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The Dark Side: The explosive story of corruption, greed and murder in the Australian drug trade: Gangsters, drugs and corruption
A fierce and compelling expose of organised crime and the role of a senior law enforcement officer in Australia's multi-billion dollar drug trade.
'Each year at least $10 billion is laundered in and through Australia. Much of this money is derived from illicit drugs.'
Hooked on the limitless profits of the drug trade, organised crime has grown so powerful that it now poses a major threat to Australia's national security. Clive Small and Tom Gilling show how Australian crime gangs, in partnership with violent international syndicates, have exploited lax law enforcement and corruption on the nation's waterfront to import narcotics on a vast scale from Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.
The authors reveal for the first time the corrupt history of Mark Standen, the senior investigator at the New South Wales Crime Commission whose conviction on drug importation charges sparked Australia's biggest law-enforcement crisis since the Wood royal commission. In the process they expose the cover-ups, strategic blunders and missed opportunities that continue to make Australia a soft target for international drug traffickers.
The Dark Side is a fierce and compelling expose of organised crime in Australia and Australia's multi-billion-dollar drug trade.
'Each year at least $10 billion is laundered in and through Australia. Much of this money is derived from illicit drugs.'
Hooked on the limitless profits of the drug trade, organised crime has grown so powerful that it now poses a major threat to Australia's national security. Clive Small and Tom Gilling show how Australian crime gangs, in partnership with violent international syndicates, have exploited lax law enforcement and corruption on the nation's waterfront to import narcotics on a vast scale from Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.
The authors reveal for the first time the corrupt history of Mark Standen, the senior investigator at the New South Wales Crime Commission whose conviction on drug importation charges sparked Australia's biggest law-enforcement crisis since the Wood royal commission. In the process they expose the cover-ups, strategic blunders and missed opportunities that continue to make Australia a soft target for international drug traffickers.
The Dark Side is a fierce and compelling expose of organised crime in Australia and Australia's multi-billion-dollar drug trade.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 28, 2017
About the author
Clive Small
9 books6 followersClive Small is a former detective and Assistant Commissioner of the The New South Wales Police Force, the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 2, 2017
The back cover of The Dark Side purports to tell the story of Mark Standen, senior investigator at the NSW Crime Commission who was convicted of drug importation and caused a crisis in Australian law enforcement. About halfway through the book I thought I must have misread the blurb, because Standen had been mentioned only a handful of times and there was very little discussion on corruption within Australian drug enforcement efforts. Instead the first three-quarters of the book are largely about the various drug syndicates that have operated in Australia and their ultimate downfalls.
Some of the stories are difficult to follow with multiple characters being introduced who only play bit parts in a drug operation. The writing is overly dry and at times I felt like I was reading a series of Wikipedia articles laying out the chronological facts and numbers of a collection of drug operations. There are some interesting titbits hidden among the stories, but if you have read other books about the drug trade the stories here won't be particularly new or interesting.
The book picks up towards the end when it tells the promised story of Standen, an NSW and later AFP (Australian Federal Police) investigator who fed a gambling habit through kickbacks from drug barons. Eventually Standen becomes so desperate for cash that he escalates from doctoring reports and trading information and protection for his so called informants to direct organisation of drug importation. While the story is interesting there is little in the way of analysis. There is barely any discussion of Standen's peers at the NSW police or AFP. Were his colleagues always suspicious of him, was he difficult to work with, or was it a complete shock to those around him? Similarly there is a lack of insight into any fallout from Standen's actions. Has Australian law enforcement made any changes to how they handle investigators and informants? Were other other officers that worked with Standen ever investigated?
The book does have some insight into the violent history of Australia's drug trade, and Standen's story is an interesting read, but I was just left wanting more from it. The book's subtitle is "The explosive story of corruption, greed and murder in the Australian drug trade". Removing the word "explosive" more accurately depicts the book.
Some of the stories are difficult to follow with multiple characters being introduced who only play bit parts in a drug operation. The writing is overly dry and at times I felt like I was reading a series of Wikipedia articles laying out the chronological facts and numbers of a collection of drug operations. There are some interesting titbits hidden among the stories, but if you have read other books about the drug trade the stories here won't be particularly new or interesting.
The book picks up towards the end when it tells the promised story of Standen, an NSW and later AFP (Australian Federal Police) investigator who fed a gambling habit through kickbacks from drug barons. Eventually Standen becomes so desperate for cash that he escalates from doctoring reports and trading information and protection for his so called informants to direct organisation of drug importation. While the story is interesting there is little in the way of analysis. There is barely any discussion of Standen's peers at the NSW police or AFP. Were his colleagues always suspicious of him, was he difficult to work with, or was it a complete shock to those around him? Similarly there is a lack of insight into any fallout from Standen's actions. Has Australian law enforcement made any changes to how they handle investigators and informants? Were other other officers that worked with Standen ever investigated?
The book does have some insight into the violent history of Australia's drug trade, and Standen's story is an interesting read, but I was just left wanting more from it. The book's subtitle is "The explosive story of corruption, greed and murder in the Australian drug trade". Removing the word "explosive" more accurately depicts the book.
December 15, 2020
A little sensationalistic given the authors, but a good read none the less.
March 4, 2026
A glimpse into the drug smuggling trade and corruption for Australia, specifically Sydney leading up to the early 2000s. The majority of the book was more like short stories of each player or operation and did become a bit confusing as it referenced multiple people who played little roles in that moment, or referred future chapters for more information. Some of the players intertwined but the book seemed to want to push the stories or operations as separate. I don't know if this was deliberate as trying to merge the stories would prove too murky or they just wanted stand alone stories. The book told repeatedly of the corruption within law enforcement, specifically around Mark Standen but then seemed to end without really giving much information on the investigations or outcomes of his conduct once he was sentenced. I feel like I learned a little about the past, but given the players described were advanced in age at the time, that this generation will have ended. Overall I don't feel any more informed on how things may have changed for future investigations or of any successors these players may have left in their operations.
May 12, 2020
I was shaking my head whilst reading this book. There is so much corruption and people are so corrupt. The drug trade and organised crime can be so lucrative but has such high risk and danger. This was an intersting book about the drug trad in Australia, specially in Sydney. So many places and locations mentioned in this book, I am so familar with, its crazy to think we walk past these places everyday and you have no idea what is going on. I'm actually quite suprised by the actual qantities of drugs, tonnes and tonnes and worth so many millions. Hard to fathom though that so many times, the people get caught but are then dismissed or their sentences are overturned. But in the end they still got caught and serving their times. But a lot are still out there. If its not this person, someone else will take his palce. The book is very well researched. There are so many names its hard to keep up with everyone. It's just the same stories over and over really.
July 8, 2017
Interesting rundown on organised drug importation in Australia. Our country certainly has a colourful and violent history in that area...
August 27, 2017
Fantastic insight into the Australia Drug Trade. Well written and thoroughly enjoyed it.
January 26, 2019
Well researched, listening to the audiobook was not the best idea
April 8, 2020
Lies and exaggerations from the main culprit of this entire story of abuse.
May 17, 2020
Very interesting to read and educational.
June 9, 2021
There is nonfiction and then there is journalism, this is very much the latter. Very dry, lots of names, dates and locations. Very well researched but from court proceedings and crime data, very little in terms of motivation or psychology of those involved in the Australian drug trade. That might be for some, but not really for me.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews