Let it Gaga, Paparazzi. This is number one hundred. Good morning. You are on the air with Jason and Lauren Clinty from the newsroom as well, and one of our favorite segments is back. We haven't done it for a while, guys, but just play cool. The cops are here, Lawrence, tell me what's you know? Now? For Pride the Pope Pie, we bring in different police officers.
Go oh my gosh, it's like the cast of Breaking Bad has just rolled in.
Walter White's in the house.
No, we've got detective acting Senior Sergeant Michael Kugler and Detective Sergeant Paul Gilmore.
Do get all right? Good morning, Good morning guys. Yes, you might need to take your mask if we can't he can we hear you?
Wait, yeah, we can hear. Okay, you can keep it on. So you, guys are just for our radio audience that can't see you but can only hear You're in a fool. What is that suit that you're in?
This is a it's.
Called a tick suit, a week a suit. It's basically a chemical resistant and some the one I'm wearing today is also got some sort of fire resistance built into it. All we want to be on fire in this suit. We use them when we're processing the clan labs.
So what are you doing buy busting meth labs?
Right? Okay, So that's world to why this is good morning, Good morning, we're good, thanks for joining us.
Is a hectic out be wearing?
How does this room smell? We're all good?
A little bit dodge, but we're just going to run some test shortly, we'll see.
So you got to talk us through what you would do day to.
Day in your job essentially, Well, it's it's pretty varied, but we investigate locally manufactured drugs.
With victor and is it like part of my ignorance? A scene in the movies? Are people like making meth in bathtubs in houses and stuff? Yeah like that?
Yeah they are.
They're making myth in houses, and making myth in beery chipping containers, and making myth in farm sheds, garages, pretty much anywhere you can think of.
I think it's safe to save people. I was just going to save people. Could see how this stuff is made. It's the last thing they'd put in their system, isn't it.
Absolutely?
Yeah, it's all synthetic, made synthetically made. It's all chemicals, really dangerous.
And so by the time you guys get the call to go and I don't know what you call check out all that, have someone already found it or they like, we're suspected that there's suspicious activity happening in this house. And then you guys go and kick the door down.
Yeah, pretty much. We're a bit of a one stop shop at our office.
We get the intel, we investigate it, we do the raids, and then we prosecute the offenders. Our process the scene, which can be long if it's a big lab, and then we process offend.
It's just what happens to the goods.
Well, they get taken out to a hazardous management unit at a location and destroyed.
Yea, we don't go let twenty percent off for the Christmas party. And then.
So what's happening underground here in Melbourne? We have we got a scourge? Is there is there a problem or is it something that's happening right the way around Australia, right the way around the world.
I think there's no secret that there's a significant drug problem in Australia in general. You know, look at our borders. We're an Island, so it's easy to import in here, and there's a lot of chemicals that come into this country which are used to manufacture methamphetam.
Very high demand in Australian prices are high, which makes it there's a lot of incentive for people out there to joy and manufacture drugs or in pot drugs.
So what's the worst scene you've walked into most like you would have seen it?
All right?
Is there one thing that comes to mind you've walked in and gone, I cannot believe what I'm looking at?
Ah?
Yeah, there's been so that you can get everything from what we call addiction based really small labs, and some people work really neat, really methodical. Some people are really well educated. I've got science backgrounds, and some are just mayhem. It's just stuff everywhere, contaminants everywhere. They're contaminated. Like you take their clothes off and they're still sitting off.
Your hiding it. It's just full blown lab.
Yeah, they're definitely trying to conceal yeah, yeah, yeah, so and they'll go to great lengths to try and keep it concealed. Just stick them in like sort of industrial areas, rural areas to try and hide it because they can be pretty smelly in pretty yeah.
And so I always admire the police because obviously, you guys put yourself in real dangerous situations. Is what is the danger that you guys are in, excuse me going into these labs? Is it the chemicals or is it the people?
We can say both, like, you're right, you've got a bad batch.
The chemicals are very.
Sorry coffee in the middle of that.
Anyway, The chemicals are very volatile. You mix the the wrong chemicals together and it's effectively a bomb.
Yeah, explosives, flammable, toxic, cascinogenic. And then that's just the chemical side of the house. And then you've got an offender who have who isn't real thrill to arrive And then isn't real thrill?
I was about to say, when you when it gets to the point of a raid and you guys, you know, slam the door and cops were coming in, do most of them just go I'm done and give up, or they put up a fight.
Most most really will generally realize what's happening, and you know, it's a big shot to them when it happens. And on the big organized crime labs you could almost guarantee this one sort of firearm there very expensive and it's very profitable, so to protect their poew.
That's going on.
You both watched Breaking Bad.
I only watched the first episode. I'm sure nurses don't watch news show. Yeah, yeah, I just can't.
Have you adapted yourselves to some of the techniques you see on that show.
Maybe it's definitely not far from the truth breakings. Yes, that's from our side and from from the cook side.
They wear very similar stuff.
Yeah, and I think some of the methodology and chemicals they used in the show and probably didn't do us any favors as well.
Really, what do you mean by that taught people?
I think it was from what I've been told was accurate.
Yeah.
So in terms of the process.
Is interesting.
It's like a YouTube lesson.
So common I e. But how rife is it in our community at the moment? And is it only myth being made here in Australia.
It's not just me probag that way, It's not just myth. There are other drugs. But you can really only manufacture synthetic drugs in Australia. If you're trying to muscle into the heroin industry, you need a lot of plant material. And if you're trying to muscle into the cocaine industry again, you need that much coca plant.
It's not going to work out for you.
You're better off just importing that and it becomes a border control issue or AFP slash border force issue. But thick drugs like meth lanphetamine, you can get sources the chemicals here and the equipment that you need here. So that's what it's a big probably the largest percentage.
Of the work we do.
I've been watching The Gentleman recently. Not sure if you've seen that, but that's all about marijuana plantations. Is that something you guys do as well? Find people with the blue lights?
No, not really in our office, that's not you.
It's more more of a genuine local region.
We'll deal with.
Fascinated by those ones with the props greenhouse in the backyard.
I think we're using our manpower to go after more hardcore stuff lease days, aren't we'd.
Still our crops are soilicia and they're very profitable organized crime. We're more specialized with the.
Lab sort of set up.
And so do you guys only do drugs or do you do likeation. Do you guys only raid like drug labs or are you going to places where people are building bombs and things as well?
We could probably would be more specific.
Yeah, generally we're just targeting drug labs. What I mean, Yeah, I'm not doing if we had any sort of information that it was got more of a bomb flavor than a drug flavor, and we'll probably handed off to the US and explosions.
Yeah, for people listening right now that are like Jesus, this could be happening in my street. Is there any sign or telltales? Is there any telltale signs that you might see from someone's house that might give an indication that they're cooking something up in there.
Generally, the chemical.
Smell gives it away, and a lot of people just write it off.
As cleaning products and stuff.
Or yeah it's you know, they're just the suspicious behavior around.
Because you've got a crazy cat lady next door, but you don't see any cats.
There's a good chance she's cooked, especially if she's put up about fifteen security cameras.
Yeah, it's funny should say that.
I had a friend who rented out her property in Hawthorn in Hawthorne of all places. And when they evicted finally victored the tenant, they discovered it had been used as a meth lab and you had to had to gut the place.
There was powerpoints.
Everyone, yeahs he rented, he moved in and then when he started actually looking at it properly something, it's like sixty power points in this room and a whole bunch in another.
You don't need to charge sixty iPhones at once. A bit.
It sounds like a little bit of crop.
Yeah, or maybe where they were.
Not a silarium. I don't know. Well, lads, look, we love doing the paper. We love the Victorian Police and the work you guys do. Thank you so much. You're putting yourselves on the line. It's a it's a massive job.
This looks fun.
It looks fun.
I think we enjoyed it.
It is fun.
You must get it through when you just zip that bright orange suit up and put your.
Howould your partner ever say when you're at home, haywork on the has mat. Hey, boys, thank you so much for coming and we appreciate it.
Thanksving l Lauren wake Up feeling Good on number one hundred.
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