1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Good afternoon, twenty baggage handlers at Auckland Airport have been 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: arrested in what authorities are calling a major breakthrough in 3 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: transnational drug operations. The drug operation is linked to gangs. 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: Eight members of the twenty eight Brotherhood MC gang, including 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: the president, have also been rounded up. Steve Simon is 6 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: the chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group for Organized Crime 7 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: in with us. Hi, Steve, this is what you warned about, isn't. 8 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,760 Speaker 2: It It is it is. I feel like a fortune 9 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 2: teller at a school ground fair. We talked about this 10 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 2: back when we were first starting our reports in March, 11 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:35,279 Speaker 2: that this would be a thing, and here we are. 12 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: Do you reckon twenty is everything? 13 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 2: No? How big I think the police have done, Police 14 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 2: and Customs have done an incredible job to root out 15 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 2: that many. But I suspect either there are more or 16 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 2: if there's not, they will be replaced, much like they 17 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 2: were in the earlier stages of Matata where the police 18 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 2: did arrests and then they were those baggage handlers were 19 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 2: replaced by others. This is a problem not just for 20 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 2: New Zealand but other places in the world and is 21 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 2: kind of a scheme that is used by organized crime. 22 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: Okay, so how does this actually work? Is it that 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: they when the twenty allegedly bad baggage handlers are taken out, 24 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: twenty more bad baggage handlers come in, or do good 25 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: baggage handlers come in? And then they're flipped on the job. 26 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 2: A bit of everything. A big part of what organized 27 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 2: crime does is it looks for people and those vulnerable workforces. 28 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 2: So baggage handlers is an obvious one. You've got people 29 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 2: in those roles, not earning a large amount of money, vulnerable, 30 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 2: often having family or social connections that might link them 31 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 2: to organized crime, and through that they're being corrupted. 32 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: How is it though if some of okay, some of 33 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: it is the corruption on the job, but some of 34 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: it is already corrupted and taking the job in order 35 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: to carry out the task that is necessary been asked 36 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: to carry out. Can't you when you're hiring the person 37 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: see the red flags? 38 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 2: Yes and no? Yes, Well, first of all, you have 39 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 2: to have a system to properly vet people so that 40 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 2: you can pick up those who have some obvious links. 41 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 2: Others though, will be friends of friends from school and 42 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 2: this been New Zealand's you know, we're two degrees of separation, 43 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 2: and so often the baggage handlers might not have a history, 44 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 2: but might have a connection to someone who does, and 45 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 2: that's how they've brought in. The problem is that New 46 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 2: Zealand is too small and too friendly an environment, and 47 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 2: it makes it vulnerable for people we pulled into these 48 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:41,239 Speaker 2: types of schemes. 49 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: So they get pulled in apparently by shoe boxes of 50 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: cash with about two hundred thousand dollars stuffed into them. 51 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: And if that is the incentive, that's the lure, what 52 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: have we got to offer to stop them taking it? 53 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 2: I think part of it is, first of all, we've 54 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 2: got to target the drugs that are coming here. We've 55 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 2: got to you know, attack that as much as we can. 56 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 2: And what is good to see is that the police 57 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 2: here have been also targeting the facilitators, the people been 58 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 2: trying to make this happen. I think we need to 59 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 2: do a lot more of that, but we also need 60 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 2: to remove the temptation. So the point you're making about 61 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 2: the vetting that we can do, but we also looked 62 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 2: at setting up systems in these vulnerable places of the 63 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 2: monitoring and the checks and balances and relation to baggage 64 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 2: handlers of going to planes and taking luggage off planes 65 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 2: which has not come through the usual mechanism of going 66 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 2: through your bags or my bags that have gone through 67 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 2: the usual way. Because this is a known scheme that 68 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 2: is used around the world to move drugs, and so 69 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 2: it's something that we could target. We could target the process. 70 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 2: And also there's the education piece of getting in working 71 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 2: with these young people going into these roles, explaining to 72 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 2: them the risks, explaining to their families the risks, and 73 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 2: so that are aware of it, and we can start 74 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 2: using some of that grassroots you know, Kiwi we're all 75 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 2: in this together, team approach to say, well, look we 76 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 2: collectively want to fight this and so this is something 77 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 2: I want to tackle. 78 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: Interesting. Yeah, listen, Thank you very much. Steve has always appreciated. 79 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: Steve Simon, chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group for Organized Crime. 80 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 2: For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to 81 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:20,679 Speaker 2: News Talks. 82 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast 83 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio.