Australian Druglords

Ratings: 7.00/10 from 7 users.

Australian DruglordsCHANNEL 9's popular cop show Australian Druglords may have thrilled viewers but the revealing series has outraged police who claim it is risking the lives of officers.

While the New South Wales Police Force and its media unit had signed off on the series, the first episode was enough to spark complaints from officers that the show compromised the identities of undercover operatives.

It is understood those concerns led to last-minute edits on the second episode about Olympic kayaker turned drug dealer Nathan Baggaley.

There were a lot of people who couldn't understand why NSW Police would co-operate to that level to expose sensitive operations, one police source said about the force's decision to back a show highlighting undercover operations.

NSW Police Association president Scott Weber confirmed that officers had complained the show - which pays the force for access to officers - had gone too far.

One complaint was that, while the faces of undercover officers were blurred, their voices could be clearly heard and footage of their bodies could have made them identifiable.

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12 Comments / User Reviews

  1. Gee Mack

    Their is a reason people take drugs because it makes u fill good ,so if u legalise it u may see crime go down , it’s time this government let people think for then self and stop thinking what’s good for us , after doing 6 years jail I waked out with $200 gate money and every prison officer when they open the gate to release u ,they say see u soon , so u have work release and u show on tv to make your self look good your all just 1big joke and your bring problems on our door and then ask for more power to put people in jail because he is selling 28 grams just so he can get 5 grams for him self and he is a drug lord

  2. Jason Nettle

    the AMERICAN GOVERNMENT take a if we cant tax it its illegal stance. Money is key to all political stances wake up!!!!!

  3. Lola San

    Crickey!! Even Australia has druglords. And their product can be found inside the pouch of a mother Kangaroo.
    Tsk. Tsk. What is the world coming to?

  4. Helen Wills

    they should not be allowed to film the undercover cops at all they will be dead meat if recognised by the dealers or whoever why are they not being protected especially over something pretty small and i hope we dont get like other countries where the amounts are alot larger they do need to keep on top even if small amounts but protect those undercover cops as there will be non they will be dead or no one will want to do the job coz of shows like this it ok to no what goes on but dont put inocent peoples lives at risk

    1. tomregit

      Helen, I must ask. Where did you learn to write like that?

  5. William Weston

    Drug, like love, video games, gambling, are not addictive. People do become addicted to these things, but they are not inherently addictive. Addiction should be look as a developmental disorder related in many cases to pain and stress. We should then ask, why the pain?

  6. Richard Troiano

    Is this seriously how things are in Australia? I was amazed at the simplicity of the operation. The fact that the dealer would sell large amounts of cocaine to a person who he does not know, but for some reason has his cell phone number and is calling you for 11 grams (not sure how they decided to buy 11 grams, why not 14? 28?) of Cocaine. And then the guy you dont know asks you for progressively larger amounts of cocaine every single time he re-ups? These Australian 'drug lords' would not last a minute in any major city in the US. Also, the description says something about how the first episode sparked anger for revealing undercover officers? Why would an undercover cop want his face seen in the first place? Obviously they care more about being famous than being alive.

    1. Daniel Pursoo

      Yeah I was blown away by this. I guess it might be a little less intense down there. I think in Richard Buttrose's case was he believed he could get away with it. He had a secondary spot. He was selling small amounts so if he got caught with a bit at home his family had the money to bail him out. He also probably did not initially get into the trade to make money. He's from a wealthy family and this was most likely a habit carried on from college/uni. Just happens that he continued to be "the man" long after college/uni and probably gradually got to that point. He definitely comes off as a guy with a huge connection and is being brazen by selling small amounts for large profit yet having a huge stash. He didn't think they would find the apartment. This is a rat job for sure. Great doc though.

    2. Gunney312

      This is NOT the reality of Australia's drug networks and isn't a fraction of % how bad the drugs are especially ice and H. There is a misperception of Australian culture from the deliberate tourist luring Steve Irwin/Crocodile Dundee/shrimp on the barbie image that is admittedly Australia's own doing as a way to get $. The truth is that Oz isn't going to air it's dirty laundry. Australia is in truth in a state of emergency. Every year the drugs get worse, the gangs get more entrenched more vicious, the crims get trickier, but what makes all of this possible is that the cops stay crooked. It has gone past the tipping point. Generalizing a country by what you see in media is sometimes all we have to go off and we do it without knowing. The crap believed by Americans is no worse that what the average Oz kid believes about America. Actually we are worse because we import most of our entertainment from the US. ex.-A friend was surprised that US telephone #'s didn't all start 555- like the tv shows. I reckon I've ranted enough. Its frustrating and sad. I love Australia and it is dying in silence on the edge of the world.

  7. lordiaco

    Ridiculous of austalian police to call a small 10 grams street dealer for "druglord"! What about tons of dope, how should they name it? Do they know in Australia what drugs are? They may call even marijuana for drugs too, poor australiens.! What a crap, They want come up to USA-made TV crime stories, but lack of criminal make it impossible in Australia. Its a most peaceful place on earth today

  8. Lasse Järvensivu

    Mr. Winston, some illegal drugs are addictive, but not all addictive drugs are illegal (Caffeine, Alcohol & Tobacco etc). So I doubt the system criminalize drugs based on them being addictive or not.

  9. Winston Smith

    how shameful a system we have. drugs are allowed to come in. made uillegal to reate black markets. (500 billion a year in illegal drug receipts make their way into the banking system in the US )
    Prohibition is what creates the value of these worthless (heroin and cocaine) products. Drugs, on their own, are not addictive so why should they be illegal?
    Drug addicts are already in bad shape.. so we add to it by making them criminals as well? shameful