Australian Druglords Episode 1. Richard Buttrose HQ

what do you know about drug lords wait what do you think you know well forget everything for starters they don't all live in the underworld they live in our world drug lords can come from good families either but Rose has told a Sydney Court she was shocked her nephew was dealing in cocaine summer household names national hero I don't take drugs I've never taken drugs and bagley has been jailed for dealing ecstasy others are nameless villains peddling death and drugs to our most Bolin seems these days it's not uncommon for people to see another great tool wrong in selling ecstasy kids I think it's a disgrace but no matter who they are the police are always watching he was the man that had to go if we got him when you always like to come down with him as well and waiting for just the right moment to strike for the first time ever you will see the actual footage film by the men and women of the New South Wales Police Force as they bring down the drug barons and just how they trap their targets will amaze you secret listening devices Finnick by the [ __ ] hidden phone taps and covert surveillance you'll be there every step of the way as the net closes in we just wanted to negate the whole syndicate they're not pharmaceutical products these things are dangerous drugs this is Australian drug lords it is packed side by side tonight nice to curb catching the cocaine King to Australia's a list he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth as a famous auntie ITER and is a loving father and husband it took police six long months to put him behind bars at that moment I probably thought jackpot the drug lord is Richard but Rose this has all the ingredients of a Hollywood script an a-list dealer who seemed to have it all but what makes this story about Richard but Rose even more compelling is it's real the setting is one of the most upmarket areas in Australia 3ks that way is Millionaire's Row the average house price is 13 million dollars for case of the East is the famous Bondi Beach and if you head west three case you bump into the notorious Golden Mile the cross kings cross the suburb that never sleeps and all of this was Richard but roses turf this is the story of operation Connell the target is 37 year-old Richard buttress a successful restaurateurs born to a life of money and privilege he's married to Pollyanna and together they have a two-year-old son he calls himself a man to his friends he had it all the men and women investigating his crimes are senior drug detectives working in Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs we received information from a community source indicating that Richard Buttrose was selling one of these drugs throughout the eastern suburbs and with that it was game on the first step after any tip-off is to know as much as you can about the target what was Richard's pattern of behavior and who was he meeting late 2008 we recommit surveillance on Richard from his home address at Paddington during that surveillance we were following around and it was quite obvious from the outset that he was meeting people in the streets he was meeting people at their homes and it was obvious that he is supplying drugs on those occasions it's November of 2008 and this is some of the first police surveillance footage of Richard buttress we organized for a a police operator to contact Richard via text the police intercept the mobile phone number that Richard's clients use when they want to score drugs and they begin texting madly over and over again but no response finally on Christmas Eve 2008 they get a breakthrough while most of us is celebrating with family and friends Richard betrays answers the police text had taken a couple of months but um from that point we were confident that ya could only get better from here it's the second stage of the operation in police terms are controlled by we wanted to put a an undercover operative in and basically buy cocaine from him to enable us to obtain a brief of evidence on him and to prosecute him an undercover detective is a special kind of police officer a chameleon of sorts able to blend into any environment and deal with criminals from all walks of life the operative assigned to Richard had a tougher than most the rich kid from Patou had a tight-knit circle of friends and reference checked every new buyer very soon the operative will meet up with Richard he'll be wearing a wire and he will try to buy ten grams of cocaine we had surveillance deployed around vicinity of the Lord Dudley Hotel we've got a pool are now time a tray of the living the undercover operative it's a cross between nerves and adrenaline ladies the Lord Dudley hotel he turned up in his Mercedes when he turned up the excitement level I think probably jumped a little bit more the entire operation is riding on this moment there's a friendly if Richard gets any wind that this is a setup police will never know the true extent of his drug deal and he'll slip through the net you're about to hear exactly what police did as they monitor the conversation between Richard but Rose the target and what police called the friendly the undercover detective 29:10 right then get one free that's what you do it may just sound like small talk but this is crucial while richard has answered the police text there's no guarantee he'll sell the officer drugs especially if he suspects something is up here's a Christmas miss kilowatt you just need to get a lift but I don't want it right hostess I'm looking after can honestly tell you yeah I'll get rid of him I'll know you're wrong come on 11 May Paul how many board members retarder know how do we know you anyway remember Richard only sells to those who've been referred to him by trusted clients if the undercover detective says the wrong name a name Richard doesn't know not only will the deal fall through his relationship with Richard will be open Sydney's eastern suburbs are synonymous with wealthy resonance it is littered with those born into money those that have made bucket loads and it is on an unassuming tree-lined Street in a mercedes-benz that a drug dealer and an undercover police officer at men up the police hoping their suspect will sell drugs come on 11 May Rob I really want born with Agra know do we know you anyway oh we know you anyway it could be any answer that he does give Richard would not like and he wouldn't deal with him again but how do we know you anyway oh when are you anyway and we know you cruel madam oh come on oh cool actually a personal friend like either friend all right but nice to meet likewise ever knows knows you're off a mix me yep all set because all that some person as I said yep every other actually you can listen were they that was hard evidence to that he was dealing drugs we were able to purchase an exhibit it confirmed that he was dealing cocaine and and it commenced a relationship with I suppose Richard in the police where he was selling us drugs now police could have arrested Richard right here outside the pub but they could only have charged him with selling just those 11 bags and detectives believe this is core business for Richard so they need him to do another deal with the undercover operative in effect they need more evidence but will they get it police try for a second meeting the undercover detective sends a text message to Richard's drug phone it takes a little while but they do get a response this time police are holding nothing back the first team of surveillance officers head to a nearby roof on ground level police are positioned in cars the meeting place is the one way street that runs alongside the Paddington bowling club right next to where the undercover police officer will wait for his dealer families and friends are happily enjoying the sunshine on the bowling-green oblivious to what is about to happen the undercover detective is in place police have started to film awaiting their target this footage is straight out of the police files on Richard but Rose that's 1418 printable city in the car in the car is the same undercover officer half an hour in and there's no sign of Richard our work from the target has he gone cold were still as someone tipped him off on every occasion you get news that whether they're going to turn up on our but let's just pop of course for the what the controlled operations all about is graciously no food I think - awaiting word from the tire - 24 finally Richard arrives it is packed side by side notice to curb this time I was in a surveillance vehicle nearby and I was recording video footage of the transaction and we're obviously Richard and he didn't even get out of his car on this occasion just talking through the window I think you're about to see one of the strongest pieces of evidence against Richard Patras he is about to toss cocaine into the hands of the undercover police officer a cocaine deal is about to go down and is quietly colossal or will it the police can't hear what's happening it's a waiting game in one car is the cocaine dealer Richard but rocks and in the other an undercover police officer the cocaine is in that tiny little package 11 individual 1 gram bags of the drug going from Richard to the undercover detective worth a cool two and a half thousand dollars he seemed to be just conducting business he wasn't really concerned about being detected by police as it appeared to be simple for him okay the target vehicles reversing out Richards Merc is so well known he only gets a few hundred meters of the road stopping being approached by two more people okay he's being approached by someone on the street just cemented for us the fact that these guys were very active in the eastern suburbs selling cocaine so we estimated it was at least doing 51 grand bags if not a hundred one green bags a day $250 a gram it's just twelve thousand dollars a day that's a lazy 360 grand a month over four million a year in cold hard cash so what makes a rich kid from one of Australia's wealthiest suburbs get into dealing cocaine why risk it he had it all his father was a respected investment banker iter is item but rose the magazine matron Richard has expensive hobbies he drives in a lotus race car team the car alone is worth more than one hundred and fifty thousand bucks and now police have two samples of video evidence showing the eastern suburbs LED making money from selling drugs but for a suspected drug lord the amounts are spor it's time to up the stakes when police next door deal with Richard it will be for a greater amount three lots of 11 grand bags they need to test just what he is capable of supplying ten days later the undercover detective sends a text to the same mobile he's contacted but rose on before and waits at the same place if Richard turns up and takes the bait police will arrest him but it's not that simple a car pulls alongside but it's not the blue Mercedes and it's not Richard but Rose they scrap the big boy the priority is to find out who the mystery man is he seems to know what's going on and sells the undercover operative 11 1 grand bags of cocaine for two and a half thousand bucks police learned the man is an associate of Richard but Rose and he's aware of how the business works and but Rose shared the phone it was almost like a business that was the central part of their business one week but Rose would have the phone the other week would have the phone and then when they decided they'd swap it over but if police bring down the associate they'll tip off Richard and they still have to get one more buy before they can make an arrest the undercover police officer sends text after text trying to get Richard but rose to sell him more cocaine nobody would turn up so I think they've got a little bit suspicious of us police wait in the usual spot right here near the bolo but Richard ignores every text have they gone too hard too fast if Richard really is suspicious then he may shut up shop and get rid of the remaining cocaine so police changed tack they pull out the undercover officer and that means no more buyers instead they rely on physical surveillance detectives watch Richard at his home in Paddington that he shares with his pregnant wife and their young son and police know his routine back-to-front he appeared to commence what I call his drug run about the same time he would work between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock of thereabouts and he would go out and he would service his clients come through a clock he'd knock off even now Richard is making more cash in a week than most families can make in a year he's a drug dealer and police must shut him down the decision was made to follow him around once we observed him conduct a transaction then he would be stopped and arrested it's february 25th 2009 outside the Phoenix hotel in the leafy cashed-up suburb of bull Lara Richard but Rose sells two grams of cocaine now I made the call to arrest Richard at that time Bart Rose had pulled up on Ocean Avenue he was surrounded by traffic the police including myself approached the car attempted to get him out of the car at that stage he hit the gears Deacon a twenty two neutral he was revving the car to drive off he had turned steering wheel hands going into it that they managed to get him out of the car the Mercedes a gift from his late father a banking industry heavyweight is now a crime scene okay the time is now buy more watch 12 midday on Wednesday the 25th of February 2009 we're just short time ago arrested Richard rush Rhodes who at the time was driving this blue colored CD spins to what we believe with a drug transaction that occurred at a local hotel around the corner just up here so what we're going to do we're going to conduct the search of the motor vehicle bill combo our desire for those 6 million stances whatever police find in this car will be used as evidence against Richard Butler and it could be devastating for him and others god it's below nine good a blue and white silver too so I contain a number of resealable bags containing what appears to be a white powder substance seeing the container full of cocaine was exactly what Auden to see any other parties richard is handcuffed been searched right front pocket 400 450 almost 4,000 bucks in drug money it's all damning evidence against Richard but the next fire could bring down not only the dealer but some of Australia's most prominent people I find that 40 to 1 is a notepad with various names and numbers next to these names we will be season it's come to be known as the little black book there'll be a few nervous types around town today I suspect police have details of the people who've bought cocaine from him his clients his so-called little black book that will make people very very nervous had some names and some amounts of money and I believe that was money that was owing to him for for drug supply I think that the phone numbers that were in his mobile phone on the drug run perhaps were more controversial in the middle of the car search a person called horse actually rings the drug phone unaware that it is now evidence to be used by police kali shine for Miss course the names and numbers of all of Richard's regular clients are in that phone it was in excess of 250 300 names in the phone and some of those names are very familiar celebrities movie stars politicians high-profile businessman Richard really was the dealer to the top end of town so where'd he hide his stash well Richard the drug dealer was also a husband and a father and the house where he raises his young son in this street is about to be turned upside down by police is there anything that you wish dressed otherwise Richard not to say anything up inside is Richards wife Pollyanna she has just days away from giving birth to their second child and has just been informed that her husband is a cocaine deal he did appear upset he was I think he was more concerned about his wife at home and his little boy the first time Richard sees his family he will be handcuffed and surrounded by police and the sniffer dog will be going all through their home only Richard knows what the dog will find a family home in the stately subbhu Paddington in Sydney is about to be searched by forensic police officers and the dog squad it is the home of Richard Buttrose a drug dealer and inside is his wife Judy give birth any day boom of the sniffer dog moves through the house and if he sits it means he can smell drugs and nothing is off-limits first the bedroom of Richards two-year-old son then the bedroom Richard and Pollyanna she there's no privacy police have to do whatever it takes to find whatever may be hidden inside the family hug his wife being heavily pregnant you don't want to put any undue stress on anybody boomer moves through every part of the house but he still hasn't sat down and that means he hasn't found any drugs and now the questions are running thick and fast if the dog can't find the drugs where are they or is Richard not the big-time dealer police believe every belonging in the family home no matter how innocent now has to be manually searched there is too much riding on this to be emotional the little bed is stripped bare police have to look everywhere could the drugs be amongst the toys or somewhere more obvious Richard study is next on a high shelf in the beloved Lotus car racing trophies police find the first part of the drug dealers stash on classic resealable bags with a white caldron up more one gram bags of cocaine it was almost his reserves such he could nip home and get some more if he needed to while he was out doing his run today I cut off from people then bundles of cocaine vacuum sealed to keep the smell in on the street these would have netted Richard more than twelve thousand bucks and in the same envelope proceeds from dirty deals already done fifty thousand dollars in cash so that concludes such top state police have now been searching for more than four hours and a satisfied they've found all the drugs they take it all as evidence and leave Richards wife to collect her thoughts was almost six months worth of work we put into this into this job and I felt I knew a lot about him at that stage but if I thought there was also more to come Richard is charged over the money and on four counts of supplying a prohibited drug and detectives are convinced that's all the drugs are going to find Sir Richard applies for bail and the Buttrose family paid the $300,000 surety and within 24 hours of his arrest he's free to return home but what Richard doesn't realize is that police are about to get a fresh tip off this case isn't over yet not by a long shot the next day we've received information that there was possibly another house that he had in darling Point Richard as a secret apartment and that secret premises is located inside this red brick waterfront high-rise if this is in fact Richard safe house detectives can't waste any time they have to use a locksmith to get in Richard is out on bail he may even be at the apartment right now we weren't quite sure what we'd find him being up getting access into the place police police police all clear and it was just a normal run-of-the-mill apartment and it mean you know bud have been renovated small kitchen it and we start our systematic search of the premises police are looking for anything that might link Richard to the apartment proof he's beneath the bedroom on the face of it had a bed and nothing else really it was only when we opened up the cupboards he started him up with this nothing in there just the photo Richard Buttrose so we had no doubt that this premises was linked to Richard knowing it's his place means they don't have to go through it thoroughly but they don't need to look very hard the first fine was opening one wardrobe in finding a box it's where the box itself is one of the milk but what's inside will take everyone's breath away when a senior counsel Taylor found the canards box it just sent shivers rerun spine last quantity of money money and bucketloads oven for i won yeah what most of us can only dream of bundle after bundle of cash each bundle is $5,000 police begin counting how many there are five 10 13 a sea of 50s and before long they're covering the bed police keep counting the neverending bundles of drug-dealing cash if only they knew this was just the tip of the iceberg police officers have been searching Richard but roses secret waterfront apartment for 15 minutes and they're about to discover exactly how much money they've uncovered from the cardboard box in the cupboard thought we're onto something big here and yeah obviously turns out we were so going on that that would be 250,000 the cash if the figures are right roughly right a quarter of a million dollars and they've only searched one room what on earth will they find next having found the money just reinforced to everybody that this was a safe house and that we had to thoroughly search the place to make sure that we weren't going to miss anything else just researching yours aunty yep any time you do a police work it's been yeah some days a mundane another day sir yeah you're pumped up and these these were days were all pumped up now the search has now become a big job some officers bag the cash it's now evidence others keep searching not knowing what else could be stashed away it's just a matter of minutes before yes that's another fine point I'm here okay I'm here and the Wardrobe is a box with it looks like a year's dinner on top one which the dinner more cold hard cash would be what we might do is to get some photographs when the second box in the same room was found and there's more money it started to blow us away and others are so tightly packed that we knew that we'd hit pay gold I'll just get some glass out there this is good just to see the bundles of money it was amazing you generally don't see that in a lot of operations further proof Richard ran one of Australia's most successful cocaine businesses one two three four five eight ten so five handsome medals six months worth of work on the other job and then it comes to this and you see you know all this money laid out on a bed in front of you and you think well you might have done a good job here and now for the hundreds and there are bundles up one two three four five fifty bundles nine ten one two three four five six seven eight nine ten bubbles attached of hundreds as a total million dollars on the bed 1 million dollars more money than most of us will see in a lifetime and that's on top of the two hundred and fifty thousand bucks they found earlier in total a whopping 1.25 million dollars until now that was sitting in boxes and what was a normal looking suburban apartment all that money was drug money it was money earned through the proceeds of sale of cocaine meanwhile Richard Buttrose is just five kilometres away on bail he has no idea police have found the loot his money and they could be mortified yeah it'll clean up the search continued click uncounted nice one day this getting the spine in those drawers young semi to DM just a small set of scales the scales are tools of the trade when you're selling one gram hits up ok it looks like flour but this substance could turn a small amount of coke into many drug deals well the cutting agent to underwater cooking no as he's using a Catholic I leave it a little bit should be an I mean I'm on the side of the tire and believe it or not more cold drug-dealing cash but so far no cocaine but three hours in I and bingo little white bags full of cocaine have what appears to be one of those sound syllable and freezes storage bags with a number of other sealed FoodSaver bags side prepackaged coke ready to hit the streets of Sydney an unknown quantity of small area silver bags would wipe out and still the search goes on next the police find further proof this was big business for Richard but runs multiple mobile phones whatever you think boys Commission put we put on the table actually six four four hours down of the search is now in its final stages but it's far from over this is town tombola which is at 9:24 p.m. just down under the number of our food satyrs sealed bags again with the white powder substance located in a fraser motorcycles bag red black and rain car used to be five sealed bags with a large amount to run small every silver bags inside what you're now seeing is unequivocal proof that Richard but Rose was a drug lord but what's in the bag we'll be more than police ever expected and will shock even the most seasoned officer police searching Richard but roses apartment are about to get the shock of their lives even they will not believe what they're seeing it is how I contain within one Cole's liquor leaned hey white powder substance that's straight from overseas that's how it's been imported at that moment I probably thought jackpot I think we've nailed this that's close to about 1.2 kilos a block that one one block that block there go what's one under symbolism that's obviously the syndicate who have actually package at overseas Aramis is exhilarated by the fact that we'd actually struck gold hard blocks of uncut cocaine direct from overseas that block just under a kilogram has a street value of 1.8 million dollars all up the 5.9 kilograms of cocaine would have earned Richard 10 million dollars and deals six bags and whatever and this is how he would do it he'd take a brick of cocaine and flesh it out with that white substance known as a cutting agent he'd use the scales to weigh out one gram put that gram in the tiny clip seal bag and then vacuum pack a bundle the bags to transport them easily the blocks had a stamp on them from inquiries I've conducted in relation to that stamp it's revealed that that stamp is a proof it's called a to me a to me which is a Peruvian ceremonial knife so that leads us to believe that that's the marking from the source country being Peru so the cocaine from South America would hit the streets of Australia and the hands of Richard but Rosa's a list clients in total police have found more than 1.3 million dollars in cash 5.9 kilograms of cocaine it had a total street value of ten million dollars detectives have no doubt that Richard but Rose is the cocaine King to the a-list this is a go-to man who you can get one deal grand maximum but Richard still has no idea that police are aware of the full extent of his drug-dealing operation but he will in eight hours time when he reports to the Rose Bay police station as part of his bail and it was at that time that Richard was re-arrested by Paddington detectives who charged him with the larger offense of commercial supply of cocaine as well as the deal with proceeds of crime in relation to the money I could just tell by looking on his face that um yeah he he was at the point where yeah you've got me mean Richard but Rose was using and dealing in cocaine knowing the evidence that police have Richard but Rose pleads guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of cocaine the most time he could spend behind bars for that crime is 25 years thirty-six year olds famous aren't told the court she was absolutely shocked to hear he was taking drugs he was the last person in the world Richard Boutros broke down in tears as he told the court he began using it recreationally I understand it's wrong however in the circle of friends I mix in it's much like having a glass of wine when I got arrested my drug use was out of control I started snorting cocaine myself and bagging it up I was obsessed with it his wife sat sobbing in court Richard's partner in crime has also pleaded guilty on the 18th of March 2010 Richard but Rose was sentenced he had a life of wealth and privilege as a member of the ælis party set of Sydney's eastern suburbs but now Richard but Rose will spend the next 12 years in prison we are satisfied with the sentence yes a sentence the judge hopes will send a clear message to others in society that if they get caught selling drugs they will face serious jail time Richard but Rose will be locked away from his wife and two children until at least 2021 Richard wasn't there at the birth of his baby daughter he was in jail she was born two days after he was arrested for the drugs and cash in that apartment all that money 1.3 million dollars and the money in the car in the family home well that was all confiscated as PO seeds of crime as was the apartment but the gap that Richard left in the Sydney drug market has already been filled it could be the dealer that's taken his place that police are watching right now they have their eyes on many Australian drug lords next week our police caught an Olympic hero red-handed dealing drugs see the real evidence on champion kayaker Nathan Bagley and his brother drew here their sinister plan to flood schoolies week with ecstasy and you would believe what police find in this bag this seizure showed us it was actually large commercial quantities at oh dear you

Channel: bmw318iyu

Views: 1,549,412

Keywords: Richard, Buttrose

Id: MbEU6aWQXhQ

Length: 42min 40sec (2560 seconds)

Published: Sat May 12 2012