Introducing: Behind The White Line
5/16/20262 min
An investigation into Australia’s cocaine binge, Behind the White Line, traces the trail of white powder, from narco to nostrils. The series goes inside a $1 billion shipment, exposing a police turf war between the United States' DEA, the AFP and WA cops over an audacious sting to outwit a Mexican cartel.
With exclusive interviews of high-ranking detectives, undercover operatives, DEA agents and coke users, Behind the White Line, examines the human cost of the world’s glamour drug hosted by investigative journalist Richard Baker.
Available from 21 May on LiSTNR's Secrets We Keep, on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRichard Baker· Host0:00
[suspenseful music] Right now, Australia is awash with cocaine. [laughing] We're the number one destination for cartels and crime syndicates because we pay stupid money for it. Aussies are the world's biggest users per capita.
Speaker 3· Guest0:14
It feels like way more people are on the bags, and they're not even bothering to hide it.
Richard Baker· Host0:17
Go to a social event or even a drink at the local and there's a fair chance you'll see coke being consumed.
Speaker 4· Guest0:23
Part of my weekends.
Richard Baker· Host0:24
Getting a bag is as easy as Uber Eats. [people chattering] [suspenseful music] It's time to rack up. The lions are coming out. The boys are two to a cubicle, three to a cubicle. It's, um, yeah, snapshot of Australia right now. No judgment here. They're having a great time, but every one of those lines has a little story behind it. I'm investigative journalist Richard Baker. I've taken a look at Australia's coke habit by going deep inside an audacious $1 billion cocaine sting by America's infamous DEA and state police to outwit Mexico's deadly Gulf Cartel.
Speaker 51:03
[water sloshing] Covert police dumping fake bricks of cocaine into the ocean 70 kilometers off the Perth coast.
Richard Baker· Host1:14
But this job sparked a fierce turf war between West Australian cops, the AFP, and the DEA that's still playing out today.
Speaker 6· Guest1:22
The cartels all work together. The bikies are working together. Our cops aren't. [laughing] So that gives them a