Joe Reading, a long-time target of the drug squad was involved in the amphetamines trade in Victoria.

He was also one of Magnetic Island's more notorious residents.

Magnetic Island, in Queensland, is also where Melbourne drug squad detective John McCoy, went each year for holidays.

McCoy became known as a close acquaintance of Reading's.

Joe had moved up there to get away from it all and ran a laundry business.

In 1998 Reading told ABC-TV current affairs program Four Corners that he had the occasional drink with McCoy, who he considered a friend.

The information passed on by the local police to the drug squad was that Inspector McCoy had phoned in to report for bail on Reading's behalf and that the two had been seen together in a car near the police station.

When word got back about Inspector McCoy's contacts, there was alarm at the Drug Squad.

Some of the detectives were so concerned they raised the matter with their superiors.

Soon after that Inspector McCoy was told that complaint had been made.

The detectives were never interviewed for about a year.

They later learned that Inspector McCoy had been cleared.

Much later, when they were both back in Melbourne, Reading was charged with drug trafficking.

 His wife was seriously ill at Magnetic Island and he asked McCoy if he could get bail to return to care for her. 

"I spoke to my detectives and they had no problem," McCoy said.

Reading was bailed.

John McCoy was subsequently promoted to Chief Inspector, and from acting head to head of the Drug Squad.

But the following year, another more serious complaint was made against him

In August 1995 a known criminal and target of the drug squad , Peter Pilarinos, contacted an officer.

Pilarinos said he'd been given confidential drug squad documents by Joe Reading's brother Len, another drug squad target.

Pilarinos said Reading claimed to have paid a corrupt drug squad officer $70,000 for the documents.

The officer named was John McCoy.

Pilarinos said the Readings had a very large file implicating him in taking bribes.

But the information available suggests that once again the investigation into Chief Inspector McCoy was less than rigorous.

A detective was sent to collect the documents from the criminal.

Amazingly, the detective sent was from McCoy's own squad.

He took the documents and took down the allegation, then reported straight back to McCoy, the subject of the complaint.

There was no record of interview.. because the detective said the music was too loud.

The allegation was then passed on to Internal Investigations.

Len Reading told 4 Corners the allegation he'd bribed McCoy was
false.

Once again, Chief Inspector McCoy was cleared.

But the concerns about the investigation remained.

The records show only one civilian was interviewed.

Neither Reading nor the criminal who made the complaint was ever interviewed about the matter by internal investigations.