Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Celebrity Kingpin Makes $1 Million/Day | Owen Hanson
09 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What does comfort mean to Owen Hanson?
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Mike Wahlberg did a documentary called F***ing Quarterback. How would you like to make a million dollars a day? I have a lot of A-list celebrities. I'm sitting on $10 million in my Sydney apartment and I'm freaking out. How do you get that back to the United States? Good question. I get to college, and I'm literally this blue-collar kid coming into the University of Southern California.
Everyone has the American Express black cards, the fucking Mercedes, the BMWs. I'm like, fuck, how am I going to fit in, right? And I remember, I was like, man, I've got to figure out a way. What am I going to do? And actually, it took me to get cut from the volleyball team. My sophomore year, I got red. It's called red shirt, where you get basically put on hold until you improve your game.
And I got redshirted my sophomore year, and I was like, fuck, what am I going to do? The coach told me, hey, you've got to work on your vertical jump. You've got to work on your arm strength. And I'm like, fuck, I'm just going to go get on the sauce. And I literally went down to Gold's Gym in Redondo Beach, and I found the biggest bodybuilder there.
And I said, dude, I just got cut from the volleyball team. What can I do? He's like, illegal or legally? I said, the quickest way. He said, I got you. And he says, you got money? I said, no, I don't got money. And he's like, well, guess what? You're going to have to go down to Tijuana and go to the pharmacy. And that's where it all started.
I literally got in my 1989 Toyota Camry that my grandfather gave me when he passed. And I drove down to the Tijuana border, parked on the American side, walked over the bridge and into Tijuana. And I went to the pharmacy. I showed up there with this list and I gave him all the performance enhancing drugs that I needed and And the lady's like, okay.
She spoke perfect English, and I'm putting them in this bag, this sandwich bag. And I'm thinking in my mind, like, how the fuck am I going to get these back across the border? I was just going to say, what do you do? And what year was this? This was in 2001. No, 2002, excuse me. I still feel like, oh, 2002? Yeah.
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Chapter 2: How did Owen's college experience shape his choices?
waiting to cross the border. And my buddy's with me. He's like, are you okay? I was fucking dripping sweat. I'm like, no, I'm not okay. Remember, I haven't broken the law my whole life. I have had this strict father. So I'm just thinking, man, I've never lied. I've never stole. I've never done anything bad, right?
And I get to that customs agent, and he's looking at me, and I give him my passport. And this is right after 9-11. He's looking at my passport. He's like, Mr. Hanson, are you bringing anything back? And for the first time ever, I lied. I said, no, officer. I was just at Papa's and Beer having tacos and margaritas with my boy. He said, welcome back to America.
And I was like, fuck yeah, what a rush. You know, like that was like the first time I've ever done anything illegal. And I was like, damn, that was a fucking badass feeling. Like I literally took that one to the next level, eventually working for the biggest cartel in the world.
Right. So what happened? Did you get back on the team? I got back. Yeah, I got back.
So it's a funny, even funnier story. I got back. I got on the steroids, and I blew up. I got so big. One of the guys at the USC strength and conditioning coach, he was part of the USC football team. And he looked at me and said, Hanson, I thought you played volleyball. I said, I do.
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Chapter 3: What led Owen to start using performance-enhancing drugs?
He says, well, you look like a fucking football player. I'm like, what? I've never played football in my life. He says, you need to try out. And I said, try out for what? He goes, we got to walk on tryout. 50 guys are going to be there. You need to try out. And Matthew, I've never played football. My dad wouldn't let me play football. Right.
So I literally, I showed up to practice in my volleyball shoes to this walk-on practice. And they threw me a few routes that I caught for the first time and did a vertical jump. I'm a volleyball player, so I had a 37-inch vertical jump, hit that. They asked me to do a 40. I ran a 4-6-40. And at the time, Pete Carroll, Norm Chow, Steve Sarkeesian, Kiffin, they're all there with their stopwatch.
And they're like, who is this kid? Nobody knows I'm on the gear. And the next drill is we go down to the bench press, and we have two plates, 225, and I rep out 26 times. And that's like combine, NFL combine numbers. And they're looking at me like, who the fuck is this kid? Right. And nobody knows I'm on the sauce. Did they drug test you at any time? No, not this time.
Chapter 4: How did Owen transition into smuggling and dealing?
This is just a tryout. Oh, okay. Right? And two weeks later goes by and I go and I look at the list on Pete Carroll's window and it says one name and it says Owen Hanson. I made the USC football team. And this is back the dynasty years when we won the two national championships. So I got back on the volleyball team after like three months of volleyball and football. I'm like, fuck this.
I'm going to continue playing football. I'm playing on the best team in America right now.
Is this like a full scholarship?
Just rolled over my two-thirds from volleyball. They just carried it. It was like a financial aid because my dad didn't obviously have money. So they gave us a nice package, like a scholarship package for people that are poor.
Right.
And I just, they let me just roll it over and it worked great because now I'm playing volleyball. I'm now I'm playing football. Excuse me.
Right. And for sure you're continuing to take drive. Are you, how long do you, do you finish college?
Do you get in trouble or do you start selling in college? No, I never get in trouble. I did actually, this is where, where it gets good. I, um, I realized that everyone's calling me Dr. Odog because all the players are saying, hey, what are you taking? Can I get some of that? And I'm literally helping people with recoveries. Like, oh, you got a torn ACL?
Oh, take some growth hormone, some test sip. Oh, you want to get ripped? Here's some Winstroll and some Anivar. And I'm literally, they're calling me Dr. Odog. So where are you learning all this? Is this from the guys at the gym or just reading? Just at the gym and reading. Okay.
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Chapter 5: What happens when Owen tries to collect $1 million?
So we tell them, hey, we need the 300 grand you have at the four seasons. I said, we need your 300 grand you have the four seasons. We don't want you losing it. Come bring it to us. And we want you to bring your passport. You're not leaving the country until we get this back and we figure out what we're going to do. Because right now we don't know what's going on.
My biggest fear was he's going to get the 300, the passport and leave. And now I'm really fucked. So I remember I tell the personal trainer, I said, you know what we're going to do? I said, we're going to get a room and you're going to meet him there because I don't want, I don't want him coming to the condo. Right.
Chapter 6: How does Owen's trainer get caught with $700,000?
And we, we, we get this room down the, down the street at the Hilton and we, we messaged him. We call him and said, Hey, we're at the Hilton. We're in 1326. Right.
we wait four hours matthew nothing right i'm like okay this guy's not showing up right i'm like okay this is so we go back to my condo my studio apartment and we're just sitting there like what are we going to do we're drinking wine we're dakin's annex we're snorting lines to this this white girl i'm like man what are we going to do and finally he calls he says i'm on my way i'm like okay good right so now i'm thinking to myself okay
you know what, he's got 300. I tell my trainer, you know what, I'm going to have you bring 700 grand. And when he brings the 300, that's a million. I said, I'm really paranoid at this point.
Chapter 7: What deal does Owen negotiate to avoid a life sentence?
I said, you know what, let's get this million out of here and put it up at your house. Because this guy, this gambler already knows where I live. So I give him 700 grand, and he goes to this hotel that he's going to go meet this guy with the 300, this degenerate gambler. Well, unbeknownst to me, the gambler called the hotel and said, there's a man in 1326 with a gun. So we don't know this.
My trainer shows up with a suitcase, and right when he gets to the hotel, there's four police officers waiting. And they say, we have a call from an American that you have a gun in your room. And he's like, what are you talking about? We're going to need to check your suitcase.
oh man so now they've checked the suitcase there's no gun right there's 700 grand though so now i lost 2.5 million of the cartels in the 700 so now i'm in 3.2 million dollars in less than 24 hours of the cartel's money i'm freaking out i i don't know it yet now i'm like calling my personal trainer he's not answering i'm like okay did he burn me right like that's what i'm thinking okay he got me too
like six hours later I get a call from the new South Wales police department and they're like, we're calling regarding the 700,000 we've just found on your personal trainer. I'm like, Oh shit. Right? Like this is bad.
Yeah. It's not me.
Yeah. I said, listen, I, they're like, can you come into the police station? I'm like, I'm not coming to the police station. I said, I'll be there tomorrow. It's four in the morning. Right. And, uh,
freak out he gets out the he literally gets out of jail the next day and he's like dude we got a problem i said what he says that gambler's been calling the police that he reported that we we threatened him and and he he left the country right oh great so now matthew i'm like okay i gotta get out of australia like i'm a wanted man now for sure like that's all i'm thinking but you don't go to the police station you haven't been no i'm not going to the police station you're trying to get out i'm trying to get a plane yeah
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Chapter 8: How does Owen's protein ice cream business start?
And he's like, he's like, don't worry, bro. We'll get that 700 grand back. I'm like, how? Like, he's like, dude, Australia, we got, we got attorneys that will get that back. Like we'll, we'll come up with something. I'm like, at this point, my mind's like, okay, I'm so paranoid and scared. I'm like, okay, okay. Like if we can get it back, let's try to get it back. Right.
It's better than losing everything. So I'm like, okay, work on that. I fly back to America. and my personal trainer by now has found a lawyer that's going to come forward and represent us pro bono for a percentage. And, uh, I speak to this lawyer and he's like, Oh, don't, don't worry. We'll, we'll pay off some barristers and pay a couple of grand here and we'll, we'll come up with a story.
Don't worry.
That's a system.
Is that a system or what? Right. And I'm like, okay, I'm thinking I'm not from Australia, so maybe that's possible. Right. Like, okay, great. Like whatever we can get back, let's get back. It's, And I go about my business, and now I'm like, I'm trying to sweat this guy in America, trying to get this money back. And unbeknownst to me, now he's working with the feds.
He's told the FBI that he laundered money from me before, and he's got proof. He wants to sign a proffer, and he comes to them and gives them everything. We don't know it at the time. So now they have my phone tapped, my lawyer's phone in Australia, my personal trainer's phone tapped. Everyone's phones are tapped.
While our phones are tapped, we're coming up with this story that my lawyer is feeding me, basically trying to tell me this story, how we're going to get the money back.
Right. Is El Jefe, El Jefe, El Jefe, is he still texting you, like trying to get you to do stuff? Does he know that this is a whole thing's happening?
El Jefe doesn't know.
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