Pubdate: Sat, 08 Apr 2000
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2000 David Syme & Co Ltd
Contact:  250 Spencer Street, Melbourne, 3000, Australia
Website: http://www.theage.com.au/
Author: John Silvester

INFORMER ALLEGES BETRAYAL BY POLICE

The witness who exposed Australia's biggest amphetamines syndicate flew out 
of Melbourne last night claiming he has been betrayed by the authorities 
who had promised to protect him.

The man, given the police code name "E2/92", spent more than three years 
gathering evidence for the drug squad and a further four years in witness 
protection. He now says the police department has reneged on a deal to set 
him up financially and to resettle him in a new country.

"They have taken my country, my future and my life," he said before he flew 
from Australia.

E2/92 infiltrated the amphetamines syndicate run by "The King" - John 
William Samuel Higgs - the man who dominated the Australian speed market 
from the mid-1980s until his arrest in 1996.

The witness has lived with threats to his life since 1996 when syndicate 
members learned he was an informer. E2/92, his wife "Julie" and two 
children were then sent overseas for their protection.

The witness says he has been repeatedly betrayed by legal and police 
officials. He says he was promised $500,000 and residency in another country.

He left Melbourne last night after being paid $350,000. He was paid $50,000 
last year. He says he has debts of $143,000 and no resident status in 
another country. "That will keep us going about two years. Then what? I'm 
50 years old; who's going to employ me? We are not actually residents of 
any country. Where are we supposed to go?"

It is believed detectives recommended the witness be paid the full $500,000 
but one senior officer rejected the plan. The witness says he was given 
repeated assurances by police between 1993 and 1996 that he would not have 
to testify in court but later he was told he would have to give evidence.

His lawyer, Mr Paul Duggan, said: "The negotiations have been protracted to 
the point of being cruel. He has been left depleted and extremely bitter."

In order to get his final payment the witness was forced to sign an 
agreement on Tuesday that he would not talk to the media or sue any 
government authority. But he spoke to The Age earlier on the basis the 
story would not be published until he was safely out of the country. He 
left last night.

A police spokesman said the force "has invested a substantial six-figure 
sum of money into protecting this witness, relocating his family overseas, 
supporting and caring for them for almost four years.

"The witness gave evidence that helped put behind bars some of the most 
notorious criminals in Victoria. Police did not force the witness to give 
evidence in the case."
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