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Speaker 1: Either due for see Allen, you're the weird one for you.

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Speaker 1: So it's been revealed that police busted at some stage

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Speaker 1: eleven Vietnamese immigrants who are growing pot and rented homes

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Speaker 1: in Auckland and quite a lot of marijuana by the way,

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Speaker 1: it was about eighteen million dollars worth. But instead of

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Speaker 1: chucking these guys through the courts like we're doing to

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Speaker 1: the Tarmaqueyes, they just popped them on a plane back

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Speaker 1: to Vietnam, said Tatar Police minister Mark Mitchell. Is with

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Speaker 1: us now on this, Hey match.

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Speaker 2: Hi here, how are you?

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Speaker 1: I'm well, thank you? Why didn't we put them in

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Speaker 1: the lanner?

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Speaker 2: Well? I think that, yes, they were part of a

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Speaker 2: cannabis operation, but I don't think the police felt like

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Speaker 2: they were sort of the head of the operation at all.

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Speaker 2: And the fact of the matter as they were here

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Speaker 2: illegally and so that obviously between police and immigration, they

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Speaker 2: felt the best thing was to do, and they have discretion,

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Speaker 2: was to send them straight back to Vietnam, which I

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Speaker 2: fully support Ashley.

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Speaker 1: But isn't the problem here that it's going to encourage

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Speaker 1: others to just do the same thing.

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Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. I think that. I think

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Speaker 2: it sends a pretty clear message that we're not going

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Speaker 2: to tolerate people coming here living here illegally. We're not

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Speaker 2: going to be taxpawers, are not going to fund them

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Speaker 2: or support them, and we'll send them straight back to

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Speaker 2: the country they've come from.

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Speaker 1: But Mitch, I mean, if I was sitting over there

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Speaker 1: and if this was my line of business, I think, geeaids,

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Speaker 1: that's a pretty sweet deal right there. I can go

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Speaker 1: over to New zealand grow some pot, make heaps of money,

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Speaker 1: and then the worst thing that's possibly going to happen

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Speaker 1: to me is that they send me home. That's not

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Speaker 1: that bad.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think to put some context around and again

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Speaker 2: I can't talk too much into it because it's an

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Speaker 2: ongoing investigation. And I don't think that these guys. These

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Speaker 2: guys were what's called foot soldiers. They went the ones

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Speaker 2: at the head of it got the police have got

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Speaker 2: an on well. I don't know, because often they used

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Speaker 2: as slave labor some of these people as well. But

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Speaker 2: the reality is this is that they they are illegal

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Speaker 2: here illegally. They were going to be a big cost

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Speaker 2: to the text power. The police and immigration work together.

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Speaker 2: They have discretion around this, they felt that the best

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Speaker 2: thing to do for us as a country has put

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Speaker 2: them on a plane straight back to Vietnam. And I'm sure,

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Speaker 2: I'm sure, I'm sure that they will be in contact

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Speaker 2: with the officials there to let them know why they're

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Speaker 2: being returned in the circumstances.

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Speaker 1: Is this a one off specific to these guys rather

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Speaker 1: than a new blanket policy, which is if you're not

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Speaker 1: from here and we catch you doing something like us,

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Speaker 1: we'd send you home.

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Speaker 2: No, it's not. Every situation is different, and police retain

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Speaker 2: the discretion in terms of how they deal with it.

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Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, cannabis is a legal in this country.

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Speaker 2: It's the police's job to enforce the law. But police

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Speaker 2: will exercise discretion as to whether or not to prosecute.

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Speaker 1: Listen, what is the story with this three year old

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Speaker 1: caught up in the gang raids in the portoquy? Was

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Speaker 1: this three year old unattended for ours?

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Speaker 2: Look, I don't know. I've only just heard about that

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Speaker 2: myself today, but I can tell you that I was

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Speaker 2: over at Potokey just a few days ago meeting with

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Speaker 2: the EUE, and there was a couple of anecdotal stories

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Speaker 2: that were floating around that related to children that were

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Speaker 2: proved not to be accurate. My own experience is that

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Speaker 2: the police are outstanding. They specially sense of around dealing

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Speaker 2: with kids. A lot of police officers are parents themselves,

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Speaker 2: and the police have done an outstanding job with the

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Speaker 2: work they've done over on the East Coast. The people

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Speaker 2: of a Podoque, the community, you feel like they've got

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Speaker 2: some breathing space now in a chance to reset it.

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Speaker 2: I'm very proud of the work that has been done.

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Speaker 2: There's been a lot of a motive language and accusations

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Speaker 2: made out there, none of it verified and certainly the

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Speaker 2: meeting that I had with the EWE and a Podokey

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Speaker 2: was very positive.

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Speaker 1: I mean, okay, so if you don't know, do you

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Speaker 1: genuinely not know anything about this? Cops haven't told you anything?

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Speaker 2: Well, yes, So the information I have from the police

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Speaker 2: is that no, there's no no three year olds left

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Speaker 2: in the that have to come forward with the details

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Speaker 2: on it. Because the information that I have, the cops.

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Speaker 1: Are disputing this. They say no three year old was

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Speaker 1: caught up in this.

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Speaker 2: Well, yes, there's no evidence, is no one of the

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Speaker 2: examples that was given to me when I was when

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Speaker 2: I met with the EWI is that there were three

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Speaker 2: children that were left in a school that turned out

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Speaker 2: that was not and both parents are arrested. It turns

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Speaker 2: out that that was not the case at all. So

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Speaker 2: these cases are sort of brought forward the very emotive

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Speaker 2: and my experience, like I said to you, a lot

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Speaker 2: of the police officers out doing this work and doing

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Speaker 2: outstanding appearents themselves and they'll make sure that they look

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Speaker 2: after and care for children. So I just think that

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Speaker 2: it's it's very emotive. If someone can come through, come

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Speaker 2: forward with clear evidence that this has happened, then of

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Speaker 2: course it needs to be looked at next and taken

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Speaker 2: But to this point, no one has come forward with

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Speaker 2: any clear evidence of anything in terms of the police

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Speaker 2: other than the have done an outstanding job.

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Speaker 1: Mitch, Thank you, appreciate you having a chat to us.

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Speaker 1: Abotter is Mike Mitchell, the Police Minister.

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Speaker 2: For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to

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Speaker 2: news talks. They'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow

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Speaker 2: the podcast on iHeartRadio.