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Drugs, Guns and Lies  By  cover art

Drugs, Guns and Lies

By: Ben Smith,Keith Banks
Narrated by: Joel Jackson
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Publisher's summary

A story from the inside when Queensland had the most corrupt police force in the country. This is what it's really like to be an undercover police officer.

'Undercover was like guerrilla warfare; to understand your enemy, you had to walk amongst them, to become them. The trick was to keep an eye on that important line between who you were and who you were pretending to be.'

This is the true story of Keith Banks, one of Queensland's most decorated police officers, and his journey into the drug scene as an undercover operative in the 1980s. In an era of corruption, often alone, with no backup, he and other undercover cops quickly learned to blend into the drug scene, smoking dope and drinking with targets, buying drugs and having dealers arrested. Very quickly, the lines were blurred between his identity as a police officer and the life he pretended to be part of. This is a raw and confronting story of undercover cops who all became casualties of that era, some worse than others, and where not everyone with a badge could be trusted.

©2020 Keith Banks and Ben Smith (P)2020 Allen & Unwin Pty Limited

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  • Anonymous User
  • 07-03-20

Respect

A clear and honest reveal of life undercover in the Sunshine State.
I couldn't put it down.
Trippy!

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5 people found this helpful

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  • Anonymous User
  • 07-14-20

What a life! What an eye opening story - loved it.

Having lived through those year it was great to get the real back story. What was really happening in Queensland back in the 80's. Thank you for sharing. Enjoy your loverly family and know that you did a lot of good. A great read.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • Dylan
  • 03-20-21

A must-read for Aussies

One of the most inspiring, enlightening, confronting and tragic books I've ever read. I'll never see cops the same. (To them: thank you for your service. And sorry for what you go through).
I remember growing up in the 90s and people were still talking about QLD as a dangerous, corrupt place (I was from NSW). Instead of making me wary of QLD, the way people spoke of the corruption made me wary of all cops and authority figures of every kind. Reading this book was eye-opening. It's changed a lot of what I thought I new about the police force. A must-read for all Aussies.

On a practical note: the book's very well-written. I had visceral reactions to the danger, my heart broke for the men and what they went through, and I laughed out loud at some of the crazy stories. The performance was amazing and did the phenomenal story justice.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 07-30-20

I could not stop listening! finished in 3 days!

I heard an interview with the author on ABC Radio Adelaide. The book sounded very interesting. Listening to the book exceeded all my expectations, I could not stop listening. Brave story and I am glad the author shared it!

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  • Anonymous User
  • 10-02-23

Okay at best. Much better true come books available

Took to long to get into it. I feel like the best stories were rushed and needed more details

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  • Andrew Wallace
  • 07-13-23

Fantastic book

gripping, I couldn't get enough. I listened to the whole thing in two days. So satisfied the best book I've listened to in 2023.

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  • Rod
  • 11-30-22

great story

The book is a fantastic story, I really appreciate the service, dedication not to mention bravery of our serving police personnel. Thank you.
The story is real, but so well written I was consistently throughly enthralled.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 11-18-22

incredible

bloody fantastic! captivating, dangerously bingy. verry well written and almost addictive. listen and love it

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  • Michelle
  • 10-17-22

Eye opening

What a great insight into the world the police live in. Entertaining and funny at spots, but eye opening to many things you don’t realise goes on in the undercover world.

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  • Philip Halton
  • 08-03-22

Great Book

It was really great to listen to, it was a really great book I really enjoyed the experience of listening of Keith’s story

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