Australia's real-life Breaking Bad: How two suburban dads worked as ecstasy cooks in a clandestine lab before being busted in police raid as one of the men's infant daughter sat on his lap sucking on a pink dummy
A pair of devoted dads are facing serious jail time for their role in a Breaking Bad style drug syndicate.
Buddy Zeaiter, 55, was seen embracing his young daughter in the moments after heavily-armed police stormed his home in Western Sydney in March 2018.
She was still sucking on her pink dummy dressed in only pyjamas and bare feet when riot police carried her off after the dramatic drug raid.
While fellow father Chris Perdulovsky was arrested hours away at a clandestine drug laboratory near Bathurst in the Central West.
The story bears a remarkable resemblance to the hit television series Breaking Bad, where Walter White led a double life manufacturing drugs while teaching science at the local school and posing at the perfect family man.
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Buddy Zeaiter, 55, was arrested and his young daughter taken away from him when heavily-armed police stormed his home in Western Sydney in March 2018
Chris Perdulovsky, 45 (pictured) was one of two master cooks manufacturing tens of thousands of dollars worth of ecstasy in a New South Wales property
He was arrested by a police in riot gear after they stormed a property at Neville, near Bathurst in the New South Wales Central West in March 2018
Zeaiter was arrested alongside fellow father Chris Perdulovsky, 45 for his role in a crime syndicate which was producing significant quantities of ecstasy near Bathurst in the New South Wales Central West.
The two have pleaded guilty to manufacturing a commercial quantity of MDA and participating in a criminal group at the New South Wales District court. MDA is a less potent chemical used to produce ecstasy than MDMA.
They were exposed after police placed phone taps and planted bugs at a number of properties, including a rural lot in Neville which was operating as a clandestine drug lab.
Police surveillance also captured Perdulovsky manufacturing thousands of coloured ecstasy pills using a specialised piece of equipment. The surveillance equipment allowed police to listen in to the men's communication about the drug production, deciphering a series of codes which appeared to be normal conversation for two middle aged men, reported the Daily Telegraph.
This included conversations about fishing, concreting, and tiling.
While another alleged member of the syndicate is accused of using his parental responsibilities as code for the drug operation after being recorded saying he was 'going through a lot of baby wipes.'
Police uncovered a a clandestine laboratory (pictured) at a property in Neville, near Bathurst in the NSW Central West after placing phone taps and placing bugs Dramatic footage of the raid on the rural property in Neville, in the state's central west, shows police uncover a firearm during the arrest (pictured)
The firearm was seized as part of the investigation into the crime syndicate
The phone taps led police to uncover the large-scale ecstasy manufacturing ring which was operating across two separate properties.
An industrial property at Wetherill park was allegedly used to store chemicals before they pills were manufactured at a clandestine laboratory at Neville, according to court documents.
Despite the operation being run by two seemingly innocent fathers the drug lab's set-up was far from amateur.
The property was stocked with respirators, protective gloves, reaction flasks, heating mantles, water baths, a mechanised tablet press and even sleeping quarters for members of the criminal syndicate.
Despite all the protective gear, Zeaiter still had to be hospitalised after ingesting dangerous chemicals in the backyard drug lab.
The phone taps led police to uncover the large-scale ecstasy manufacturing ring which was operating across two separate properties
At the time he was overheard talking about how his 'chronic serious respiratory condition' could have been linked to cooking up the drugs in such crude conditions.
'You know what, it could be boxing all the chemicals,' Zeaiter said during his stay at the Westmead Hospital in March 2018.
Police raided his home at Wetherill Park and the property at Neville two days later.
An estimated 24kg of ecstasy was cooked up at the rural drug lab between August 2017 and March 2018.
The two will return to court in the coming months to face sentencing over their role in the criminal syndicate.
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