Why the Bali Nine risked everything to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia - but ended up wrecking their lives instead
- Agreed to various forms of payments
- Thought it could help 'cut corners' in life
- Martin Stephens was terrified
- Do you have a Bali Nine story? Email Jonica.bray@mailonline.com.au
The Bali Nine dreamed of enough riches to buy flash new cars, pay their university fees and still have cash left over when they were lured into a risky drug smuggling plot.
Instead they wrecked their lives by being banged up in Indonesian jails for almost two decades, while two of them were executed by firing squad.
The stakes proved even higher than the street value of the heroin the young Australians were trafficking after they were tempted to risk their lives for a tiny fraction of the profits.
The group - who were mostly teenagers at the time - had hoped their role in the drug smuggling operation would potentially set them up for life, or at least give them a kickstart.
The remaining five members, who are back in Australia after being released by the Indonesian government, have since all expressed regret for their crimes.
Matthew Norman, 38, was just 18 years old when a mate asked if he wanted to traffic drugs in exchange $15,000 and he immediately agreed.
Norman came from a good family and left school at 16 after having mostly stayed out of trouble - until then.
He hoped to use his cut to buy a flash new car - but later admitted his decision was 'reckless, careless' and had been triggered by 'wanting to cut corners in life'.
Matthew Norman says looking back, he realises his actions were very reckless
Martin Stephens maintains he was threatened into smuggling the drugs
Michael Czugaj (left) and Martin Stephens (right) were supported by their mothers
'I was thinking more about the money that was involved in it, which in retrospect wasn't that much actually,' he said.
'But at the time I thought, "Oh wow, with that I could buy a car, I could fast-track my life" … cut corners really.'
Norman, from Quakers Hill in Sydney's north-west, worked alongside Wollongong bar tender, Martin Stephens, now 48, for a Sydney catering company at the time.
Stephens had been recruited with Renae Lawrence, now 47, by gang leader Andrew Chan, but has always maintained he only took part under duress - and was terrified of the consequences if he refused.
'They threatened me. They threatened my family, my friends, my love – my girlfriend... they showed me pictures,' he said.
Teenage friends Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj, now both 39, met another syndicate druglord Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, in a Fortitude Valley hotel in Brisbane.
They were promised a free all-expenses paid trip to Bali - and labourer Rush and glazier Czugaj were lured by the excitement of their first-ever overseas holiday.
Rush was later given $3,000 by the gang's kingpin Myuran Sukumaran to purchase a package tour for himself and Czugaj.
The parents of the two teens were friends from their local church and were regularly seen supporting each other through their sons' lengthy court trial.
Si Yi Chen was going to prove a point to his strict father when he got his payday
Pictured Top L-R: Myuran Sukumaran, Scott Rush, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Renae Lawrence, and Bottom: Si Yi Chen, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Martin Stephen and Andrew Chan
It's unclear how Si Yi Chen, 39, was connected to the rest of the gang.
Chen, from Doonside in western Sydney, said he got involved in the plot as an act of rebellion against his strict Chinese parents, who moved to Australia when he was 12.
He dreamed of one day becoming a pilot and signed up to join the gang to use his promised $15,000 fee to pay for his flying lessons, and prove a point to his father.
Chen revealed: 'The first thing he said to me when he found out I wanted to do the aviation college, he said, "Are you crazy, where will you get that kind of money?"
'I had a meltdown at him at that time, "You never let me do what I want, what I love. Fine I will do it myself, I will find it myself".'
The five members of the Bali Nine flew back to Australia on a commercial flight on December 15 in a top secret mission following weeks of negotiations between the two nations.
The men won't be required to serve prison sentences in Australia and will be able to live freely in the community.
The development comes after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese requested the transfer at a recent meeting with new Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto at the APEC Summit last month, who agreed to let the prisoners return home on humanitarian grounds.
The men are believed to be staying at Howard Springs near Darwin.
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