgrave Hospital, now 402 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 1: his brother was They feared that he was dying, and 403 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 1: in fact, many months later he did die. It's a 404 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: tragic footnote to this story. Mark Curtis was taking his mother, 405 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: who was obviously distraught and upset, to see his brother. 406 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: And his brother had a rented house or shared a 407 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 1: house in Wheelers Hill, which is pretty close to Mulgrave, 408 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,880 Speaker 1: and the mother said, we will stay at the brother 409 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: house because it's close to the hospital. And they went 410 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: in and spent eleven or twelve hours with the very 411 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: ill man, and then they went back to the house 412 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,920 Speaker 1: at Willers Hill to stay the night for resuming their 413 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 1: bedside vigil. Next day. Mark Curtis owned a Crackerjack HSV 414 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: Holden Commodore club Sport. He paid big money for it, 415 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: and he'd looked after it perfectly. At the time we're 416 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 1: talking about this card was eight years old, but it 417 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,639 Speaker 1: looked brand new. He'd bought it in twenty sixteen. It 418 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: was one of a short run of only three hundred 419 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 1: of this particular configuration that was produced greatly coveted by 420 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 1: collectors and petrol heads. He'd cocked up only sixty odd 421 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: thousand kilometers in it in the eight years which is 422 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:58,120 Speaker 1: not a lot, and it was impeccable on flawless. Normally 423 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: he would always want to take it home to his 424 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: house in Canterbury and lock it up in the garage 425 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 1: out of the public gaze. But because of the situation 426 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,639 Speaker 1: with his brother in hospital and his mother not wanting 427 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 1: him to leave, she wanted him to stay in this 428 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 1: house at Willishilly said no wherey. So he parks it 429 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: out in the driveway and they go to bed and 430 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: they jump up early next day to go back to 431 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: the hospital and the car's gone. He goes outside. Not there. 432 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 1: He looks on the lawn, on the lorn, he sees something. 433 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: He sees the he sees the tracking device. He had 434 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: a little tracking device in it, the one that people 435 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,920 Speaker 1: use in suitcases, and he had it sitting in a 436 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: sunglasses case under the seat of the car. You know, 437 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: good idea, But professional thieves they know this stuff. They'd 438 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: found that tracking device and they'd thrown it out on 439 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:53,960 Speaker 1: the lawn and that's what he found. So he had 440 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: no way of knowing where it had gone. All he 441 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 1: knew is that it had gone. Iving's the police, They said, mate, 442 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: check you on your e tag if it's gone through 443 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: the toll roads and indeed it had gone on the 444 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: East Link Tunnel at three point fifteen in the morning, 445 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: that's when it been stolen, and that would suggest that 446 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: it was heading probably southwards. Ultimately, it depends where you 447 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: want to go, but it could have gone to the 448 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: east or the north, or down to the south, and indeed, 449 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: as it turns out, it was heading south. And some 450 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: days later he gets a call from a group calling 451 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: himself Stolen Cars of Melbourne. There's this sort of self 452 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: help group for people that see cars burnt out by 453 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 1: the side of the road and they take photographs and 454 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: they check the if there's any identification left, like vin 455 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: numbers or whatever the numbers are. And they got on 456 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 1: to him and said, yeah, this is your cards down 457 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: on a back road out at the back of Crambon 458 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 1: and he said, oh, well is it really Is it 459 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:07,720 Speaker 1: really mine? And they sent him the n number and 460 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: it was. He looked up his reja ol when it 461 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:12,800 Speaker 1: was and he says, it broke his heart. He drove 462 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: down to Cranbourn to this dirt road and he goes 463 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 1: there and he's absolutely perfect. Car has been reduced and 464 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:25,240 Speaker 1: he sent us photographs of this it's striking, no wonder, 465 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: he said. He almost cried. It's just the shell of 466 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: a car. There's just a bit of the body or 467 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 1: the bonnet. The doors are all gone, the sun roofs 468 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: beIN ripped out, the boots gone, the motor's gone, the 469 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 1: transmission's gone, the wheels are gone. It's only the shell 470 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 1: of the car that's left enough that probably two guys 471 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: could just pick it up and put it on the 472 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: back of a ute or on a trailer. And indeed 473 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: they've dropped it off out on this dirt road, and 474 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: I think they've torched it, but just to kill fingerprints 475 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: in DNA or whatever. But there was really nothing there 476 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: to burn, you know, there wasn't much left in it. 477 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: The seats were gone, and all that stuff that burned 478 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: so readily wasn't in it anymore. It's vanished. And he thought, well, 479 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: that's that. And ten hours later the police got onto 480 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 1: him to say they'd found the car. Well, he said, 481 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:20,320 Speaker 1: I've already found it, thank you. And he got his insurance. 482 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: He got sixty four thousand dollars back. He said that 483 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: was fine. The insurance treated him fairly. But the reality 484 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 1: was the car was by this stage worth about ninety 485 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 1: four thousand, not sixty four, and so he actually lost 486 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: thirty grand on his investment, which was sad. That would 487 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:41,640 Speaker 1: appear to be the end of the story, but it isn't. 488 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 1: Some weeks later, he gets another call from Knox Police 489 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: and they said, we've just knocked over a warehouse or 490 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: a factory or something, and guess what we found set 491 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: up on a palette, shrink wrapped, all set to go 492 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 1: in a container to go to on a ship to 493 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: be shipped offshore. The motor and transmission from your car. 494 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: They were able to identify it, and he went there 495 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: and there it was all shrink wrapped, perfectly clean, steam cleaned, 496 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: absolutely schmick and beautiful, all wrapped up in that plastic 497 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: stuff on a palette ready to move offshore. This is 498 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: how organized these people are. And not just it, there's 499 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: a lot of other gear that was all going offshore. 500 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: These people are so organized. They've got factories, they've got 501 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: really expert car strippers with the best pneumatic tools that 502 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 1: money can buy, stripping cars as if they're working at 503 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: a pit stop in the Formula One races. That is 504 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: when Mark Curtis realized just how pervasive and how huge 505 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: car theft racket is. Now I'll bookend that story in 506 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,840 Speaker 1: this last eighteen months where carth theft has gone mad 507 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:08,600 Speaker 1: in Victoria. We're absolutely outstripping everybody. An old friend of mine, 508 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: a guy who lives at Omeo. I went to school 509 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: with this guy. His name is Rod. Rod was a 510 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,520 Speaker 1: very fast runner at school, pretty fair footballer and good 511 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 1: block and always a bit mechanical. I remember he was 512 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: always keen on cars when he was at school, and 513 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 1: a few years ago I think he sold He had 514 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: a school bus line business and he sold it. And 515 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: he's always liked cars and he needed to drive his wife. 516 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: He was very ill. He needed to drive her from 517 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,920 Speaker 1: Omeo to Melbourne for treatment regularly, I think every week 518 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,920 Speaker 1: or something. And it was either a matter of buying 519 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: something to live in in Melbourne or to drive down. 520 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: So he said, I'll buy a good car and we'll 521 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: do the drive. So he bought a Crackerjack SSV Holden 522 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: V eight six letter V eight redd in color manual. 523 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: He said, best car he's ever owned, beautiful car. And 524 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: he said, I've got to drive my wife to the 525 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 1: doctors and we might as well do it in comfort 526 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:10,719 Speaker 1: and safety. Which is fair enough. It was a sad 527 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,480 Speaker 1: ending to that story, but this is what he did. 528 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,680 Speaker 1: And he used to drive it to Melbourne drive at home, 529 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:21,560 Speaker 1: and his wife eventually passed away, so there's a bit 530 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:26,200 Speaker 1: of tragedy in this story as well. And he then thought, well, 531 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:28,840 Speaker 1: that car, I'll keep it because it's got sentimental value. 532 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,919 Speaker 1: But he kept it sort of under lock and key 533 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,920 Speaker 1: more at least he looked after it, and he mostly 534 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:38,160 Speaker 1: drove his Toyota land Cruiser because he lives up in 535 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:41,120 Speaker 1: the mountains and people up there tend to drive land 536 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:45,279 Speaker 1: cruisers or that sort of stuff, and he had a 537 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: good land cruiser, so he mostly drove that. But last November, 538 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 1: so this is November twenty twenty five, and that is 539 00:34:55,320 --> 00:35:01,160 Speaker 1: almost eighteen months after the previous story be told about Curtis. 540 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,319 Speaker 1: Our friend Rode O'Connell has to come to Melbourne to 541 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:09,400 Speaker 1: fly to Adelaide to a friend's birthday or whatever something. 542 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: He thinks, I'll drive the Commodore because it's a manual, 543 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: and they say that manuals don't get stolen as much 544 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:19,799 Speaker 1: because the young guys don't like driving them or can't 545 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,759 Speaker 1: drive them. So he goes to the long term car 546 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,960 Speaker 1: park at Tylermarine and he parks his really good red 547 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: Holden SSV and he hops on the plane to Adelaide. Well, 548 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 1: he reckons. For the time he gets to Adelaide, it's 549 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,839 Speaker 1: already gone. He gets a phone call from somewhere to say, yep, 550 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:40,319 Speaker 1: car's turned up, but it's going through red lights and 551 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:43,360 Speaker 1: it's doing this and doing that, and it's been pinched 552 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: from the car park. He comes back and it's not 553 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:50,840 Speaker 1: around and five days later it turns up back in 554 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:53,080 Speaker 1: the car park. Would you believe it? And he said, 555 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:55,840 Speaker 1: big problem. He said, the guy's been driving it all 556 00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:00,520 Speaker 1: around Melbourne at speed, crashing red lights, doing illegal things, 557 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,840 Speaker 1: doing much badness. In fact, our friend Rod, who's telling 558 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:09,600 Speaker 1: the story, he got four summons as later for traffic infringements. 559 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,840 Speaker 1: And he said when this bloke had driven it back 560 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:16,759 Speaker 1: to the car park because he wanted to steal another car, 561 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 1: and they actually caught him. The Federal police caught this 562 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:25,880 Speaker 1: bloke dumping the half stripped commodore. They'd pinched everything they 563 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:28,280 Speaker 1: could out of it, all of flash wheels and tires, 564 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 1: bits and pieces they'd pinched out of it, about thirty 565 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:34,960 Speaker 1: grands to arth and they just put some old dodgy 566 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,400 Speaker 1: wheels and ball tires on it just so it was 567 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 1: just drivable, and he'd driven it back into the car 568 00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:44,560 Speaker 1: park to pick up a nice new to out of 569 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 1: land cruiser, probably the sell off shore, and he was sprung. 570 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,719 Speaker 1: They caught him and Rod is police. They caught him, 571 00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 1: but he was very disappointed in the condition of his car, 572 00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:00,359 Speaker 1: which had to be written off. The insurance said, if 573 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:01,800 Speaker 1: you want it, you left to go to the auctions 574 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:03,840 Speaker 1: and buy it at the auctions, but it's a thirty 575 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: thousand dollars repair and in the end he let it 576 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:11,279 Speaker 1: go and the police were pretty good to him and 577 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:15,279 Speaker 1: they said, look, it's just a big car thief supermarket 578 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:18,640 Speaker 1: the long term car park, and they're talking, you know, 579 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,920 Speaker 1: mano a mano. They're talking frankly. They're saying it's not 580 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:25,480 Speaker 1: a good place to leave a Toyota at lan cruise 581 00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:28,919 Speaker 1: or a commodore or anything that the thieves really want, 582 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,160 Speaker 1: because they just wander around looking for them, and they 583 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:35,400 Speaker 1: get into them very easily because they've got the gear, 584 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:38,120 Speaker 1: and they can start them fairly easily because they've got 585 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 1: the gear. And then Rod who's you know, a smart guy, 586 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,239 Speaker 1: but he's from a pretty honest place, he said, But 587 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:46,799 Speaker 1: how do they get out of the place with the 588 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,160 Speaker 1: boom gates? They said, oh, no, worries, they just tailgate 589 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:54,359 Speaker 1: other customers. When when fred Nirk drives out, they just 590 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:58,759 Speaker 1: tailgate fred Nirk out and go past him. And Rod 591 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:04,360 Speaker 1: O'Connell formed the view that the air port authorities don't 592 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:09,480 Speaker 1: really try terribly hard to promote security in the car parks. 593 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:13,160 Speaker 1: He thinks that they just go through the motions and 594 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:16,879 Speaker 1: that it is far too easy for thieves to get 595 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:20,960 Speaker 1: in and out of the car parks, pinching whatever they fancy. 596 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:23,960 Speaker 1: And he learned his lesson the hard way, and he said, well, 597 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:25,640 Speaker 1: I'll love him now on. You know, if I want 598 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:29,120 Speaker 1: to fly somewhere, I'm going to take a taxi or 599 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:31,719 Speaker 1: a bus to the airport and not leave a car 600 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 1: there in a long term car park. Well, that story 601 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:40,400 Speaker 1: demonstrates the effect on the ordinary Victorian citizen of organized 602 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:44,120 Speaker 1: car theft or even disorganized car theft. The fact that 603 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:47,400 Speaker 1: it is so easy to get away with it's so prevalent. 604 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,880 Speaker 1: The police that run off their feet. They can't catch 605 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 1: all the car thiefs because there's too many of them. 606 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:56,840 Speaker 1: There's so many stolen cars at any one moment. I 607 00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:00,439 Speaker 1: think they're stealing one every half hour or something. They're 608 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:04,720 Speaker 1: all over the place, and the result is that ordinary 609 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:09,920 Speaker 1: people are, like all honest citizens, all honest motorists, are 610 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:14,839 Speaker 1: paying far more for insurance than they otherwise would. We 611 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:18,480 Speaker 1: all run the risk of being run down by lunatics 612 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 1: escaping in stolen cars, running through red lights, and doing 613 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,400 Speaker 1: all the crazy stuff they do in stolen cars. And 614 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:31,359 Speaker 1: of course, car thieves supply getaway cars for extremely bad 615 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:35,640 Speaker 1: people who do extremely bad crimes. So every time we 616 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:40,879 Speaker 1: see another gangland shooting, another arson of a tobacco shop 617 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:46,000 Speaker 1: or whatever it might be, often murders, we always hear 618 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:50,040 Speaker 1: police later discovered a burnt out Audi or whatever it 619 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:54,200 Speaker 1: might be, a getaway car that has been torched well away, 620 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:58,399 Speaker 1: usually from the scene, and of course they've been picked up, 621 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:02,160 Speaker 1: usually I think, in another stolen car, and taken to 622 00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:06,080 Speaker 1: a yet a third place where they revert to their 623 00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:10,000 Speaker 1: own cars or whatever they do. All these things massively 624 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:15,839 Speaker 1: high insurance rates. That hurts everybody. The sheer danger of 625 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:21,000 Speaker 1: lunatics driving around in stolen cars at speed, on drugs 626 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:27,600 Speaker 1: and at speed is totally dangerous. A woman with twin boys, 627 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 1: four year old boys, went inside to get a seven 628 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:34,560 Speaker 1: year old daughter to go to kindergarten or something in 629 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,120 Speaker 1: the northern suburb of Doreen. This is just a few 630 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:41,880 Speaker 1: months ago. And this young mother, she's got twin boys 631 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,239 Speaker 1: four years old. She straps him into their car. She 632 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:47,560 Speaker 1: whips inside to get her daughter, which you can understand, 633 00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:50,200 Speaker 1: these three kids to bring her out, to strap her in. 634 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 1: And while she's in getting her daughter, for thirty seconds, 635 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:56,239 Speaker 1: two young a nineteen year old and a twenty four 636 00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:59,160 Speaker 1: year old run up, steal the car and drive off, 637 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:02,880 Speaker 1: and she's she lost her twins. She was terrified. She 638 00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:05,680 Speaker 1: thought her kids could be killed or anything. She did 639 00:41:05,719 --> 00:41:09,760 Speaker 1: not know. For forty five minutes her kids were gone. 640 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:13,279 Speaker 1: You know what those thieves did. They dropped each of 641 00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:15,759 Speaker 1: those little four year old boys, not together of them. 642 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:19,960 Speaker 1: They dropped one at one street somewhere by the side 643 00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:23,120 Speaker 1: of the road and at four years old, and another 644 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:25,640 Speaker 1: one at another street beside the road. Those kids could 645 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:28,200 Speaker 1: have been run over, anything could have happened to them. 646 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,960 Speaker 1: This is the sort of stuff that car thieves are 647 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:37,839 Speaker 1: doing to ordinary people. And you know, we can crack 648 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,239 Speaker 1: jokes about Rick Benzlla and all the rest of it, 649 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,920 Speaker 1: but none of it's funny, and all of it hurts 650 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:49,000 Speaker 1: all of us. Higher insurance, the risk of injury or death, 651 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:55,000 Speaker 1: and also the promulgation of violent crime. Car thieves enable 652 00:41:55,560 --> 00:42:00,640 Speaker 1: violent criminals to do violent things, to robberies, arsons, murder, 653 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:05,799 Speaker 1: all of these antisocial acts that affect all of us, 654 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:12,120 Speaker 1: every Australian, but especially every Victorian, because Victoria, on the evidence, 655 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:22,840 Speaker 1: is Australia's organized crime capital. Good luck, thanks for listening. 656 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:26,279 Speaker 1: Life and Crimes is a Sunday Herald Sun production for 657 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:31,680 Speaker 1: true crime Australia. Our producer is Johnty Burton. For my columns, 658 00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:36,240 Speaker 1: features and more, go to Heraldsun dot com dot au, 659 00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:41,960 Speaker 1: forward slash Andrew rule one word. For advertising inquiries, go 660 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:46,880 Speaker 1: to news podcasts sold at news dot com dot au. 661 00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:52,520 Speaker 1: That is all one word news podcast's sold And if 662 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:57,160 Speaker 1: you want further information about this episode, links are in 663 00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:24,919 Speaker 1: the description. I