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The Squad
A gritty and compelling account of an elite police group, the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS).
Middle Eastern organised crime in Australia is a dark, dirty and dangerous world of drug empires, murders and turf wars. Crime families dominate the suburbs and the streets are a labyrinth of dealers. Responsible for cleaning up this mess is the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS), a specialist unit of cops fighting an uphill battle against a deeply entrenched problem. The officers of the MEOCS are both fearsome and intimidating. They have to be, to deal with the rising violence, brutal mayhem and sheer brazen scope of the crime that they see every day.
Written by an award-winning crime reporter, The Squad trails a core group of MEOCS detectives on their journey into the Sydney's Middle Eastern organised crime fraternity and takes readers inside the inner-workings of their biggest investigations - the wired-up informants, the undercover agents, the ingenious tactics and electrifying near-misses. Gritty, compelling and unputdownable.
Middle Eastern organised crime in Australia is a dark, dirty and dangerous world of drug empires, murders and turf wars. Crime families dominate the suburbs and the streets are a labyrinth of dealers. Responsible for cleaning up this mess is the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS), a specialist unit of cops fighting an uphill battle against a deeply entrenched problem. The officers of the MEOCS are both fearsome and intimidating. They have to be, to deal with the rising violence, brutal mayhem and sheer brazen scope of the crime that they see every day.
Written by an award-winning crime reporter, The Squad trails a core group of MEOCS detectives on their journey into the Sydney's Middle Eastern organised crime fraternity and takes readers inside the inner-workings of their biggest investigations - the wired-up informants, the undercover agents, the ingenious tactics and electrifying near-misses. Gritty, compelling and unputdownable.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
326 pages, Paperback
Published August 21, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 10, 2017
Sydney Daily Telegraph crime reporter Yoni Bashan has obviously used some insider knowledge of his own, alongside that of members of the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS) to craft a true crime book that's very readable, informative and surprisingly moving in places.
The subject matter is unpleasant obviously - with an intermingling of families and organised crime activities that covers drugs, murders and some brutal turf wars. The Squad is a highly specialised police unit tasked with an incredibly difficult job - investigating the crimes, identifying the perpetrators and ensuring convictions in a highly charged, dangerous environment. There's inter-generational feuding, and a closed society which is incredibly difficult for them to penetrate and a group of criminals that never rat out their own, or the opposition.
Told from the point of view of the police, THE SQUAD is well paced, written in a very readable style, engaging and involving without being sensationalised or overtly moralistic. It's a warts and all "what it is, is what it is" style of tale of a group of cops who take their responsibilities very seriously indeed. There's plenty of background to the formation of The Squad within the pages, and some of the political / on-high pressure that they deal with as well, all of which combined to make THE SQUAD very interesting reading indeed.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
The subject matter is unpleasant obviously - with an intermingling of families and organised crime activities that covers drugs, murders and some brutal turf wars. The Squad is a highly specialised police unit tasked with an incredibly difficult job - investigating the crimes, identifying the perpetrators and ensuring convictions in a highly charged, dangerous environment. There's inter-generational feuding, and a closed society which is incredibly difficult for them to penetrate and a group of criminals that never rat out their own, or the opposition.
Told from the point of view of the police, THE SQUAD is well paced, written in a very readable style, engaging and involving without being sensationalised or overtly moralistic. It's a warts and all "what it is, is what it is" style of tale of a group of cops who take their responsibilities very seriously indeed. There's plenty of background to the formation of The Squad within the pages, and some of the political / on-high pressure that they deal with as well, all of which combined to make THE SQUAD very interesting reading indeed.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
December 28, 2016
The Squad
is a potted history of the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS) of the New South Wales (Australia for overseas readers) Police Force. It covers the operations of "the squad" from approximately 2006 up to 2013. Yoni Bashan is a crime journalist working for the Murdoch owned Sydney Telegraph.
I tend to read crime and espionage fiction rather than "true crime" but in this case I purchased the book after reading several local reviews, all very positive. Now I've finished it I agree wholeheartedly with these reviews.
For a journalist, Yoni Bashan has a very good style. His prose is well written and keeps the book moving at a good pace. You will never get bored while reading this book. He has chosen a number of important incidents in the life of the squad and used them to tell its story. While he covers the nitty-gritty of the criminal behaviour he is also very thorough and thoughtful in his coverage of the various police officers who served in the squad. One can only marvel at the diligence and bravery of these policemen and women. The last chapter which covers a raid in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown was, for me, very poignant; the investigation of its outcome had me close to tears on a number of occasions.
On a personal note, I am a supporter of bringing migrants to a "settler society" like Australia (we have a low natural birth rate and will only grow our economy with a steady stream of migration into our country). That said, this book has made me wonder about bringing large numbers of relatively unskilled migrants into a country which does not have the ability to provide them all with a structured lifestyle (like cheap housing and good job prospects). It is no wonder that many MEOC recruits come from communities where there is little structure to their lives and where the prospect of being part of "the Australian dream" is so remote. Are we causing the growth in organised crime because of our willingness to help peoples living in distress? I don't know!
Overall, this is a very, very good read and is highly recommended.
Regards,
Peter
I tend to read crime and espionage fiction rather than "true crime" but in this case I purchased the book after reading several local reviews, all very positive. Now I've finished it I agree wholeheartedly with these reviews.
For a journalist, Yoni Bashan has a very good style. His prose is well written and keeps the book moving at a good pace. You will never get bored while reading this book. He has chosen a number of important incidents in the life of the squad and used them to tell its story. While he covers the nitty-gritty of the criminal behaviour he is also very thorough and thoughtful in his coverage of the various police officers who served in the squad. One can only marvel at the diligence and bravery of these policemen and women. The last chapter which covers a raid in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown was, for me, very poignant; the investigation of its outcome had me close to tears on a number of occasions.
On a personal note, I am a supporter of bringing migrants to a "settler society" like Australia (we have a low natural birth rate and will only grow our economy with a steady stream of migration into our country). That said, this book has made me wonder about bringing large numbers of relatively unskilled migrants into a country which does not have the ability to provide them all with a structured lifestyle (like cheap housing and good job prospects). It is no wonder that many MEOC recruits come from communities where there is little structure to their lives and where the prospect of being part of "the Australian dream" is so remote. Are we causing the growth in organised crime because of our willingness to help peoples living in distress? I don't know!
Overall, this is a very, very good read and is highly recommended.
Regards,
Peter
June 14, 2019
I think I've found a new guilty pleasure. The was my first time reading true crime and I really enjoyed it. The book contains detailed, well-written accounts of what many Sydney residents would have seen on the news or heard through the grapevine. It's a great read, especially for young men from Sydney.
March 5, 2019
Very well written. Very informative. Prepare yourself for chapter 12.
August 15, 2020
Loved It ! If you middle eastern and Live in Sydney you will relate to this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews