During 1978–79, Shobbrook was second in command of the Northern Region of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, based in Brisbane. During this period, he was in charge of ‘Operation Jungle’, a criminal investigation of a major heroin importation worth $1.5 million, which led to the conviction and jailing of three of the active conspirators. The drugs entered Australia from Asia via Papua New Guinea in a light aircraft in 1977. If the traffickers had hoped to avoid suspicion and complete their questionable mission smoothly, they certainly went about it the wrong way.

The leader of the conspirators, John Milligan, described in the blurb as a ‘criminal mastermind’, comes across in the narrative as alternately over-confident and naïve. Much of the dark comedy of the book comes from Milligan’s fatal last-minute decision to agree with the suggestion of the pilot to drop two heroin packages from the plane at an extremely remote location on Cape York Peninsula, ‘surrounded by threats ranging from mosquitoes and swamps to spiders, snakes and crocodiles’. After three uncomfortable trips through jungle terrain, only one of the two illicit parcels could be found. During the weeks they carried out their plans, the co-conspirators had left a trail of evidence for Shobbrook and his fellow officers to uncover. The author holds the reader’s attention throughout his retelling of the investigation, and ensures that unfamiliar geographical and historical context will be clear to the general reader. An excellent map of relevant parts of North Queensland is a helpful addition to the text.

The alleged personal and financial involvement of former Queensland detective Glen Hallahan in Milligan’s scheme is convincingly presented by the author. It is based on sound evidence largely gathered by Shobbrook during ‘Operation Jungle’, including testimony by Milligan. It would appear that, as far as Milligan’s North Queensland drug importation was concerned, Hallahan was deeply enmeshed. It is strongly implied that Hallahan was protected from criminal prosecution over the matter because of his close connections to two powerful serving Queensland police officers: Police Commissioner Terry Lewis, who was later convicted of corruption and forgery; and the head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, Tony Murphy. Whatever the case, the Australian Royal Commission of Inquiry into Drugs failed to take Milligan’s allegations against Hallahan seriously. Had it done so, Queensland’s police culture might have begun to change for the better several years prior to the Fitzgerald Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct (1987–89).

The story of the bungled drug operation and the associated investigation is fast-paced and compelling. The subsequent accounts of police misconduct and the details of the royal commission into drugs that unfairly victimised Shobbrook constitute a more serious attempt at exposing the dark underbelly of official corruption: they seem, at times, to belong to a different book altogether. Nevertheless, what holds the narrative together is the strong authorial voice and welcome bursts of humour.

Operation Jungle includes separate written contributions by two prominent journalists. An introduction by novelist and true crime author Matthew Condon provides a contextual narrative on the growth of shady police activity in Queensland from the 1940s to the 1970s, along with brief descriptions of the incidents and milestones of Shobbrook’s formative years. There is also an afterword written by former ABC reporter Quentin Dempster, famous for his role in exposing corruption in Queensland during the 1980s. Dempster’s words powerfully remind the reader of the importance of strong public attention to integrity and accountability within our official institutions. While Dempster and Condon write well, both contributors are given too much space in the text, inadvertently threatening to steal Shobbrook’s thunder.

‘Operation Jungle’ had a serious impact on Shobbrook’s career. After the disbandment of the Narcotics Bureau in 1979, he served briefly in the Australian Federal Police before being ‘superannuated out of the Commonwealth Public Service’ at the age of thirty-two. If Shobbrook’s testimony is correct – and there seems little doubt about it – he was virtually forced into retirement because of the inconvenient truths regarding official corruption that emerged from ‘Operation Jungle’. Fortunately, he eventually enjoyed a new career in astronomy, which may prompt an interesting memoir in its own right.

For anyone interested in Queensland during the Bjelke-Petersen years, this book is a ‘must read’. It is attractively presented, although a picture section with detailed captions would have been an asset. Some of the themes explored in Operation Jungle, such as the fatal unfamiliarity of ‘southerners’ with the vast expanses of Northern Australia, remain current. The author also usefully highlights the fragility of law and governance in a modern democracy when processes and personal authority are left unquestioned. It is to be hoped that John Shobbrook will continue his new career as a writer.