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With the world's highest mark-ups, New Zealand is a top destination for meth. The impact of South American cartels and an Australian immigration law has led to bloody turf wars.
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00:00International organized crime has no natural predator.
00:05Crime syndicates are expanding and forging alliances across the globe.
00:14As law enforcement struggled to stop them, up to 5% of the global economy is now in criminal hands.
00:23I'm Paul Radu, and for the past 20 years I have investigated international organized crime.
00:29In the tune of 400 billion, and this is a very, very small slice of what's really going on.
00:36I think there are some people, let's go, let's go.
00:39In this series, I'm working with a team of reporters around the world.
00:44Are you angry with yourself for being part of this?
00:47To discover how a generation of international gangs are redrawing the criminal map.
01:17So, we're in the Golden Triangle District, and the police have set up a checkpoint to search cars coming down
01:24this road, searching for drugs and other contraband.
01:36My country, Thailand, is at the frontline of the world's fastest-growing drugs market.
01:41The meth trade in Southeast Asia is worth $60 billion a year.
02:10They're searching every single car that comes past.
02:14and everyone seems pretty okay with their cars being searched,
02:18which kind of says to me that, you know,
02:21drug searches are just a thing that happen here.
02:24It's so common.
02:39Thai authorities seized a record 139 tons of meth last year.
02:44Towns like this, in the heart of Southeast Asia's notorious Golden Triangle,
02:48are where 80% of drugs enter Thailand.
03:40Yaba, a cheap version of meth leased with caffeine,
03:43sells for under $2 a pill on the Thai market.
03:47Pure meth, ice, is trafficked through Thailand to countries as far as Australia,
03:53where a gram sells for up to $600.
03:57This area, where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet,
04:01was dubbed the Golden Triangle by the CIA in the 70s,
04:04as it became the world's second largest producer of heroin.
04:09Now, the Golden Triangle is the largest producer of meth in the world.
04:14Production is centered in Myanmar,
04:18where large parts of the country are controlled by a patchwork of ethnic militias,
04:22who fund their insurgencies through meth trafficking.
04:28The Golden Triangle is at the intersection of commercial interests,
04:33political interests,
04:34but really nobody governs there except for organized crime.
04:39You also have criminal groups operating there for centuries.
04:43Traditionally, they were engaged into the trafficking of heroin.
04:46They moved into meth, because meth is much easier to produce.
04:52There's blueprints for meth labs all over the internet.
04:55So it's a very handy drug.
04:57It's like, almost like 3D printing drugs.
05:01The precursors always come from China.
05:04So what happens is, you have large factories in China manufacturing,
05:10producing these precursors, exporting them across borders.
05:14For Chinese factories, it's a big business.
05:17China's breeding a sort of asymptomatic corruption,
05:22in the sense that, you know,
05:24they are tolerating this manufacture of precursors,
05:29because nothing really, really bad happens on Chinese soil.
05:32These precursors will be used elsewhere,
05:35and will affect people elsewhere in the world.
05:38Most Chinese precursor chemicals end up in the hands of a militia called the Wa Army,
05:44who were formed after the collapse of the Communist Party in Myanmar.
05:51Backed by the Chinese state with weapons and funds,
05:54the Wa Army have been dubbed by the US government
05:56the most heavily armed narco-traffickers in the world.
06:02China's drive to expand their power in the region
06:05comes at the cost of exacerbating a dangerous epidemic.
06:10In 2020, authorities operating in the Wa Army's territory
06:15made the largest seizure of synthetic drugs in the history of Southeast Asia,
06:20including 200 million meth tablets.
06:25drug militias like the Wa Army are considered to be Thailand's biggest security threat.
06:40Multi-million dollar seizures from the Wa Army are a weekly occurrence on the Thai border,
06:45and the police have just made a fresh catch.
06:48Holy shit, that's a lot of drugs.
06:50Sacks full of drugs.
06:54Army, police, and being guarded very seriously.
06:59So, I'd heard a lot about how drugs are packaged in these tea bag containers,
07:05because they hold exactly 100 grams.
07:07And this is the real thing.
07:10Six million, seven hundred thousand tablets of Yaba packed in tea bags.
07:18Three million tons of Myanmar tea cross international borders every year.
07:24So, it's the perfect commodity to hide methane.
07:27A hundred kilograms of ketamine.
07:30We're looking at 26 million dollars worth of ketamine and Yaba right here.
07:36So, what do you think is that a lot of people have to do in the Thai world?
07:5136 people are the people who are responsible for 36 people,
07:55and they still don't have the people who are responsible.
07:58But this is the people who are responsible for the country,
08:01and the people who are responsible for the country.
08:05And the people who are playing with the one who comes from the tower of Chai Dan is certain and
08:10certain people.
08:12But the people who are playing with the one who is just a Thai person.
08:17That's right.
08:19They can't stop seeing this job.
08:24They must try to sign up to go to the building, so that they can't stop seeing this job.
08:38So this is pretty interesting.
08:40The 999 five stars stamped onto the packet of drugs.
08:46That's actually the logo of the syndicate
08:50behind the production of this batch of drugs.
08:54The 999 and five star stamp
08:57is the symbol of the Wah army.
09:03The Thai army has the impossible job
09:06of stopping the Wah army's drug smugglers
09:08coming across the border with Myanmar,
09:10which is over 1,500 miles long
09:13and covered by dense jungle.
09:44The
09:49The rangers must watch their every step.
09:52They are patrolling one of the most heavily landmined areas in the world.
09:56In the 1970s, millions were planted to stop communist insurgents.
10:02Now, the landmines are a danger to both the smugglers and the rangers.
10:15The landmines are a danger, right?
10:18Yes, it's a danger.
10:20The landmines are a danger to the rangers?
10:24The landmines are a danger to the 8th, right?
10:27No, there are.
10:28There are not.
10:29No, there are.
10:33And then, the landmines are a danger.
10:36For the past year, the landmines of the landmines of the landmines.
11:04Army rangers have laid even more mines called claymores to stop the War Army smugglers.
11:26Ah, shit. I would not want to be a drug trafficker. This is really difficult to walk through.
11:33Oh, ah, shit.
11:37Ah, okay, there, there. Shit. And that's why you don't traffic drugs. Oh, fucking hell.
11:49The scouts who are bringing the drugs across into Thailand would shoot this sign to inform local people that they
11:59brought the drugs across and that they're ready for collection.
12:02They'll leave them here and then go back to the Myanmar side. But that is a lot of bullet holes.
12:08As so many smugglers invade this jungle, the Army rangers have given them a nickname.
12:13If they talk about the time, they call it the Kong Thap Mot. They will take 2,000 meters away
12:23from here.
12:24They'll take 2,000 meters away from here. And then they'll take 2,000 meters away from here.
12:39Despite exhaustive daily patrols in landmine jungles, the Thai Army intercept less than 10% of drugs that are flooding
12:46into the country.
12:49It's crazy to think that there are thousands and thousands of miles that separate Thailand and Myanmar, and it's patrolled
12:56by just a handful of people in each area.
12:59These guys are the guys who are on the front line, and they're doing a fantastic job, but, you know,
13:04some of them are pretty young.
13:05There's not that many of them, and the borders are extremely porous.
13:11Five miles north and sitting right on the border with Myanmar is Maesai.
13:22Crime journalist Pia Watt has become a local celebrity here after decades of uncovering the scale of the meth trade
13:29that cuts right through this town.
13:32Sometimes he arrives at crime scenes before the authorities do, which has caused him quite a bit of trouble.
13:39With the authorities who are always like, why did you get here before we did? Are you involved in this?
13:45Inside the knowledge is the key to understanding how the smugglers managed to move hundreds of tons of meth across
13:53the border without being detected.
14:00There are much more people in theū.
14:07The other ones have found their시간 from hidden to the border.
14:13So they have to find them.
14:14In the near future, what can you get done?
14:19There is a lot of people who have to be detected.
14:21They have the tribe to identify.
14:21Suck uma, there are cases where they have to be detected.
14:46We're going off-road to meet a former spotter for drug runners.
14:50He's now a police informant tipping them off about trafficking on the Thai-Mianmar border.
15:00We're going to take it.
15:03We're going to use a car.
15:05Yes, we can use a car.
15:06You can get it there.
15:11We need to do more work.
15:19It's a car.
15:20I have to go to the front.
15:21I'm going to go to the front.
15:23I'm going to go to the front.
15:25Do you have any concerns about the subject of the subject?
15:30Yes.
15:31The subject of the subject is a very important point
15:35if you want to go back to the front.
15:43The subject of the subject is to go back to the front.
15:49I will see the type of subject of subject to the front.
15:52I will see the large number of subject.
15:55But there is no road.
15:59For the subject, there are no road from the front.
16:02The subject is a road from 100,000 years old.
16:07The subject is much more than the subject.
16:14What time did you get to?
16:17What time did you get to?
16:19It's time to get to the time.
16:23It's time to get to the time.
16:25They're like, what's going on?
16:31It's a team, it's a team.
16:33It's a team.
16:34The team will be a team.
16:37It's time to get to the time.
16:40What is the team?
16:43It's time to get to the team.
16:50I'll be able to get a team.
16:52There's a team.
16:54I think it's time to get to the team.
16:55It's time to get to the team.
17:00It's time to get to the team.
17:03It's time for a hundred people.
17:05Yes, there are a number of people, so I can do it as well.
17:13Oh, like this?
17:16Yes.
17:17Yes.
17:18Yes.
17:20Yes.
17:21Yes.
17:21Yes.
17:21Yes.
17:22Yes.
17:22Yes.
17:24Yes.
17:25Yes.
17:27Yes.
17:28Yes.
17:35So, despite that amazing view over there, this is one of the key routes for drug traffickers
17:41to bring drugs into Thailand.
17:45There's two villages on either side, but the easiest way is just to come straight down the
17:49middle, and they'll walk all that distance.
17:55Entire villages in the Golden Triangle have been economically dependent on drug trafficking
18:00for decades.
18:03The Thai authorities can't arrest their way out of the problem, so as a deterrent, they've
18:08imposed some of the toughest drug laws in the world.
18:14In a country where drug trafficking is punishable by death and minor possession can land you
18:2020 years in jail, I could be thrown in prison for meeting a trafficker and refusing to reveal
18:26my sources.
18:28The Met problem is very much hidden because the government wants to keep it secret.
18:35Journalists can't really reveal, expose this type of trafficking.
18:39They want Thailand to keep on being, you know, a magnet for tourists.
18:45Thailand is actually one of the countries in that region with very little investigative reporting.
18:53And if they go there and try to do something about it, they can, you know, get thrown in jail
18:57as well.
19:12Despite the risk, a team of journalists from Vice has managed to gain access to a major drug trafficker
19:18distributing meth across Thailand.
19:24To avoid any lengthy prison sentence, the film crew must remain anonymous.
19:32Their communications are encrypted and I'm not allowed to know their identities.
19:41For the trafficker, allowing cameras into his world is a matter of life and death.
19:51Here are people who live with their protege.
19:57In this region.
20:00There's onebelt here.
20:01Here's a Hopefully altogether.
20:05Well, myickers also varies where I currently see,
20:18I don't want anyone to know about my friends or my friends, but I don't want anyone to know about
20:25my friends.
20:29It's a video about Yabba, which is a small group of people.
20:35A small group of people who are living in the world,
20:40who is building a building on it.
20:42What I can do is my friends who are living in this group.
20:51I don't have anything else.
20:55I have caffeine and ice.
20:58It's just a small group of people.
21:02It's about 400,000 meters.
21:03It's about 400,000 meters.
21:07It's about 400,000 meters.
21:14It's about 400,000 meters.
21:16It's about 400,000 meters.
21:17It's about 400,000 meters.
21:22WY is known as the world is yours amongst users.
21:26And while there are many urban legends about the trademark,
21:29according to the American DEA, it's the stamp of the WA army.
21:43it's about 500,000 meters.
21:47I see why they are not here.
21:53It's about 900,000 meters.
21:55The owner's name is for a number of parking parking and the state.
21:57The owner's name is for 4 and 4.
21:59they realize that the ABA is a popular sign.
22:01The owner's name is for six or 4,000 meters.
22:02The owner's name is for six years to be a building.
22:04I like to use it.
22:07I like to use it.
22:08I like to use it.
22:17The big children
22:20are people
22:22from different people.
22:26The most important thing is
22:30the most important thing
22:30is the most important thing
22:32that is not the most important thing.
22:36I don't say anything.
22:37Then, I'm told
22:38to use it
22:39right now,
22:41and I told him
22:44that it's an area
22:45to give it.
22:46The most important thing
22:47is that
22:48it's a real problem.
22:57I feel it's a bit
23:00because
23:01because the effect of 2 kilos is over 20 years old.
23:11To understand why drug trafficking is so dangerous and controversial in Thailand,
23:16you have to go back to 2003.
23:19Thai Prime Minister at the time, Thaksin Chinawat,
23:22declared Yabar dealers and users enemies of the state.
23:31Mass arrests and extrajudicial assassinations followed.
23:36Over half of the 2,500 people killed
23:39were later found to have no connection to drug trafficking.
23:46Thousands of people were arrested, many people were put behind bars
23:51and it was just, you know, it's similar to what's going on nowadays
23:57with the Philippines, right, with Duterte.
24:01It's exactly what Thaksin was doing in Thailand.
24:04These people think that they can solve a problem through violence,
24:08through force, through sheer force.
24:11And that's a very, very bad approach to crime
24:15because crime is a system.
24:24It's difficult to overstate the effect these killings have had
24:27on poor communities in Thailand.
24:30So this is Si or Pepsi.
24:32He's going to be my guide getting through this Klong Tei area.
24:37I've come to Klong Tei, a slum in the heart of Bangkok
24:40which was once known as the ground zero of Thailand's war on drugs.
24:53Local rapper Nineteen Tiger was 12 years old when his parents,
24:58who were both dealing drugs, mysteriously disappeared.
25:07Tiger's invited me on the set of his latest video, Land Rover.
25:10And by the looks of things, some dodgy shit is about to go down.
25:14There's a beat-up bend.
25:15Big black bag full of drugs or money.
25:18Gun, again.
25:19Gun.
25:21Hands.
25:22Gun out.
25:23Bag.
25:24All right?
25:25That's right.
25:26To the head, to the head.
25:27Great.
25:29The new Range Rover.
25:31The new Range Rover.
25:37Ichiaan.
25:40The new Sallyied.
25:40The new Range Rover.
25:42Why I starts playing 30,000
25:45Since the movement is plays a master's type.
25:54Depending on our shoulders and toes,
26:00Yes.
26:01They were here.
26:04I would like to tell everyone.
26:08I have a moment in my life that I haven't ever told you.
26:14I've never told you.
26:15I've never told you.
26:17What was that moment?
26:21My parents died from young people.
26:26I knew it was about 56 years.
26:29My parents died from young people.
26:36So, did you find this one?
26:40Do you see any other people?
26:42Do you see any other people?
26:44But the people did not do this.
26:46There were some people.
26:48Some people did not do this.
26:50I met my parents.
26:59It's hard to get out of here.
27:01I use a word to say,
27:02it's hard to get out of here.
27:04It's hard to get out of here.
27:05We have a feeling that
27:07why do you say that
27:09that you have a problem with this one?
27:11You have to get out of here,
27:13and you have to fight with this one?
27:16I've been here too.
27:18I'm not sure.
27:19I'm not sure.
27:19I'm not sure.
27:22I've been here.
27:23When I came here,
27:24I realized that this person died,
27:26this person died,
27:27this person died,
27:29and this person died.
27:32My mother died behind me.
27:35That's when I was there.
27:37I had to get out of here.
27:40I had to get out of here.
27:41To get out of here.
27:42The day that they get out of here,
27:44the day that they sent me
27:46to get out of here,
27:48and they had to get out of here.
27:48And they died.
27:51When I was talking about this,
27:53if I think,
27:54I think I want them to have a job.
27:58But...
28:00It's hard to get out of here.
28:01It's hard to get out of here.
28:02I don't understand.
28:03But I think that they still have a job.
28:06It's like the song that I've been here.
28:09And I want to spoil it.
28:11If my mother has a job,
28:13I think that the song will be able to get out of here.
28:14Mm.
28:19With the highest number of Yaba users
28:21in the world per capita,
28:23Thailand's bloody war on drugs
28:24hasn't curbed the appetite for meth.
28:26It's driven it deeper underground.
28:28I don't know.
28:42With the highest number of Yaba us
28:46and what they call the Yaba.
28:49And they also have those kind of found.
28:51This is a brand new Yaba.
28:52If the Yaba is known,
28:54and the Yaba.
28:56They used a brand new Yaba.
28:56These are the brand new Yaba.
28:57They have a new Yaba.
28:57And this is the brand new Yaba.
28:58This is the one who is doing this, if it's in the country of Thailand, it's called Thamreer.
29:06If I'm using this, I'm using this.
29:13I'm using this.
29:14I'm using this.
29:17I'm using this.
29:22Possession of just a few Yabar pills can lead to a 20-year prison sentence.
29:27So, parties like these are incredibly secretive and users must keep their identities hidden.
29:57We have to talk about this.
30:00We must talk about it before.
30:04We can't do this because it's a lot of people.
30:09It's a lot of people.
30:11It's a lot of people, but I'm using it.
30:13If I go, they'll take me.
30:18If I go, they'll buy them for the next person.
30:24If I go, they'll buy them for the next person.
30:27I'm using this.
30:28I'm using this.
30:28It's not a good thing.
30:32If I go, you'll die.
30:36If I go, they'll be able to go.
30:39If I go, they'll be able to go.
30:45If I go, they'll be able to go.
30:45I don't know if they'll be able to get to the next person.
30:48So, we need to go.
30:59Thailand's draconian drug laws allow the police to conduct random drug tests on all its citizens in public places.
31:06Users who test positive are arrested and often imprisoned.
31:10This has caused an explosion in Thailand's prison population.
31:14In the last 15 years, it's ballooned from 80,000 to 350,000.
31:2070% are serving time for drug offences.
31:23In Thailand, you know, there's people behind bars who are convicted for almost nothing,
31:28for quantities of drugs that in other countries would be completely ignored.
31:33And unfortunately, you know, our population of jails will only solidify criminal connections
31:39between people who are there behind bars.
31:41The criminals will be there to offer them jobs.
31:44They'll be foot soldiers for organised crime because this is how it works.
31:48Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia are breeding the new organised crime groups
31:56who are going to be more audacious, who are going to be more skilled when it comes to cross-border
32:02business.
32:06The surge in drug trafficking in Thailand isn't an isolated problem.
32:11It's part of a vast international meth empire that has the entire region in its grip.
32:20But the question is, who exactly is pulling the strings?
32:24You're the guy who knows what we're talking about here. How big is this industry now?
32:29If you look at the whole drug economy, meth economy, Southeast, East and Southeast Asia,
32:34we estimate conservative range, 60 billion US dollars a year.
32:40Obviously, that money is spread along that chain, but it's heavily concentrated on the one end in the producer's hands,
32:46right?
32:46The guys who are producing a lot of this meth, the big, big organised crime groups, they would hold billions
32:52of dollars
32:52because they're able to do deals with Japanese Yakuza, Australian biker gangs or mafia.
32:58I see. Yeah, so this truly is transnational in the sense that everyone involved, the people who are doing the
33:04precursors,
33:05then the production, then the selling, and to the final consumer.
33:08Yeah, so they're using the region for what it offers them. Chemicals in one place, production in another,
33:12shipment through another, market in another. And then, of course, they have all this money to launder, which they do
33:17in other places.
33:18Who are they and how do they operate?
33:21There's been names kicked around the last couple of years of some of them and particularly one.
33:27which is kind of a collection of triad interests called Sam Gore.
33:31These are the gentlemen that saw the opportunity with synthetics and the opportunity to scale it up
33:36and concentrate production in the Golden Triangle using their old historic connections,
33:41the territory that they could get their hands on there.
33:45The Sam Gore syndicate, you know, they control about 40% of the meth trade in the Asia-Pacific region,
33:52in the Golden Triangle.
33:54They've been heavily involved in the heroin trade and then they moved into synthetics and meth and fentanyl and ketamine.
34:02The Sam Gore syndicate is made of five groups. These are triads, triads who are there for hundreds of years.
34:08They've always had their connections to Hong Kong, to China, and Hong Kong itself is a place that helps the
34:18Golden Triangle launder money.
34:22Because Hong Kong is great for creating companies that are used in this financial infrastructure that allows the money laundering
34:30large scale to go on.
34:32The police know about the Sam Gore syndicate. They've been investigating, you know, the triads and the components of this
34:40syndicate for many, many years.
34:45You can't really arrest Sam Gore because Sam Gore, it's not just a leader, it's more like a hydra that
34:52has heads everywhere, like in, you know, in the financial industry, in the meth, in the connections with other organized
34:59crime groups.
35:00So it's really, really hard to deal with someone like the Sam Gore group because there's no law enforcement that
35:07can match them.
35:12The Sam Gore have a heavy presence in the towns that sit on Thailand's border.
35:16They launder their money through gambling and prostitution in towns like Thakilek.
35:25We've made contact with a local call girl whose clients operate in this underworld.
35:36We've been using it at some point of time.
35:37We've got two years.
35:40We've been making a record for a couple years now.
35:42We've been doing a PR for our primordial company.
35:45We've said that we're looking for our parents.
35:49I love it.
35:50We've got all the homes and nouveau homes.
35:53There are all homes for the homeless people.
35:53This is our first home.
35:57The people who said that they're the people.
36:00My father is a boss.
36:02He's a mafia.
36:07He has a child.
36:09He has 10-20 people.
36:11He doesn't have a single word.
36:14He's a kid.
36:15I've seen him so many.
36:18He used a job.
36:19He used a job.
36:20He used to eat a beer.
36:22He used to eat a beer.
36:24He used to eat a beer.
36:33What kind of food do you think?
37:19This call girl's testimony shows how Chinese syndicates like Sam Goh
37:24use the lawless towns of Thakilek as a base for their international operations.
37:29The Sam Goh syndicate, they control banks, they control factories,
37:34and they have access to the materials that are needed to create the meth.
37:39And while the cheap meth stays in the Golden Triangle and in Thailand,
37:44the more expensive meth will go to places like Australia and New Zealand
37:48because you can make billions on the back of that.
37:52I mean, it's good business because they have very good connections with gangs in Australia,
37:58gangs in New Zealand, gangs in other countries in Southeast Asia.
38:06Sam Goh works with the Wah state militia to traffic Myanmar meth into Thailand
38:11where it then travels throughout the rest of Southeast Asia and beyond.
38:15The biggest profits are made in Australia, which has the highest use of meth in the English-speaking world.
38:22By the time it enters Australia, the price per kilo shoots up from $8,000 to $200,000.
38:36Ice, it's intersecting with every aspect of Australian life.
38:41Now the Prime Minister has commissioned a new task force to tackle this national crisis.
38:46The market is so lucrative in Australia, the Sam Goh share their profits by collaborating with the notorious biker gangs
38:53who run the country's distribution network.
38:57Western Australia has the nation's highest rate of meth use.
39:01Detective Inspector Gordon Fairman of the Western Australian Police was willing to talk to me about the scale of the
39:06epidemic over there.
39:07Meth has become the challenge in the Australian drug scene and we've been escalating our meth action plans in all
39:14of the capital cities around the country to address that.
39:17We have recently intercepted 10, 15, 25 kilo loads, although last year there was a significant load of nearly a
39:25tonne.
39:26In Western Australia particularly, distribution of meth is almost exclusively controlled by OMCG or Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.
39:35Yeah, highly structured, highly violent and highly criminal.
39:40What we see is organised crime networks who are wearing patches.
39:46Today, the Western Australian Gang Crime Squad are hitting the trade where it hurts the most, the local biker gangs
39:53who run the distribution networks.
39:55Part of our gang crime strategy, as you all know, is we got reach into WA, we can go anywhere
40:00at any time and cause disruption against OMCGs.
40:03So mission for today, at least two warrants completed, up to four warrants.
40:07But I'll go in as one team to the first address, secure that and then move on to the second
40:13place.
40:14What we've decided to do is we'll come in from Welcome Road and it does look like there's CCTV on
40:20the house, but the gate itself looks pretty solid and we'll basically walk in behind 5x5.
40:27We're at about a kilometre at the hallmark point, so final action point.
40:31Beware guys, target address is on your left on the corner.
40:43The Western Australian police are making historic cash seizures.
40:48In just six weeks they've seized $32 million connected to the meth trade and the biker gangs.
40:54Thank you ladies and gentlemen.
40:55What you see in front of you today is just short of $9 million cash seized over the last couple
41:02of weeks.
41:03There is a third current seizure being counted that we believe will be the highest single seizure in Australian history,
41:12in excess of $20 million.
41:14This money has been derived from the profits of selling methamphetamine within Western Australia.
41:21Our intent is relentless to target the individuals that peddle the death trade that is methamphetamine.
41:31There's vast amounts of money to be made and let's be clear about why people are involved in this trade.
41:37This is purely about money and there are huge amounts of money that can be made.
41:41If you can control the largest market share then you can make the largest profit.
41:46So in a limited market like Western Australia, now you can flood the market and you can maybe double the
41:51amount of meth that's available.
41:52If you can improve your supply chain by having more outlets and having more transit routes then you can take
41:59over a larger market share.
42:01Most of the gangs that we're dealing with here are internationally represented.
42:05They're not local gangs, we're talking about the Hells Angels, we're talking about the Comancheros, the Banditos
42:10that have an international footprint anyway.
42:12Our investigations over the last two years particularly have identified a number of high-profile former OMCG members
42:19who have left Australia and are now resident in other countries around the world.
42:25One of those countries is Thailand.
42:27Biky violence spilled onto the streets of Pattaya in September with three Australians involved in a vicious assault on two
42:34Thai men.
42:36Profits from the $60 billion meth market are so huge even astronomical seizures don't hinder the trade.
42:44The Samgar syndicate has pioneered a terrifying transnational alliance between Burmese militias, Thai drug runners and now Australian biker gangs.
42:54It's reached unprecedented heights of power by exploiting political conflicts and instability in the region.
43:01If you really want to tackle this problem, you've got to look at a syndicate like the Samgar syndicate and
43:07follow the money, follow the companies, follow all that.
43:10It would take a huge network of law enforcement from all over the world to build a worthy enemy for
43:18the Samgar group.
43:19I'm talking about real international cooperation.
43:22Not just by going in, raiding places, arresting people, putting them in cages, in jails and all that.
43:28Because this is much bigger than just that.
43:30You've got to look at supply chains, you've got to look at how these businesses are run from a financial
43:36standpoint.
43:37These are very complex problems that the world is not really addressing right now.
43:43I think what the Thai government is trying to hide, to protect, is their inability and their lack of success
43:51when it comes to fighting drugs.
43:53At the same time, we're seeing lately that there is quite a bit of unrest.
43:57Because the new generations in Thailand, they have different perceptions and they see that the government is not always working
44:05in their favour.
44:07This is again the outcome of a closed society where you don't allow people their freedoms, ultimately.
44:15The Thai government has announced that tackling the drug problem is a top priority.
44:20But caught between the biggest meth producer in the world and its biggest consumer, Thailand is struggling to cope with
44:26the international crime syndicates using the country as a meth superhighway.
44:32The authorities have taken a hard line on narcotics.
44:36Nevertheless, like most wars on drugs around the world, it's failing to succeed.
44:46Throughout the making of this film, one thing has become increasingly apparent.
44:50And that is that the drugs industry in Southeast Asia has and is changing dramatically from the types of drugs
44:58being sold to the methods that the gangs use to operate.
45:03Unfortunately, I'm not seeing the authorities change with them.
45:07And just knowing that in the last 10, 20 years, drug production has gone from the tens of tons up
45:13to the hundreds of tons is absolutely terrifying.
45:18In another 10 years, will it be thousands of tons?
45:21The next generation is going to have a huge drug problem to deal with.
45:25And if we don't change and adapt now, we're going to lose that fight.
45:32By the end, I will not forget to mind.
45:34Rasting studies, 3.0-1.
45:34In the meantime, maybe you're going to lose that fight.
45:37한번 hold an emphasis on what's going on to make a şeyi happy soil.
45:44Or fruit industry stays with MILLER funding.
45:55mother in terceira!
45:56The next generation is going to be expanded.
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