*As told to police reporter Bageshri Savyasachi on the condition of anonymity.

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I am a former drug syndicate enforcer, born and raised right here in the ACT.

Over the past 20 years, what I've seen of the nefarious goings-on in the underbelly of the capital would terrify the average Canberran.

We're home to a thriving illicit drug market and bikie hub, where narcotics flow so freely that there's a "Cocaine Lane" in the heart of our city.

Meanwhile, our jail is less of a correctional centre and more of a taxpayer-funded playground where inmates do nothing but get high and play video games all day.

Before I flipped the switch, I was like any other upstanding citizen with a family, a home, and a stable job.

I was raised by Christian parents, attended private schools, and grew up with genuinely good morals and a strong internal compass.

I worked hard to pay my mortgage and did everything society expected of me, but eventually, the daily grind wore me down, my family moved away, and I found myself deeply isolated.

Tempted by money, driven by ego

I was working in the construction industry in the early 2000s, right as high-grade, pharmaceutical ice and international cocaine were rapidly emerging in the ACT, replacing the old scene of speed and marijuana.

In my 20s, I saw the massive amounts of money flowing into the drug market and watched people I knew benefit from this lucrative new economy.

I thought to myself: "Man, I could get ahead. Take my family on holidays, buy this and that."

The way I was recruited by a gang member, I feel it can happen to anyone if circumstances aligned.

Tempted by their wealth and driven by an immature ego, I took part in the emergence of cocaine into Canberra in the 90s, and made a choice that would violently alter my trajectory.

I spent the next two decades evolving into a regional manager for an international drug distribution network, a a nameless syndicate operating under the radar, or so I thought.

I started as "the muscle", accompanying senior members to collect money from drug dealers. I found myself in multiple situations involving guns, knives, and physical violence.

I was on the giving and receiving end of violence that was traumatic, the closest equivalent I can think of is war, but there's no honour in it.

Once I got into trouble that first time, my descent into the underworld was an exponential trip, pulling me deeper and deeper into high-level organised crime.

Eventually, my role was to sit on massive, multimillion-dollar shipments, sometimes holding up to 100 kilograms of cocaine at a single time in secure storage locations around Canberra.

From there, I would approach local dealers and different outlaw motorcycle clubs to wholesale the product.

At the top, we supplied absolutely everything you could imagine to the local market - cocaine, ice, heroin, marijuana, ecstasy, steroids, pharmaceuticals, and even unregistered firearms.

Ever since the........

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