Episode 85 The Partnership of the Western Australia Police Force and the US Drug Enforcement Administration

Today’s episode details a collaboration between two countries, The United States and Australia, that have the same goal in combating the flow of illicit drugs into their countries.

The Drug Enforcement Administration was formed in 1973, by the Nixon administration, for the war on drugs and over the years this administration has grown, evolved and they have been the countries leading experts on illicit narcotic sales that terrorize the globe.

The Western Australian Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, was formed in 1834 and provides police services to over 2.5 million citizens of Western Australia.

This story will detail how two countries formed a partnership and created a “pilot” program that sent two Detectives from WAPOL to the Dallas DEA Field Division for a 90-day special assignment to observe the DEA investigate cases in the United States.

After a strict selection process, WAPOL Detectives Benjamin Willian Cox and David Joseph Gilliland were sent to the Dallas Texas to work under Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chavez and Special Agent Guy Baker.

SAC Chavez leads the DEA Dallas Field Division.

Detectives Cox and Gilliland joined the amazing Strike Force Group to immerse themselves in long term investigations so that both groups can learn from each other in detective styles, techniques and case managing.

Longtime Dallas Narcotics Task Force member, David Roach #9150, took the mates under his wing to show them all that Dallas and the great state of Texas has to offer in narcotics and violence.

Enjoy this different type of episode as we bridge two countries that have common goals in making their home a better and safer place for their people.

Episode Guest List:

 Detective Superintendent John Hutchison

Superintendent Hutchison spearheaded this initiative and oversees the Serious Organised Crime Squad in WAPOL. He started in WAPOL in 1986 and became a Detective Sgt in 1992 and has served as a Detective in several positions including covert undercover unit, drug and organized crime investigations and in 2022 he started a TSOC Squad to build the capabilities of the Western Australian Police Force.

DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chavez

               SAC Chavez leads the DEA Dallas Field Division that oversees daily operations in the North Texas Region and the entire state of Oklahoma.

SAC Chávez began his career with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the San Francisco Field Division in 2000 as a Special Agent assigned to the Bakersfield, California, Resident Office. During this period in the Central Valley of California, SAC Chávez conducted numerous complex conspiracy and undercover operations where his fluent Spanish and upbringing along the U.S.-México border allowed him to infiltrate several Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs).

DEA Assistant Special Agent Guy Baker

I met Guy as I learned he enjoyed listening to this podcast and he prefers to be a behind the scenes operator and does not like the limelight however I want the listener to know this episode would not have happened without Guy. He commands the respect of his peers and has dedicated his life to the DEA. I am honored to have met him.

Guy has over 25 years with the DEA and is keen and outspoken in the fact that Fentanyl is one of the globes most dangerous crisis.

Dallas Police Narcotics DEA Task Force Detective David Roach #9150

David has gravitated to enforcing narcotics going back to working in God’s Country, the Southeast Division, when he started as a rookie officer. David’s proactive talents and knack for natural street instincts as pure police was noticed by all as he spent several years in uniformed positions on assignments that allowed him to showcase his talents.  Detective Roach was assigned to the Dallas Narcotics Division and quickly joined the Narcotics Lab Unit then was hand picked to be a member of the DEA Task Force. David is a friend, respected and loyal team member and is bulldog of a Detective that is relentless in building cases on some of the most violent traffickers in the metroplex.