August 19, 2024 • 37 mins
Ever wondered how an undercover narcotics officer manages to balance trust and deception while navigating life-threatening situations? Join me, Jason Somerville, as I recount some of the most intense and memorable moments from my time working undercover as Michael Bates in this gripping episode of Whisper in the Shadows. From the psychological strain of betraying those I befriended to the adrenaline rush of narrowly escaping danger, this episode pulls back the curtain on the complex world of undercover narcotics operations.
In this episode, you'll hear the harrowing tale of Buzz, a drug addict who dramatically tested my cover by injecting heroin in my car, and the nerve-wracking moments when uniformed police officers intervened. Experience the intricate dance of trust and suspicion as I recount the operation involving Tommy Van Dang and the delicate maneuvers with young drug runner Nguyen. Every story is a window into the constant danger and mental strain faced by undercover officers who must become convincing actors in the crime world.
The tension escalates as I share the meticulous preparation and surreal encounters with drug syndicate figures Yakov and Bogdan in Betty's strategically arranged living room. With a wardrobe change and rehearsed roles, the stakes couldn't be higher. As the episode concludes, I extend an invitation for you to subscribe and never miss an episode. If you have thrilling stories from your own undercover experiences or know someone who does, reach out to whisperintheshadowspodcast@gmail.com. This episode is a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the life of an undercover narcotics officer that you won't want to miss.
Please be sure to Subscribe to and Follow the Podcast so you never miss an Episode and if you like what you are hearing then please "Like" the episode and podcast on your favourite podcast app.
If you would like to be involved in a "Whisper In The Shadows" Podcast through talking about your experiences as an current or former Police/Law Enforcement Officer or tell your stories then I'd love to hear from you.
I can be contacted on my socials below -
Email - whisperintheshadowspodcast@gmail.com
Instagram - @whisperintheshadowspodcast
Facebook - Whisper in the Shadows Podcast Page
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Whisper in the Shadows podcast.
My name's Jason Somerville.
For two years I workedundercover using the pseudonym
Michael Bates, who has nowbecome part of me.
The stories that you've beenlistening to were my stories of
my time undercover.
Well, now it's time for thebest buys, that's right, the
best drug buys I've done fromthe entire period.
(00:21):
Done from the entire period,starting with Buzz, working my
way through Tommy, even on toBetty.
You'll hear all the ones that Ihad the most fun doing and
hopefully you'll enjoy listeningto them just as much as I
enjoyed doing them.
I think one of the hardest partsof being a UC is human nature.
I learned it is very hard topretend to like someone on an
(00:42):
ongoing basis and have thatfamiliarity with them.
You had to sacrifice a part ofyourself each time you met with
these people.
You had to stop being a humanbeing in some sense.
It is hard to articulate evennow how I felt.
In one sense you were cold andcalculating, knowing that by
befriending them, making themopen up, making them talk and
thinking you were on their side,only to use all of that against
(01:05):
them to have them arrested andvery probably jailed.
Then, on the other.
You actually got to know themand while some, like Tommy, were
dead set pieces of shit, someyou felt sorry for.
If Buzz thought I was a cop,then he wouldn't introduce me
(01:25):
and he wouldn't sell to me.
We would be dead in the water.
We did the buy in a cemetery ofall places.
I picked him up on the side ofthe road and he took me there.
The buy was prettystraightforward and again
captured on my tape recorder.
This one went a bit different,though.
Once we finish, buzz pulls outhis kit and asks me if I mind if
(01:45):
he shoots up.
Now I was a little shocked.
I hadn't actually had anyoneshoot up in front of me before.
It wasn't going to be the lasttime either.
I prefer it.
If you didn't, can't you waittill you get home?
What if we get caught?
I'm holding Buzz Don't worry,cops never come in here during
the day said do you want to hit?
That was obviously a test, buzzmate, what have I told you?
(02:08):
I am not going to have a hitwhen I'm holding and having to
drive home.
I am not stupid and I don'twant to get caught.
Besides, you know I only smokeit.
I've told you this before.
Yeah, he said, and with that hetakes off his shoes and
proceeds to shoot up between histoes.
Now I don't know if you've everseen anyone who has had a hit
(02:30):
of heroin, but after the initialeuphoria of the drug they
become sleepy or go the not, asit's commonly referred to.
He was a regular user and hisreasoning for shooting up in his
toes was so you couldn't seethe track marks.
I think it might be because hisveins were collapsing in his
arms, but that's another story.
(02:50):
So Buzz is going to nod in mycar.
Buzz, mate, I'm yelling out.
He starts drifting in and outand mumbling nonsense or
unintelligibly.
He's slumped in the back of mycar and I am starting to freak
out.
What if he overdoses?
What if he doesn't wake up?
Am I an accomplice?
With buzz on the nod, I get outof the car and walk a little bit
(03:11):
away, all the while keeping aneye on it.
I get out my phone and call mycontroller telling him what was
going on.
Thankfully, he calmed me downand told me to rouse him.
Take him back to where he livedand get him out of the car.
He also said if he did start toget worse or, god forbid, stop
breathing, then take him to ahospital.
I get back in the car and rouseBuzz.
(03:32):
He starts to come out of it asit had been about 20 minutes
since he's hit.
He looks at me and says sorry,mick.
Yeah, yeah, forget it, buzz.
I said Just don't do that again, okay, oh it, it's not like
you're a cop, nick, and you'llget into trouble if I OD.
He said Buzz was testing meagain and it wouldn't be the
last time.
(03:57):
So the three of us were sittingin the car two scruffy-looking
Vietnamese guys and ascruffy-looking white guy In a
fairly expensive car, actuallyparked away from the majority of
cars and people and justlooking really sus, so much so
that a marked police car drivesup in front of us, parking us in
and the uniformed police getout.
Now I was fairly calm because,hey, even if I did get caught
(04:20):
with the gear, I wasn't gettinginto trouble and would give me
some cred that was lacking withTommy.
The two of them were talking inVietnamese to each other and
both seemed a little frantic.
Hey, I said English.
Okay, don't stress, just actcalm.
They don't know anything and Ihave the gear on me.
The police asked us to get outof the car and go to the front
of it.
I was able to slide the packetthat I had of heroin into a
(04:44):
hiding place I had in the carand got out.
The coppers made us go to thefront of the car, asked for our
ID and then asked what we weredoing.
I said that these guys had toldme about the bakery and that's
why we were there.
The coppers didn't believe me,of course, so they asked all of
us to empty our pockets on thefront of my car, which we all
did.
They then took us one by one tothe back of the police car to
(05:09):
obviously question us separatelyand also search us a bit more.
Danny went first, couldn't hearwhat they were saying, but I
could see him looking over at uswell, me and the cop looking
over at me and asking himquestions.
The cop had brought him backand then he took Tommy with him.
While Tommy was out of earshot,danny goes hey, mick, I told
them not to search you becauseyou're an undercover cop and I'm
helping you.
I said you said what he said.
(05:31):
Yeah, so you don't get caught.
I said fuck me, mate, I'vehidden the gear.
All you've done is made Tommymore suspicious.
What if they say something tohim?
What if they don't search me?
Now are an idiot.
Don't ever tell anyone thatagain.
Do you hear me?
I was furious.
So the cop brings Tommy back andhe then walks up to me.
(05:52):
Now he doesn't take me anywhere.
What he does is he just pats medown, says are you holding?
I say no, and he turns aroundto his mate and goes okay, come
on, let's go.
I'm thinking to myself, righto.
So we jump back in the car andtommy is really, really
(06:12):
suspicious.
He says to me how come youweren't searched?
I go mate, how would I know hegoes?
Are you a cop?
I've gone?
No, dude, how would I know?
Did you get busted?
Did you get locked up?
No, how would I know why Iwasn't searched?
You guys didn't have anything.
Maybe they thought, if they, ifthese two don't have anything,
he's not going to have anythingeither.
(06:33):
At this point it's been abouttwo months after that first buy
with Tommy and I get a phonecall at about 2am one morning
and the caller is obviouslyVietnamese.
I could tell that even though Iwas half asleep.
I could also tell it was Tommy.
He had a very distinct voice Igoing to kill you.
You're an undercover cop, youdog, I kill you.
And he then hung up so blearyeyed, I thought, fuck, that
(06:57):
wasn't good.
And I did what anyone elsewould do and called the number
back.
Now, tommy didn't answer, so Itried to get back to sleep.
The next day I called Danny andcouldn't get him either.
I'd moved on from Tommy andfurther up the chain so I wasn't
too concerned.
Besides, he had no idea where Ilived.
It came time to close thatfirst operation because I was
(07:18):
getting married.
In a matter of weeks, searchwarrants and buy bus were set up
and executed.
I'd heard that a few of theVietnamese had been raided and
that they were rounded up, butno one had actually found Tommy
yet.
I was on my way to do a by-bustof another target with a group
of marked and unmarked cars intow.
I was driving down the mainstreet of one of the inner city
suburbs when I spotted Tommycrossing the road in front of me
(07:39):
.
Yes, he stood out that much.
This street, even back then,was a main arterial road and
there were a lot of peoplewalking and a lot of cars coming
and going.
When I saw him, I sped up andliterally almost ran him over,
screeching to a halt in front ofhim.
My window was down so I reachedout, grabbed him by the collar
and pulled him into the window.
The look of shock and terror onhis face was cathartic.
(08:04):
When he saw it was me, he was alittle less worried and scared.
I said call me a fucking policedog cunt.
I will fucking kill you if youever say that to anyone.
He's gone.
No, mick.
No, it wasn't me.
I don't think you are police.
I said it fucking was you, youlittle cunt.
If I hear you have been sayingI'm a police to anyone, you are
dead.
Do you understand me now?
(08:26):
All the while I was looking atmy rearview mirror for the
marked car that was following me.
As soon as I saw it get close,I said fuck, coppers.
I looked him in the eyes andsaid remember what I said.
Then I literally pushed himdown into the middle of the road
and took off at a million milesan hour.
As I was doing so, I had thedetectives on speed dial, called
them them and said hey, the guyin the middle of the road
that's Tommy Van Dang.
(08:47):
The marked car grabbed him,arrested him and took him back
to the station Once the rest ofthe busts and raids had finished
.
Detective then says so, you doknow Mick.
Tommy says yes, tommy, mick isan undercover police officer and
you sold him heroin on a numberof occasions.
To which Tommy replies no, Inot sell him drugs.
He give me money.
(09:08):
I go and get drugs and thengive to him, but I not sell them
to him.
At that time I'm at that point.
I'm ushered out of theinterview, trying not to laugh.
So Nguyen was this young guy.
He would have been early tomid-twenties.
He drove one of thosestereotypical Asian cars, a
(09:29):
hatchback with a spoiler and aturbo that made that horrible
sound every time he changedgears.
There was one particular bio Iremember making from him.
That would be just out of amovie about Asian drug dealers.
Now, for some reason, ewandidn't like being in my car.
The buys with him were notsimple either.
He was more like a runner thanan actual dealer.
(09:52):
Well, that was my thoughtprocess.
I mean, he was dealing a lot ofgear but he was never holding.
I had given him a call andasked him if I could get on
wanting to buy two grams.
We agreed to meet at a trainstation car park.
I set off and had my trustytape recorder set up and ready
to go in my internal lightcavity, as I've previously
(10:13):
explained.
This was an absolute gem of aplace to hide it, and every word
inside the car was recorded.
Mind you, I was alwaysremembering to turn the radio
down very soft.
It's funny that no one everasked me why I had my radio off
or on softly when they were inthe car with me.
We get out and stand around inmy car.
He asks me if I have the money,to which I replied yes, mate.
(10:35):
Of course, on the previous buyhe had had the gear with him,
but it was only half a gram.
So he says to me we're going tohave to go and get this gear.
Why?
I asked, look, just because Idon't have it on me, righto, I
said we can take my car.
(10:56):
Nah, man, nah, we're taking mycar.
Not that I don't trust you oranything, but we need to be in
my car, he said to me.
So alarm bells start to ring alittle bit Now.
You were told try and never getinto a situation where you don't
have an escape or where youdon't have an advantage.
There is always going to be asituation, though, where you
have to go in someone's car, gointo someone's house or
(11:19):
somewhere deserted to get thedeal done.
I just looked at him, likereally, he just looked back with
a look that said up to you, ifyou want the drugs, we do it my
way.
So I grabbed my wallet andjumped in his car.
Now I was going through all thethings that could go wrong.
Firstly, I had a thousanddollars on me.
He could be driving mesomewhere to rob me or taking me
(11:41):
somewhere for someone else torob me.
He might want to interrogate mebecause Tommy had been
spreading the police rumor andit had gotten to him.
There were a number of optionsabout what I could be in for
there.
And, lastly, there was apossibility he or his suppliers
had found out I was a UC and hewas taking me to get killed.
Now, the last was quietlyunlikely and was only a split
(12:06):
second thought process, but itdid make me feel even more
uncomfortable, and there isnothing worse than that feeling
uncomfortable with a criminalnext to you and trying to act
calm and collected and notseeming stressed or worried for
a prolonged period of time.
Where are we going, mate.
I asked Not too far, just toget the gear, he said yeah.
(12:28):
But where I asked, don't worryabout it, mate, you'll know when
we get there.
Okay, so what have you been upto?
I asked this and that have beenable to get onto some really
good gear, though, he said.
He said now I was trying toconcentrate where, on where we
were going, as well as listen tothe conversation and interact
when I should.
He was taking me south towardsthe area I used to work before I
(12:51):
became a uc, ie as a uniformcop.
This was even more unsettlingfor me if we went to that area.
What if I've been to that housein uniform or pulled the
targets over?
I tried not to show it, but Iwas really starting to stress.
So when he said he had got ontoa new supplier, my ears pricked
(13:12):
up really.
How good is it?
I asked, feeling a little bitcalmer now.
I had something else to focuson.
Oh, you know, when you get thatchemical taste on the gums,
when you rub it to see what it'slike, he said yeah, I replied,
not being 100% sure what he wastalking about.
I thought you only did thatwith cocaine, but apparently not
(13:33):
Either.
I was learning something new orI was being tested.
Well, this, this stuff, is sogood that chemical taste it just
lasts.
It tastes like you're in ahospital, he said.
So that means it's pretty pure.
Then I asked him, trying to notsound too dumb Very pure man,
you're going to love it.
He replied, looking over me,over at me, with a big smile on
(13:56):
his face and clapping me on theshoulder.
It was only a small thing, butit immediately put my nerves at
ease.
He was just going to sell methe gear to make his money.
Nothing more sinister than that.
We'd also taken a turn thatmeant we were heading away from
my old stomping ground as auniformed copper, which further
eased my stress, but not mylevel of observation.
(14:16):
So we come to this shoppingcentre, and not like a
Westfields mall or anything likethat, but more like a shopping
strip.
By that I mean there was agrocery store, a fruit shop, a
news agency, a fish and chiptakeaway, a real estate agency
and some other odds and sodsshops, and this big open car
park just off the main road.
This shopping centre wouldlater I think maybe the
(14:38):
following year or two becomeinfamous for a number of Asian
gang related incidents,including shootings, stabbings
and a murder.
We pull into the car park andhe asked me for the money.
Nah, mate, I said you give methe gear first, not how it works
, man, you need to give me themoney and I'll go get the gear
for you.
My person wants to see you andmake sure you're okay before I
can sell more weight to you.
(14:59):
He he said I had a choice tomake.
Do I give him the money and hecould do a runner, or do I trust
you?
I was, after all, in his car.
He had to come back for that, Isurmised.
Fine, but next time none ofthis cloak and dagger shit.
Okay, I said.
(15:23):
It'll be cool, man, don't worry.
He replied, and with that Igave him a wad of cash, being
$1,000, made up of $20 and $50notes, all of which which had
their serial numbers recordedand had been photocopied.
Ewan gets out of the car andtakes off towards the shops,
saying wait here.
We were parked facing the road,which meant that to see where
he was going, I had to turnaround, which even then didn't
give me a clear view, as we haddriven to park.
We had driven past the front ofthe shops around the car park
the long way to where we endedup parking.
(15:44):
At the time I didn't thinkanything of it, but when Ewan
got out and went off Iunderstood why I didn't get to
see where he actually went toget the gear.
I assumed it was one of theshops.
I don't think he went in thefront of any of them, so I
guessed he must have gone aroundthe back.
He wasn't gone very long, maybefive minutes.
I could see him in the rearviewmirror sauntering back to his
(16:07):
car with his sunglasses on and asmile on his face like he
didn't have a care in the world.
He gets in and says miss me.
Sure, why not?
I said How'd it go?
Did you get me the gear At that?
He produces produces a smallwrapped alfoil package which he
slightly pulls apart to reveal awhitish colored rock.
I like the look of that, I said.
(16:27):
He wrapped it back up and gaveit to me.
There you go, man, he said.
So where'd you get it?
I asked, hoping he might slipup and tell me If I told you
that then you wouldn't need tobuy it through me.
Would you, was his reply.
If I told you that, then youwouldn't need to buy it through
me, would you?
Was his reply.
My neighbour at the time hadbeen a bikey in a former life
(16:52):
and whilst that originallycaused friction between us when
I first moved in, we sorted itout on the understanding that
what he did in his house was hisbusiness and vice versa.
Now, apparently, one day a carhad pulled up outside my real
house whilst I was away.
Inside were two Vietnamese guys.
They had been sitting there fora few hours when my neighbor
got home from work With hisbackground.
He always kept a keen eye onwhat was happening around his
(17:13):
home and so he noticed I'm stillthere half an hour later Now.
He knew I was a copper, but healso suspected what I was
actually doing.
I had longer hair, a goatee,was rarely around and driving
different cars.
Also, I had my nose pierced,which apparently stood out like
a proverbial.
He decides he would go and seeif these two gentlemen were lost
(17:34):
or couldn't find the house theywere looking for.
As I've said, he'd been a bikeyand we're talking 70s, 80s,
bikey, long hair, long beard,tattoos, etc.
And he still looks scary ashell.
So he's dressed in his thongs,his wife beater and shorts and
carrying his shotgun behind hisback.
He walks up to the driver'swindow, flops the shotgun down
(17:55):
on the open window ledge andasks if he can help them, as
they must seem lost, he said.
The look of fear in their eyesat him and the shotgun leveled
at them as the drivers fumbledto start the car was absolutely
crisis.
They took off at a millionmiles an hour and no one ever
came by again.
It seems that I must have beenfollowed from one of the early
buys with the Vietnamese targetsto see who I was.
(18:16):
As it was close to my realhouse, I thought I would just
drop in and do whatever it was Iwas doing, I don't know, maybe
feeding the dogs or something.
Anyway, I was followed there.
Looking back now, I honestlythink one of them was actually
wrong.
The best thing that could havehappened is my neighbour pulling
that stunt.
It was never mentioned, butobviously they thought I was the
real deal and I was involvedwith bikies.
(18:37):
It was, however, ratherunnerving with bikies.
It was, however, ratherunnerving.
During this time.
The ABC released a mini-serieson Roger Rogerson and the
alleged corruption within theNew South Wales police force,
called Blue Murder.
Now it follows a lot of thedrug trade and dirty dealings
with the police.
But there is also the story ofMick Drury woven into it.
Drury was an undercover policeofficer in the New South Wales
(18:59):
police.
He was working on somehigh-level drug importation into
Sydney from Melbourne, Ibelieve.
So with crooked cops on highlevels, it became known to the
Crimms that they had anundercover cop in their midst.
Let me set the scene a littleBecause of the nature of the
show.
It was on late at night.
I was at my real home because Ihadn't seen my fiance in a few
(19:22):
weeks and she had the night offwork.
Now my lounge room window,faced the street, was about 10
meters from the road, give ortake.
There were a few hedges at thefront gate and some trees on the
footpath, but realistically adirect line of sight from the
roadway to the lounge roomwindow.
The couch was virtually facingthe window.
The curtains curtains were wideopen.
It's important to mention thatthe car turning up had only been
(19:45):
a few weeks previous.
Here I am sitting watching thisTV show.
Drury has just been outed tothe crims as a UC and someone
has decided he is getting tooclose to knowing certain things.
Drury is standing in hiskitchen window doing the dishes.
At night.
The light is on the turns tosee-through.
With the light on, it's almostimpossible to see outside in the
(20:05):
night.
There is a figure in the garden.
You see the figure raise hishand, which is holding a gun,
and then fire several shots intoDrury.
That moment is etched into mybrain.
Time stood still.
I felt an immediate sense ofdread.
Fuck.
I breathed.
It felt like I had been shotmyself.
I remember looking up and outthe lounge room window.
(20:27):
I stood up, quickly turned offthe light and then, even quicker
, closed the curtains.
I went to the front door,cracked it and peered outside.
Now, all totally irrationalactions, but in that moment,
given the fact that someone hadbeen to my house, I was freaking
out.
(20:58):
Anyway, on the day of the buy,when I arrived at the KFC, I had
a decision to make Do I carryit with me or leave it in my car
?
I was usually in my own carwhen I did buys and felt
comfortable with having it on me.
This day, I decided to take itout and put it under my seat.
As I was doing this, tracypulled up in her car.
She parked next to me andmotioned me to come over, got
(21:19):
out of the car, locked it andthen got in the front passenger
seat of hers, hi Tracy.
I said Where's John?
I thought he was coming withyou and I was meeting him to do
this buy.
Yeah, yeah, you are, but hedoesn't want to do it here in
the open.
I'll take you to him.
She said Now, hang on.
I started.
You said we were doing it here.
I was getting a little bitparanoid.
(21:40):
I had eight and a half grand onme, the two for Tracy and
another six and a half for thebuy.
I had a nagging thought that Imight be getting rolled here,
which was actually a genuinepossibility.
Yeah, yeah, he changed his mind.
Don't stress, he's just up theroad.
She said I thought I'd made abig mistake, leaving my gun in
the car and I couldn't go backfor it.
Do you have my two grand?
(22:02):
Tracy asked yeah, of course Ido, but I'll give it to you when
we get back.
I replied Nah, mate, I want itbefore we go.
That's the deal.
She said Righto, tracy, butit's in the car.
I have to get out and get it.
I said Off, you go.
Then she replied so I get backout of the car, walk back over
to mine, unlock and get in thedriver's side.
(22:24):
The money, funnily enough, wasin a brown paper bag under the
seat.
Ironic, I know.
For a split second part of methought I should grab my gun.
But I had the door open andTracy could see what I was doing
.
If I did she might get spooked.
And then the buy was over.
I grabbed the money, took itout of the bag and counted it in
plain sight.
I showed her the money, got outof the car, closed and locked
(22:45):
the door and went back to Tracy.
Once I got back in I gave herthe money and said you're two
grand.
Thank you very much, she said,taking it and putting it in her
handbag.
With a slight smile she starteda car.
Now I assumed that it was alsogoing to be a headache for the
surveillance team as well.
They were all set up tocovertly record the buy.
(23:05):
I assumed that they would justfollow me and try and set up and
record me in the new location.
That was a nice thought.
Tracy drove out of the KFC ontothe main road northbound and
then turned right into theSpurman area near a bowls club.
Not many people at the bowlsclub today.
I said, trying to give somelocations away in case we were
being followed.
Oh, do you play, do you?
(23:26):
Tracy asked.
Nah, nah, I didn't mean that.
I used to come here a lot withmy nan.
That's all I said.
Now, that was actually true.
I knew exactly where I was.
I knew the back streets herelike the back of my hand.
Growing up, I had threeschoolmates who lived in that
part of the suburb and I didactually go to the balls club a
(23:46):
lot with my nan.
We turned right into a familiarstreet.
It was the street my best matefrom school lived in.
I'd only seen him a few monthsearlier at my wedding and then
his wedding Whilst he didn'tlive there.
His father and sister still did.
As we were driving along thestreet, we were getting closer
and closer to his father's house.
We drove past a car that wasparked in the street about the
only car and went a short wayaround the curve before it
(24:09):
straightens out Tracy then pullsover and stops.
We were almost directly acrossthe road from a mate's house.
Fuck, I hope John isn't his dad.
I thought to myself he wasn't.
I heard the back door open andsomeone get in behind me.
Now John must have been in thecar parked on the side of the
road and walked up to the car.
I didn't see him walk down fromin front of us and there was no
(24:31):
one walking or standing in thestreet on either side.
When we arrived, tracy, he saidJohn, this is Mick.
She said Mick, don't look round.
He said Now, that made menervous.
Hi, john.
Now I had already given Tracyher $2,000 before we left KFC,
(24:53):
so I only had the $6,500 on me.
Do you have my money?
He asked yeah, yeah, sure, Ihave it here.
I said, patting my pocket Right.
Give it to me, came the reply.
It was more than a request,more like a very calm order.
I took the money, which wereall $50 notes, out of my pocket
and put it up over my rightshoulder with my right hand.
(25:14):
Do you want me to count it?
I asked no, I'll trust you, hesaid, and as he took the money,
my right hand was still up overmy shoulder with my palm facing
up.
I could hear him doingsomething in the back seat and
then he said here you go.
I felt something, touch my hand, but whatever it was fell on
the floor behind Tracy's seat.
You'll have to reach over andpick that one up.
(25:37):
He said.
I've used the phrase 5 cent, 50cent before to describe how I
was feeling.
What it actually means is whenyou get that, that puck feeling
or the feeling like you'reshooting oneself.
That's how I was feeling.
My stress levels went throughthe roof.
(25:57):
Now remember, from where he wassitting behind me, I couldn't
see John.
The only thought I had was I'mgoing to land across into the
back seat footwell of this carand he's going to pop me.
He'll either shoot me in theback of the head or stab me, or
or punch me or do something likethat.
I'm gone here.
I was genuinely as scared asI've ever been in my life.
I took a deep and audiblebreath, turned and reached down
(26:19):
into the footwell behind Tracy'sseat.
There I saw a package wrappedin tissue paper.
I picked it up and sat back inthe seat.
I exhaled deeply Sound a bitnervous there, Mick John said to
me Did I?
Nah, all good mate.
I replied.
He then said just didn't wantto get my fingerprints on it.
I opened the tissue paper andinside was an alfalfa wrapped
(26:40):
package and inside that was halfan ounce of rock heroin.
Yes, that's right.
Tissue paper, a surface whereyou wouldn't get fingerprints,
not to mention that the L-foilin the package underneath would
have had fingerprints on it.
I'm pretty sure he dropped iton purpose to see if it would
scare me and to see how I wouldreact.
John then said I have yournumber and I'll give you a call
(27:02):
in a few days to see how it went.
You will deal with me and onlyme Got it?
Yep, john got it.
I'll talk to you when you call.
And with that he got out of thecar and we drove off.
Tracy took me back to her, backto my car, rather and I got out,
making sure I had the heroinwith me, said bye, unlocked my
driver's side door and got in.
(27:24):
I made sure she had driven offand then I let out a huge sigh.
I made sure she had driven offand then I let out a huge sigh.
My hands were literally shakingand I had to sit there for a
few minutes to calm myself down.
Adrenaline was coursing throughmy body and my heart was racing
.
I was also pretty elated that 1.
(27:44):
I didn't get hurt or killed and2.
I now had made contact with thenext level in the syndicate.
I now had made contact with thenext level in the syndicate.
Okay, so if you will cast yourmind back, part of this
operation was a requirementwhere I had to be Betty's toy
boy, which would mean I was gay.
Well, okay, bye.
Because of the reactions I hadwhen I was with the strippers.
(28:05):
The problem was going to be howwould I handle the situation if
one of the targets decided Iwas cute enough for them too?
We Betty and I didn't thinkthis would be a real issue.
The brothers were in denial andrationalized their sexual
preferences by pretending Bettywas female, labeling her such
with female pronouns, and alsothat she wore female clothing.
(28:28):
The whole male genitalia bitwas glossed over.
I obviously was the male or thetop in any relationship, and
they definitely wanted someonewho identified as a female and
was a bottom.
But it was a cause for someanxiety right through my
dealings with them.
So I have built this up enough.
Now it's time to tell thesurreal story of how I first met
(28:50):
Yakov and Bogdan.
Betty had to make a number ofcalls and invite them both over
to discuss the prospect of doingbusiness with an unknown person
.
Now that person was going to beme, but on the first meet.
We weren't going to let thatslip.
They decided that they wouldcome to her apartment to hear
her proposal.
I was going to be there and beintroduced as the boy toy and
(29:11):
generally be introduced as theperson wanting to buy the speed
and sell it to some clubs Iworked for later.
Not a bad plan, you werethinking to yourselves.
I agree it was a great plan.
But this is where things startedto get weird, at least at the
initial meeting.
It was a Thursday night and Ihad spent the day buying a new
(29:32):
outfit that was going to be fitmy standing.
I had a pair of grey jag jeans,an off-white country road type
fit, skivvy, with the rolleddown neck collar and a white
cable knit jumper.
I looked great.
I also had a flashy pair ofblack boots.
Now, that is a lot of effort,you might be thinking, and I
agree, but this was more like atheatre performance than a drug
(29:55):
buy.
I had to not only play the partconvincingly, I had to look the
part and according to Betty, Iwas very sexy.
Okay, I threw that in, but shethought I did look good.
Okay, I threw that in too.
I pass for being gay or bi, asit turned out, which was what I
was going for.
Now, I'm sure most of youlistening will have seen the
(30:17):
Star Wars movies Maybe not all17 of them, I think we're up to
now but at least the threeoriginals.
In the Return of the Jedi moviethere is a scene where Luke
Skywalker meets with Jabba theHutt in his lair.
Jabba is sitting up on the daislooking resplendent in his
robes and jewels, and chained tothe dais we find Princess Leia.
(30:39):
She is wearing a veryprovocative outfit and Jabba has
the ability to pull her by thechain back to the dais where he
can touch her, pat her head,whatever he wants to show, he is
in control of her.
To Luke or anyone else for thatmatter he was portrayed as a
powerful crime lord, and Leiawas his prize and his plaything.
Have I lost you yet?
(31:00):
No, okay, good, where I'm goingwith this is here.
Betty's lounge room was set upwith two large armchairs at one
end.
Then, at the other end of theroom, were two smaller settee
type chairs, and beyond that wasa dining table.
Whenever I came over, bettywould always be sitting in one
of the chairs the same one everytime.
Where it was positioned, it wasalmost like she was holding
(31:22):
court.
I had been there all afternoonand we had discussed and planned
how the night was going to run.
The brothers were due to arriveat about 8pm.
This was after their businesshad closed and they could get
away from their families forother business meetings.
They arrive and Betty goes tothe door and greets them.
She walks them into her throneroom and introduces me to them.
(31:44):
Yakov Bogdan, this is Michael.
He is my friend.
I held out a limp hand and saidhello, nice to meet you.
To their credit, both took itand firmly gripped it and shook
it.
I had to remember to not beforceful back with my grip and
leave it as limp as possible.
I was being submissive.
And why is Michael here?
(32:05):
Bogdan asked.
He was the older of the twobrothers.
He has been here visiting andhe isn't ready to go home yet.
He knows what I do.
He even sells a little bithimself.
You don't need to worry abouthim, darlings.
Betty replied.
Everyone goes to sit down butactually waits for Betty to sit
down first.
The brothers sit on the setteeopposite Betty.
(32:27):
I sit down on the floor.
I end up sitting down with mylegs folded to one side in front
of me with my right sideshoulder against the front of
the chair.
I am literally sitting at theedge of the right armrest, right
next to Betty's hand.
She could of and didperiodically reach out and pat
my head, to which I simplylooked at her and smiled.
(32:49):
It was almost as if I was herpet cat or dog.
For the next 30 to 40 minutes Iam sitting in this position a
la Princess Leia in Return ofthe Jedi being the attentive boy
toy.
So during the conversation therewas discussion about selling
product amounts and largeamounts were discussed.
They talked about who they wereusing, talked about wanting to
(33:11):
meet this person Betty mentioned, especially if they can move
large amounts in the strip clubs.
You see a lot of strippers usespeed to get through their
nights.
Partygoers also use speed tomake their nights better.
Strip clubs were a prime placeto sell the drug.
At the end it was agreed theywould discuss the proposition to
meet a new buyer and thenthey'd come back to her.
We had one last drink and afterabout 40 minutes to an hour the
(33:34):
brothers left.
Buzz was that bad of a criminalthat he was selling to four
undercover cops.
A few weeks later I get a phonecall one afternoon.
It was Buzz.
He sounded agitated and hewanted me to come and pick him
up.
Now, remember earlier when Imentioned that Buzz was not the
(33:57):
luckiest criminal mastermind inthe world, nor was he the
smartest.
When I mentioned that Buzz wasnot the luckiest criminal
mastermind in the world, nor washe the smartest.
Well, he wasn't only the targetof my operation, but at least
two other covert operations.
Yes, that's right.
He was selling heroin to threeor four undercovers at the same
time.
On this day, though, one ofthose operations had been
closing and he'd been raided,arrested, interviewed and
(34:19):
charged.
Of course, I knew this washappening, finally, and was
asked to keep an ear out foranything that he might, or
anyone else might be saying.
I didn't have to wait long.
Buzz was still at the policestation when he called me.
He wanted me to come and pickhim up from out in front and
take him home.
Yeah, buzz, sure, where are you?
Okay, I'll be there in 20minutes.
(34:40):
That was a fun phoneconversation to record, but it
got better.
I turn up and Buzz is standingout the front in a tracksuit and
thongs.
I pull up and he gets in thefront passenger seat.
Buzz, what's going on?
I ask Just drive, mick, let'sgo.
He said what's happened?
I asked Mate, I got raided thismorning.
I was selling to an undercovercop, he said.
(35:02):
I replied you what?
And you called me to come andget you from the station.
Are you fucking crazy?
What did you tell them about me?
Is this a setup?
No, mick, no, I didn't tellthem anything about you.
Okay, just drive, turn righthere.
He said what's up here, buzz?
(35:23):
I asked.
I knew it wasn't where he lived.
That was the other way to wherehe asked me to turn.
I just need somewhere quiet totalk to you, nick.
Okay, he asked me.
Yeah, right, sure, I replied.
So I follow his directions andwe end up parking in a quiet
street in the next suburb, overfrom the police station and
about three suburbs from whereBuzz lives.
Now, before I pick Buzz up, Ihave obviously switched on my
(35:46):
recording device to record thisconversation because I knew it
was going to be a beauty.
Buzz starts to tell me aboutthe undercover cop he was
selling to, describes him andthen asks me if I know him.
Of course, I say no and I haveno idea what he's talking about.
Good, he says Mick.
I say no and I have no ideawhat he's talking about.
Good, he says, mick, I'm goingto ask you a question.
Alright, so don't get upset.
Are you an undercover cop?
(36:07):
Do I look like a cop, buzz?
I mean really, of course I'mnot.
Are you fucking serious?
I reply Sorry, mick, I had toask.
He starts my lawyer told me thatif I ask you if you're a cop
and you say no, but you are,then anything I say to you or
anything I have done can't beused as evidence.
(36:28):
With my most stunned response Icould muster wow, really, buzz,
is that true?
No, I'm not, of course, but isthat really true?
Can I use that too?
He then said to me that's whatmy lawyer told me.
And yeah, I would ask everyonebefore you deal with them.
I knew you weren't, mick, but Ijust had to ask you.
(36:49):
Yeah, but there's no hardfeelings, it's all good, mate.
I tell him so what did you tellthe coppers?
Nothing much, and I didn't tellhim about you.
He said did you tell him aboutyour supplier?
I asked nah, mate, I wouldn'tgive him up.
You, he said Did you tell themabout your supplier?
I asked Nah, mate, I wouldn'tgive him up.
He said Thank you for listeningto Whisper in the Shadows my
true stories of a real-lifeundercover cop.
I hope you've enjoyed thatepisode.
(37:10):
In the next one we'll exploremore exciting stories from my
operations.
Please make sure you subscribeto the podcast so you never miss
an episode.
Lastly, if you're an ex-COVIDoperative or undercover police
officer, I would love to chat toyou about your experiences or,
if you're feeling dangerous,tell your stories on my podcast.
Please get in contact by myemail, which is
(37:32):
whisperintheshadowspodcast atgmailcom.
I look forward to you joiningme next time.
Welcome to the Whisper in the Shadows podcast.
My name's Jason Somerville.
For two years I workedundercover using the pseudonym
Michael Bates, who has nowbecome part of me.
The stories that you've beenlistening to were my stories of
my time undercover.
Well, now it's time for thebest buys, that's right, the
best drug buys I've done fromthe entire period.
(00:21):
Done from the entire period,starting with Buzz, working my
way through Tommy, even on toBetty.
You'll hear all the ones that Ihad the most fun doing and
hopefully you'll enjoy listeningto them just as much as I
enjoyed doing them.
I think one of the hardest partsof being a UC is human nature.
I learned it is very hard topretend to like someone on an
(00:42):
ongoing basis and have thatfamiliarity with them.
You had to sacrifice a part ofyourself each time you met with
these people.
You had to stop being a humanbeing in some sense.
It is hard to articulate evennow how I felt.
In one sense you were cold andcalculating, knowing that by
befriending them, making themopen up, making them talk and
thinking you were on their side,only to use all of that against
(01:05):
them to have them arrested andvery probably jailed.
Then, on the other.
You actually got to know themand while some, like Tommy, were
dead set pieces of shit, someyou felt sorry for.
If Buzz thought I was a cop,then he wouldn't introduce me
(01:25):
and he wouldn't sell to me.
We would be dead in the water.
We did the buy in a cemetery ofall places.
I picked him up on the side ofthe road and he took me there.
The buy was prettystraightforward and again
captured on my tape recorder.
This one went a bit different,though.
Once we finish, buzz pulls outhis kit and asks me if I mind if
(01:45):
he shoots up.
Now I was a little shocked.
I hadn't actually had anyoneshoot up in front of me before.
It wasn't going to be the lasttime either.
I prefer it.
If you didn't, can't you waittill you get home?
What if we get caught?
I'm holding Buzz Don't worry,cops never come in here during
the day said do you want to hit?
That was obviously a test, buzzmate, what have I told you?
(02:08):
I am not going to have a hitwhen I'm holding and having to
drive home.
I am not stupid and I don'twant to get caught.
Besides, you know I only smokeit.
I've told you this before.
Yeah, he said, and with that hetakes off his shoes and
proceeds to shoot up between histoes.
Now I don't know if you've everseen anyone who has had a hit
(02:30):
of heroin, but after the initialeuphoria of the drug they
become sleepy or go the not, asit's commonly referred to.
He was a regular user and hisreasoning for shooting up in his
toes was so you couldn't seethe track marks.
I think it might be because hisveins were collapsing in his
arms, but that's another story.
(02:50):
So Buzz is going to nod in mycar.
Buzz, mate, I'm yelling out.
He starts drifting in and outand mumbling nonsense or
unintelligibly.
He's slumped in the back of mycar and I am starting to freak
out.
What if he overdoses?
What if he doesn't wake up?
Am I an accomplice?
With buzz on the nod, I get outof the car and walk a little bit
(03:11):
away, all the while keeping aneye on it.
I get out my phone and call mycontroller telling him what was
going on.
Thankfully, he calmed me downand told me to rouse him.
Take him back to where he livedand get him out of the car.
He also said if he did start toget worse or, god forbid, stop
breathing, then take him to ahospital.
I get back in the car and rouseBuzz.
(03:32):
He starts to come out of it asit had been about 20 minutes
since he's hit.
He looks at me and says sorry,mick.
Yeah, yeah, forget it, buzz.
I said Just don't do that again, okay, oh it, it's not like
you're a cop, nick, and you'llget into trouble if I OD.
He said Buzz was testing meagain and it wouldn't be the
last time.
(03:57):
So the three of us were sittingin the car two scruffy-looking
Vietnamese guys and ascruffy-looking white guy In a
fairly expensive car, actuallyparked away from the majority of
cars and people and justlooking really sus, so much so
that a marked police car drivesup in front of us, parking us in
and the uniformed police getout.
Now I was fairly calm because,hey, even if I did get caught
(04:20):
with the gear, I wasn't gettinginto trouble and would give me
some cred that was lacking withTommy.
The two of them were talking inVietnamese to each other and
both seemed a little frantic.
Hey, I said English.
Okay, don't stress, just actcalm.
They don't know anything and Ihave the gear on me.
The police asked us to get outof the car and go to the front
of it.
I was able to slide the packetthat I had of heroin into a
(04:44):
hiding place I had in the carand got out.
The coppers made us go to thefront of the car, asked for our
ID and then asked what we weredoing.
I said that these guys had toldme about the bakery and that's
why we were there.
The coppers didn't believe me,of course, so they asked all of
us to empty our pockets on thefront of my car, which we all
did.
They then took us one by one tothe back of the police car to
(05:09):
obviously question us separatelyand also search us a bit more.
Danny went first, couldn't hearwhat they were saying, but I
could see him looking over at uswell, me and the cop looking
over at me and asking himquestions.
The cop had brought him backand then he took Tommy with him.
While Tommy was out of earshot,danny goes hey, mick, I told
them not to search you becauseyou're an undercover cop and I'm
helping you.
I said you said what he said.
(05:31):
Yeah, so you don't get caught.
I said fuck me, mate, I'vehidden the gear.
All you've done is made Tommymore suspicious.
What if they say something tohim?
What if they don't search me?
Now are an idiot.
Don't ever tell anyone thatagain.
Do you hear me?
I was furious.
So the cop brings Tommy back andhe then walks up to me.
(05:52):
Now he doesn't take me anywhere.
What he does is he just pats medown, says are you holding?
I say no, and he turns aroundto his mate and goes okay, come
on, let's go.
I'm thinking to myself, righto.
So we jump back in the car andtommy is really, really
(06:12):
suspicious.
He says to me how come youweren't searched?
I go mate, how would I know hegoes?
Are you a cop?
I've gone?
No, dude, how would I know?
Did you get busted?
Did you get locked up?
No, how would I know why Iwasn't searched?
You guys didn't have anything.
Maybe they thought, if they, ifthese two don't have anything,
he's not going to have anythingeither.
(06:33):
At this point it's been abouttwo months after that first buy
with Tommy and I get a phonecall at about 2am one morning
and the caller is obviouslyVietnamese.
I could tell that even though Iwas half asleep.
I could also tell it was Tommy.
He had a very distinct voice Igoing to kill you.
You're an undercover cop, youdog, I kill you.
And he then hung up so blearyeyed, I thought, fuck, that
(06:57):
wasn't good.
And I did what anyone elsewould do and called the number
back.
Now, tommy didn't answer, so Itried to get back to sleep.
The next day I called Danny andcouldn't get him either.
I'd moved on from Tommy andfurther up the chain so I wasn't
too concerned.
Besides, he had no idea where Ilived.
It came time to close thatfirst operation because I was
(07:18):
getting married.
In a matter of weeks, searchwarrants and buy bus were set up
and executed.
I'd heard that a few of theVietnamese had been raided and
that they were rounded up, butno one had actually found Tommy
yet.
I was on my way to do a by-bustof another target with a group
of marked and unmarked cars intow.
I was driving down the mainstreet of one of the inner city
suburbs when I spotted Tommycrossing the road in front of me
(07:39):
.
Yes, he stood out that much.
This street, even back then,was a main arterial road and
there were a lot of peoplewalking and a lot of cars coming
and going.
When I saw him, I sped up andliterally almost ran him over,
screeching to a halt in front ofhim.
My window was down so I reachedout, grabbed him by the collar
and pulled him into the window.
The look of shock and terror onhis face was cathartic.
(08:04):
When he saw it was me, he was alittle less worried and scared.
I said call me a fucking policedog cunt.
I will fucking kill you if youever say that to anyone.
He's gone.
No, mick.
No, it wasn't me.
I don't think you are police.
I said it fucking was you, youlittle cunt.
If I hear you have been sayingI'm a police to anyone, you are
dead.
Do you understand me now?
(08:26):
All the while I was looking atmy rearview mirror for the
marked car that was following me.
As soon as I saw it get close,I said fuck, coppers.
I looked him in the eyes andsaid remember what I said.
Then I literally pushed himdown into the middle of the road
and took off at a million milesan hour.
As I was doing so, I had thedetectives on speed dial, called
them them and said hey, the guyin the middle of the road
that's Tommy Van Dang.
(08:47):
The marked car grabbed him,arrested him and took him back
to the station Once the rest ofthe busts and raids had finished
.
Detective then says so, you doknow Mick.
Tommy says yes, tommy, mick isan undercover police officer and
you sold him heroin on a numberof occasions.
To which Tommy replies no, Inot sell him drugs.
He give me money.
(09:08):
I go and get drugs and thengive to him, but I not sell them
to him.
At that time I'm at that point.
I'm ushered out of theinterview, trying not to laugh.
So Nguyen was this young guy.
He would have been early tomid-twenties.
He drove one of thosestereotypical Asian cars, a
(09:29):
hatchback with a spoiler and aturbo that made that horrible
sound every time he changedgears.
There was one particular bio Iremember making from him.
That would be just out of amovie about Asian drug dealers.
Now, for some reason, ewandidn't like being in my car.
The buys with him were notsimple either.
He was more like a runner thanan actual dealer.
(09:52):
Well, that was my thoughtprocess.
I mean, he was dealing a lot ofgear but he was never holding.
I had given him a call andasked him if I could get on
wanting to buy two grams.
We agreed to meet at a trainstation car park.
I set off and had my trustytape recorder set up and ready
to go in my internal lightcavity, as I've previously
(10:13):
explained.
This was an absolute gem of aplace to hide it, and every word
inside the car was recorded.
Mind you, I was alwaysremembering to turn the radio
down very soft.
It's funny that no one everasked me why I had my radio off
or on softly when they were inthe car with me.
We get out and stand around inmy car.
He asks me if I have the money,to which I replied yes, mate.
(10:35):
Of course, on the previous buyhe had had the gear with him,
but it was only half a gram.
So he says to me we're going tohave to go and get this gear.
Why?
I asked, look, just because Idon't have it on me, righto, I
said we can take my car.
(10:56):
Nah, man, nah, we're taking mycar.
Not that I don't trust you oranything, but we need to be in
my car, he said to me.
So alarm bells start to ring alittle bit Now.
You were told try and never getinto a situation where you don't
have an escape or where youdon't have an advantage.
There is always going to be asituation, though, where you
have to go in someone's car, gointo someone's house or
(11:19):
somewhere deserted to get thedeal done.
I just looked at him, likereally, he just looked back with
a look that said up to you, ifyou want the drugs, we do it my
way.
So I grabbed my wallet andjumped in his car.
Now I was going through all thethings that could go wrong.
Firstly, I had a thousanddollars on me.
He could be driving mesomewhere to rob me or taking me
(11:41):
somewhere for someone else torob me.
He might want to interrogate mebecause Tommy had been
spreading the police rumor andit had gotten to him.
There were a number of optionsabout what I could be in for
there.
And, lastly, there was apossibility he or his suppliers
had found out I was a UC and hewas taking me to get killed.
Now, the last was quietlyunlikely and was only a split
(12:06):
second thought process, but itdid make me feel even more
uncomfortable, and there isnothing worse than that feeling
uncomfortable with a criminalnext to you and trying to act
calm and collected and notseeming stressed or worried for
a prolonged period of time.
Where are we going, mate.
I asked Not too far, just toget the gear, he said yeah.
(12:28):
But where I asked, don't worryabout it, mate, you'll know when
we get there.
Okay, so what have you been upto?
I asked this and that have beenable to get onto some really
good gear, though, he said.
He said now I was trying toconcentrate where, on where we
were going, as well as listen tothe conversation and interact
when I should.
He was taking me south towardsthe area I used to work before I
(12:51):
became a uc, ie as a uniformcop.
This was even more unsettlingfor me if we went to that area.
What if I've been to that housein uniform or pulled the
targets over?
I tried not to show it, but Iwas really starting to stress.
So when he said he had got ontoa new supplier, my ears pricked
(13:12):
up really.
How good is it?
I asked, feeling a little bitcalmer now.
I had something else to focuson.
Oh, you know, when you get thatchemical taste on the gums,
when you rub it to see what it'slike, he said yeah, I replied,
not being 100% sure what he wastalking about.
I thought you only did thatwith cocaine, but apparently not
(13:33):
Either.
I was learning something new orI was being tested.
Well, this, this stuff, is sogood that chemical taste it just
lasts.
It tastes like you're in ahospital, he said.
So that means it's pretty pure.
Then I asked him, trying to notsound too dumb Very pure man,
you're going to love it.
He replied, looking over me,over at me, with a big smile on
(13:56):
his face and clapping me on theshoulder.
It was only a small thing, butit immediately put my nerves at
ease.
He was just going to sell methe gear to make his money.
Nothing more sinister than that.
We'd also taken a turn thatmeant we were heading away from
my old stomping ground as auniformed copper, which further
eased my stress, but not mylevel of observation.
(14:16):
So we come to this shoppingcentre, and not like a
Westfields mall or anything likethat, but more like a shopping
strip.
By that I mean there was agrocery store, a fruit shop, a
news agency, a fish and chiptakeaway, a real estate agency
and some other odds and sodsshops, and this big open car
park just off the main road.
This shopping centre wouldlater I think maybe the
(14:38):
following year or two becomeinfamous for a number of Asian
gang related incidents,including shootings, stabbings
and a murder.
We pull into the car park andhe asked me for the money.
Nah, mate, I said you give methe gear first, not how it works
, man, you need to give me themoney and I'll go get the gear
for you.
My person wants to see you andmake sure you're okay before I
can sell more weight to you.
(14:59):
He he said I had a choice tomake.
Do I give him the money and hecould do a runner, or do I trust
you?
I was, after all, in his car.
He had to come back for that, Isurmised.
Fine, but next time none ofthis cloak and dagger shit.
Okay, I said.
(15:23):
It'll be cool, man, don't worry.
He replied, and with that Igave him a wad of cash, being
$1,000, made up of $20 and $50notes, all of which which had
their serial numbers recordedand had been photocopied.
Ewan gets out of the car andtakes off towards the shops,
saying wait here.
We were parked facing the road,which meant that to see where
he was going, I had to turnaround, which even then didn't
give me a clear view, as we haddriven to park.
We had driven past the front ofthe shops around the car park
the long way to where we endedup parking.
(15:44):
At the time I didn't thinkanything of it, but when Ewan
got out and went off Iunderstood why I didn't get to
see where he actually went toget the gear.
I assumed it was one of theshops.
I don't think he went in thefront of any of them, so I
guessed he must have gone aroundthe back.
He wasn't gone very long, maybefive minutes.
I could see him in the rearviewmirror sauntering back to his
(16:07):
car with his sunglasses on and asmile on his face like he
didn't have a care in the world.
He gets in and says miss me.
Sure, why not?
I said How'd it go?
Did you get me the gear At that?
He produces produces a smallwrapped alfoil package which he
slightly pulls apart to reveal awhitish colored rock.
I like the look of that, I said.
(16:27):
He wrapped it back up and gaveit to me.
There you go, man, he said.
So where'd you get it?
I asked, hoping he might slipup and tell me If I told you
that then you wouldn't need tobuy it through me.
Would you, was his reply.
If I told you that, then youwouldn't need to buy it through
me, would you?
Was his reply.
My neighbour at the time hadbeen a bikey in a former life
(16:52):
and whilst that originallycaused friction between us when
I first moved in, we sorted itout on the understanding that
what he did in his house was hisbusiness and vice versa.
Now, apparently, one day a carhad pulled up outside my real
house whilst I was away.
Inside were two Vietnamese guys.
They had been sitting there fora few hours when my neighbor
got home from work With hisbackground.
He always kept a keen eye onwhat was happening around his
(17:13):
home and so he noticed I'm stillthere half an hour later Now.
He knew I was a copper, but healso suspected what I was
actually doing.
I had longer hair, a goatee,was rarely around and driving
different cars.
Also, I had my nose pierced,which apparently stood out like
a proverbial.
He decides he would go and seeif these two gentlemen were lost
(17:34):
or couldn't find the house theywere looking for.
As I've said, he'd been a bikeyand we're talking 70s, 80s,
bikey, long hair, long beard,tattoos, etc.
And he still looks scary ashell.
So he's dressed in his thongs,his wife beater and shorts and
carrying his shotgun behind hisback.
He walks up to the driver'swindow, flops the shotgun down
(17:55):
on the open window ledge andasks if he can help them, as
they must seem lost, he said.
The look of fear in their eyesat him and the shotgun leveled
at them as the drivers fumbledto start the car was absolutely
crisis.
They took off at a millionmiles an hour and no one ever
came by again.
It seems that I must have beenfollowed from one of the early
buys with the Vietnamese targetsto see who I was.
(18:16):
As it was close to my realhouse, I thought I would just
drop in and do whatever it was Iwas doing, I don't know, maybe
feeding the dogs or something.
Anyway, I was followed there.
Looking back now, I honestlythink one of them was actually
wrong.
The best thing that could havehappened is my neighbour pulling
that stunt.
It was never mentioned, butobviously they thought I was the
real deal and I was involvedwith bikies.
(18:37):
It was, however, ratherunnerving with bikies.
It was, however, ratherunnerving.
During this time.
The ABC released a mini-serieson Roger Rogerson and the
alleged corruption within theNew South Wales police force,
called Blue Murder.
Now it follows a lot of thedrug trade and dirty dealings
with the police.
But there is also the story ofMick Drury woven into it.
Drury was an undercover policeofficer in the New South Wales
(18:59):
police.
He was working on somehigh-level drug importation into
Sydney from Melbourne, Ibelieve.
So with crooked cops on highlevels, it became known to the
Crimms that they had anundercover cop in their midst.
Let me set the scene a littleBecause of the nature of the
show.
It was on late at night.
I was at my real home because Ihadn't seen my fiance in a few
(19:22):
weeks and she had the night offwork.
Now my lounge room window,faced the street, was about 10
meters from the road, give ortake.
There were a few hedges at thefront gate and some trees on the
footpath, but realistically adirect line of sight from the
roadway to the lounge roomwindow.
The couch was virtually facingthe window.
The curtains curtains were wideopen.
It's important to mention thatthe car turning up had only been
(19:45):
a few weeks previous.
Here I am sitting watching thisTV show.
Drury has just been outed tothe crims as a UC and someone
has decided he is getting tooclose to knowing certain things.
Drury is standing in hiskitchen window doing the dishes.
At night.
The light is on the turns tosee-through.
With the light on, it's almostimpossible to see outside in the
(20:05):
night.
There is a figure in the garden.
You see the figure raise hishand, which is holding a gun,
and then fire several shots intoDrury.
That moment is etched into mybrain.
Time stood still.
I felt an immediate sense ofdread.
Fuck.
I breathed.
It felt like I had been shotmyself.
I remember looking up and outthe lounge room window.
(20:27):
I stood up, quickly turned offthe light and then, even quicker
, closed the curtains.
I went to the front door,cracked it and peered outside.
Now, all totally irrationalactions, but in that moment,
given the fact that someone hadbeen to my house, I was freaking
out.
(20:58):
Anyway, on the day of the buy,when I arrived at the KFC, I had
a decision to make Do I carryit with me or leave it in my car
?
I was usually in my own carwhen I did buys and felt
comfortable with having it on me.
This day, I decided to take itout and put it under my seat.
As I was doing this, tracypulled up in her car.
She parked next to me andmotioned me to come over, got
(21:19):
out of the car, locked it andthen got in the front passenger
seat of hers, hi Tracy.
I said Where's John?
I thought he was coming withyou and I was meeting him to do
this buy.
Yeah, yeah, you are, but hedoesn't want to do it here in
the open.
I'll take you to him.
She said Now, hang on.
I started.
You said we were doing it here.
I was getting a little bitparanoid.
(21:40):
I had eight and a half grand onme, the two for Tracy and
another six and a half for thebuy.
I had a nagging thought that Imight be getting rolled here,
which was actually a genuinepossibility.
Yeah, yeah, he changed his mind.
Don't stress, he's just up theroad.
She said I thought I'd made abig mistake, leaving my gun in
the car and I couldn't go backfor it.
Do you have my two grand?
(22:02):
Tracy asked yeah, of course Ido, but I'll give it to you when
we get back.
I replied Nah, mate, I want itbefore we go.
That's the deal.
She said Righto, tracy, butit's in the car.
I have to get out and get it.
I said Off, you go.
Then she replied so I get backout of the car, walk back over
to mine, unlock and get in thedriver's side.
(22:24):
The money, funnily enough, wasin a brown paper bag under the
seat.
Ironic, I know.
For a split second part of methought I should grab my gun.
But I had the door open andTracy could see what I was doing
.
If I did she might get spooked.
And then the buy was over.
I grabbed the money, took itout of the bag and counted it in
plain sight.
I showed her the money, got outof the car, closed and locked
(22:45):
the door and went back to Tracy.
Once I got back in I gave herthe money and said you're two
grand.
Thank you very much, she said,taking it and putting it in her
handbag.
With a slight smile she starteda car.
Now I assumed that it was alsogoing to be a headache for the
surveillance team as well.
They were all set up tocovertly record the buy.
(23:05):
I assumed that they would justfollow me and try and set up and
record me in the new location.
That was a nice thought.
Tracy drove out of the KFC ontothe main road northbound and
then turned right into theSpurman area near a bowls club.
Not many people at the bowlsclub today.
I said, trying to give somelocations away in case we were
being followed.
Oh, do you play, do you?
(23:26):
Tracy asked.
Nah, nah, I didn't mean that.
I used to come here a lot withmy nan.
That's all I said.
Now, that was actually true.
I knew exactly where I was.
I knew the back streets herelike the back of my hand.
Growing up, I had threeschoolmates who lived in that
part of the suburb and I didactually go to the balls club a
(23:46):
lot with my nan.
We turned right into a familiarstreet.
It was the street my best matefrom school lived in.
I'd only seen him a few monthsearlier at my wedding and then
his wedding Whilst he didn'tlive there.
His father and sister still did.
As we were driving along thestreet, we were getting closer
and closer to his father's house.
We drove past a car that wasparked in the street about the
only car and went a short wayaround the curve before it
(24:09):
straightens out Tracy then pullsover and stops.
We were almost directly acrossthe road from a mate's house.
Fuck, I hope John isn't his dad.
I thought to myself he wasn't.
I heard the back door open andsomeone get in behind me.
Now John must have been in thecar parked on the side of the
road and walked up to the car.
I didn't see him walk down fromin front of us and there was no
(24:31):
one walking or standing in thestreet on either side.
When we arrived, tracy, he saidJohn, this is Mick.
She said Mick, don't look round.
He said Now, that made menervous.
Hi, john.
Now I had already given Tracyher $2,000 before we left KFC,
(24:53):
so I only had the $6,500 on me.
Do you have my money?
He asked yeah, yeah, sure, Ihave it here.
I said, patting my pocket Right.
Give it to me, came the reply.
It was more than a request,more like a very calm order.
I took the money, which wereall $50 notes, out of my pocket
and put it up over my rightshoulder with my right hand.
(25:14):
Do you want me to count it?
I asked no, I'll trust you, hesaid, and as he took the money,
my right hand was still up overmy shoulder with my palm facing
up.
I could hear him doingsomething in the back seat and
then he said here you go.
I felt something, touch my hand, but whatever it was fell on
the floor behind Tracy's seat.
You'll have to reach over andpick that one up.
(25:37):
He said.
I've used the phrase 5 cent, 50cent before to describe how I
was feeling.
What it actually means is whenyou get that, that puck feeling
or the feeling like you'reshooting oneself.
That's how I was feeling.
My stress levels went throughthe roof.
(25:57):
Now remember, from where he wassitting behind me, I couldn't
see John.
The only thought I had was I'mgoing to land across into the
back seat footwell of this carand he's going to pop me.
He'll either shoot me in theback of the head or stab me, or
or punch me or do something likethat.
I'm gone here.
I was genuinely as scared asI've ever been in my life.
I took a deep and audiblebreath, turned and reached down
(26:19):
into the footwell behind Tracy'sseat.
There I saw a package wrappedin tissue paper.
I picked it up and sat back inthe seat.
I exhaled deeply Sound a bitnervous there, Mick John said to
me Did I?
Nah, all good mate.
I replied.
He then said just didn't wantto get my fingerprints on it.
I opened the tissue paper andinside was an alfalfa wrapped
(26:40):
package and inside that was halfan ounce of rock heroin.
Yes, that's right.
Tissue paper, a surface whereyou wouldn't get fingerprints,
not to mention that the L-foilin the package underneath would
have had fingerprints on it.
I'm pretty sure he dropped iton purpose to see if it would
scare me and to see how I wouldreact.
John then said I have yournumber and I'll give you a call
(27:02):
in a few days to see how it went.
You will deal with me and onlyme Got it?
Yep, john got it.
I'll talk to you when you call.
And with that he got out of thecar and we drove off.
Tracy took me back to her, backto my car, rather and I got out,
making sure I had the heroinwith me, said bye, unlocked my
driver's side door and got in.
(27:24):
I made sure she had driven offand then I let out a huge sigh.
I made sure she had driven offand then I let out a huge sigh.
My hands were literally shakingand I had to sit there for a
few minutes to calm myself down.
Adrenaline was coursing throughmy body and my heart was racing
.
I was also pretty elated that 1.
(27:44):
I didn't get hurt or killed and2.
I now had made contact with thenext level in the syndicate.
I now had made contact with thenext level in the syndicate.
Okay, so if you will cast yourmind back, part of this
operation was a requirementwhere I had to be Betty's toy
boy, which would mean I was gay.
Well, okay, bye.
Because of the reactions I hadwhen I was with the strippers.
(28:05):
The problem was going to be howwould I handle the situation if
one of the targets decided Iwas cute enough for them too?
We Betty and I didn't thinkthis would be a real issue.
The brothers were in denial andrationalized their sexual
preferences by pretending Bettywas female, labeling her such
with female pronouns, and alsothat she wore female clothing.
(28:28):
The whole male genitalia bitwas glossed over.
I obviously was the male or thetop in any relationship, and
they definitely wanted someonewho identified as a female and
was a bottom.
But it was a cause for someanxiety right through my
dealings with them.
So I have built this up enough.
Now it's time to tell thesurreal story of how I first met
(28:50):
Yakov and Bogdan.
Betty had to make a number ofcalls and invite them both over
to discuss the prospect of doingbusiness with an unknown person
.
Now that person was going to beme, but on the first meet.
We weren't going to let thatslip.
They decided that they wouldcome to her apartment to hear
her proposal.
I was going to be there and beintroduced as the boy toy and
(29:11):
generally be introduced as theperson wanting to buy the speed
and sell it to some clubs Iworked for later.
Not a bad plan, you werethinking to yourselves.
I agree it was a great plan.
But this is where things startedto get weird, at least at the
initial meeting.
It was a Thursday night and Ihad spent the day buying a new
(29:32):
outfit that was going to be fitmy standing.
I had a pair of grey jag jeans,an off-white country road type
fit, skivvy, with the rolleddown neck collar and a white
cable knit jumper.
I looked great.
I also had a flashy pair ofblack boots.
Now, that is a lot of effort,you might be thinking, and I
agree, but this was more like atheatre performance than a drug
(29:55):
buy.
I had to not only play the partconvincingly, I had to look the
part and according to Betty, Iwas very sexy.
Okay, I threw that in, but shethought I did look good.
Okay, I threw that in too.
I pass for being gay or bi, asit turned out, which was what I
was going for.
Now, I'm sure most of youlistening will have seen the
(30:17):
Star Wars movies Maybe not all17 of them, I think we're up to
now but at least the threeoriginals.
In the Return of the Jedi moviethere is a scene where Luke
Skywalker meets with Jabba theHutt in his lair.
Jabba is sitting up on the daislooking resplendent in his
robes and jewels, and chained tothe dais we find Princess Leia.
(30:39):
She is wearing a veryprovocative outfit and Jabba has
the ability to pull her by thechain back to the dais where he
can touch her, pat her head,whatever he wants to show, he is
in control of her.
To Luke or anyone else for thatmatter he was portrayed as a
powerful crime lord, and Leiawas his prize and his plaything.
Have I lost you yet?
(31:00):
No, okay, good, where I'm goingwith this is here.
Betty's lounge room was set upwith two large armchairs at one
end.
Then, at the other end of theroom, were two smaller settee
type chairs, and beyond that wasa dining table.
Whenever I came over, bettywould always be sitting in one
of the chairs the same one everytime.
Where it was positioned, it wasalmost like she was holding
(31:22):
court.
I had been there all afternoonand we had discussed and planned
how the night was going to run.
The brothers were due to arriveat about 8pm.
This was after their businesshad closed and they could get
away from their families forother business meetings.
They arrive and Betty goes tothe door and greets them.
She walks them into her throneroom and introduces me to them.
(31:44):
Yakov Bogdan, this is Michael.
He is my friend.
I held out a limp hand and saidhello, nice to meet you.
To their credit, both took itand firmly gripped it and shook
it.
I had to remember to not beforceful back with my grip and
leave it as limp as possible.
I was being submissive.
And why is Michael here?
(32:05):
Bogdan asked.
He was the older of the twobrothers.
He has been here visiting andhe isn't ready to go home yet.
He knows what I do.
He even sells a little bithimself.
You don't need to worry abouthim, darlings.
Betty replied.
Everyone goes to sit down butactually waits for Betty to sit
down first.
The brothers sit on the setteeopposite Betty.
(32:27):
I sit down on the floor.
I end up sitting down with mylegs folded to one side in front
of me with my right sideshoulder against the front of
the chair.
I am literally sitting at theedge of the right armrest, right
next to Betty's hand.
She could of and didperiodically reach out and pat
my head, to which I simplylooked at her and smiled.
(32:49):
It was almost as if I was herpet cat or dog.
For the next 30 to 40 minutes Iam sitting in this position a
la Princess Leia in Return ofthe Jedi being the attentive boy
toy.
So during the conversation therewas discussion about selling
product amounts and largeamounts were discussed.
They talked about who they wereusing, talked about wanting to
(33:11):
meet this person Betty mentioned, especially if they can move
large amounts in the strip clubs.
You see a lot of strippers usespeed to get through their
nights.
Partygoers also use speed tomake their nights better.
Strip clubs were a prime placeto sell the drug.
At the end it was agreed theywould discuss the proposition to
meet a new buyer and thenthey'd come back to her.
We had one last drink and afterabout 40 minutes to an hour the
(33:34):
brothers left.
Buzz was that bad of a criminalthat he was selling to four
undercover cops.
A few weeks later I get a phonecall one afternoon.
It was Buzz.
He sounded agitated and hewanted me to come and pick him
up.
Now, remember earlier when Imentioned that Buzz was not the
(33:57):
luckiest criminal mastermind inthe world, nor was he the
smartest.
When I mentioned that Buzz wasnot the luckiest criminal
mastermind in the world, nor washe the smartest.
Well, he wasn't only the targetof my operation, but at least
two other covert operations.
Yes, that's right.
He was selling heroin to threeor four undercovers at the same
time.
On this day, though, one ofthose operations had been
closing and he'd been raided,arrested, interviewed and
(34:19):
charged.
Of course, I knew this washappening, finally, and was
asked to keep an ear out foranything that he might, or
anyone else might be saying.
I didn't have to wait long.
Buzz was still at the policestation when he called me.
He wanted me to come and pickhim up from out in front and
take him home.
Yeah, buzz, sure, where are you?
Okay, I'll be there in 20minutes.
(34:40):
That was a fun phoneconversation to record, but it
got better.
I turn up and Buzz is standingout the front in a tracksuit and
thongs.
I pull up and he gets in thefront passenger seat.
Buzz, what's going on?
I ask Just drive, mick, let'sgo.
He said what's happened?
I asked Mate, I got raided thismorning.
I was selling to an undercovercop, he said.
(35:02):
I replied you what?
And you called me to come andget you from the station.
Are you fucking crazy?
What did you tell them about me?
Is this a setup?
No, mick, no, I didn't tellthem anything about you.
Okay, just drive, turn righthere.
He said what's up here, buzz?
(35:23):
I asked.
I knew it wasn't where he lived.
That was the other way to wherehe asked me to turn.
I just need somewhere quiet totalk to you, nick.
Okay, he asked me.
Yeah, right, sure, I replied.
So I follow his directions andwe end up parking in a quiet
street in the next suburb, overfrom the police station and
about three suburbs from whereBuzz lives.
Now, before I pick Buzz up, Ihave obviously switched on my
(35:46):
recording device to record thisconversation because I knew it
was going to be a beauty.
Buzz starts to tell me aboutthe undercover cop he was
selling to, describes him andthen asks me if I know him.
Of course, I say no and I haveno idea what he's talking about.
Good, he says Mick.
I say no and I have no ideawhat he's talking about.
Good, he says, mick, I'm goingto ask you a question.
Alright, so don't get upset.
Are you an undercover cop?
(36:07):
Do I look like a cop, buzz?
I mean really, of course I'mnot.
Are you fucking serious?
I reply Sorry, mick, I had toask.
He starts my lawyer told me thatif I ask you if you're a cop
and you say no, but you are,then anything I say to you or
anything I have done can't beused as evidence.
(36:28):
With my most stunned response Icould muster wow, really, buzz,
is that true?
No, I'm not, of course, but isthat really true?
Can I use that too?
He then said to me that's whatmy lawyer told me.
And yeah, I would ask everyonebefore you deal with them.
I knew you weren't, mick, but Ijust had to ask you.
(36:49):
Yeah, but there's no hardfeelings, it's all good, mate.
I tell him so what did you tellthe coppers?
Nothing much, and I didn't tellhim about you.
He said did you tell him aboutyour supplier?
I asked nah, mate, I wouldn'tgive him up.
You, he said Did you tell themabout your supplier?
I asked Nah, mate, I wouldn'tgive him up.
He said Thank you for listeningto Whisper in the Shadows my
true stories of a real-lifeundercover cop.
I hope you've enjoyed thatepisode.
(37:10):
In the next one we'll exploremore exciting stories from my
operations.
Please make sure you subscribeto the podcast so you never miss
an episode.
Lastly, if you're an ex-COVIDoperative or undercover police
officer, I would love to chat toyou about your experiences or,
if you're feeling dangerous,tell your stories on my podcast.
Please get in contact by myemail, which is
(37:32):
whisperintheshadowspodcast atgmailcom.
I look forward to you joiningme next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.