IT WAS the metaphor from hell that started this mess. We can blame US president Richard Nixon, who in 1971 famously declared War On Drugs, and like Vietnam, it has proved to be unwinnable. Perhaps it should have been compared to disease, where we don't look for total victory but rather see every person saved as a win. If addictions were an Olympic event, Australia would medal every time. From cocaine in the 1920s, over-the-counter drugs in the 1950s, heroin in the '80s and the present designer pill push, we have been near first in the queue. [continues 712 words]
CARL Williams, it must be said, never pretended to be an A-grade student. Variously described during his shortened professional life as an unemployed supermarket shelf-stacker, property developer and professional punter, he was, in reality, turning over $100,000 a month by grinding out a variety of illicit pills of questionable quality. Tony Mokbel was never inclined to enrol in night school to complete an MBA, yet was the stunningly successful CEO of his corporation, dubbed The Company. Howard Marks, the charming Oxford University graduate, ran The Enterprise - a worldwide cannabis business involving 113 known associates working in 14 countries. Over 20 years he used sea-going tugs, freighters and US Navy containers to transport massive quantities of cannabis to his shifting market. [continues 1337 words]
Police seeking to stem the flow of heroin into Australia say it is just a matter of time before another drug courier is executed overseas. John Silvester reports. IN AN imported suit and designer sunglasses, the Vietnamese man is at once young and flashy and the epitome of self-styled personal success. He has that cool confidence suggestive of a young executive on the make -- or a luxury car dealer before the global financial crisis rearranged the world. But the young man doesn't work for a company -- at least not one found on any Corporate Affairs register. He is a recruiter -- in more conventional corporate terms a "headhunter" -- who works in Melbourne's western suburbs with a tempting pitch. His job is persuading the gullible that he can offer them the chance of a lifetime that includes money, travel and adventure. He tells his marks what they want to hear -- that his system is foolproof. He will buy them a return ticket to Vietnam and they can visit friends and relatives while being paid handsomely for a working holiday. [continues 1487 words]
POLICE have identified more than 100 Melbourne-based drug couriers smuggling heroin from Vietnam for seven major crime syndicates. Drug Taskforce head Detective Inspector Doug Fryer yesterday issued a public warning to the drug suspects that they face certain arrest -- and possibly the death penalty -- if they continue. "We are putting these people on notice. We know who you are and you will be checked if you make any further trips," he said. Syndicate recruiting officers specially trained to identify likely candidates are selecting the human mules -- often from Melbourne's western suburbs. The smugglers range from a male aged 22 to a woman in her mid-60s. [continues 481 words]
Underworld godfather Tony Mokbel would have lost his liberty this week - - but he is not around to serve his jail term. John Silvester profiles the small man who wanted big things. It was just a little stumble that spilt the tin that caused the fire that led to the explosion that brought the firemen who called the police who found the amphetamine laboratory that Tony built. The lab, in a quiet residential street in Brunswick, had proved to be a virtual goldmine, pumping out speed until the day Paul Edward Howden kicked over a bucket of solvents that ignited and burnt the house down in February 1997. Police didn't have far to look for the main suspect. They found Howden at The Alfred hospital being treated for severe burns to 30 per cent of his body. [continues 2937 words]
Victoria's highest-ranking detective, Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland, says the criminal justice system is failing to cope with sophisticated organised crime and requires immediate reform to avoid permanent gridlock. Mr Overland says police, witnesses and prosecutors are frustrated that cases are taking years to come to trial. Highlighting "chronic" problems in the justice system, Mr Overland has told The Age: Nine underworld murder victims were on court-approved bail when they were shot dead. Four hitmen are suspected of carrying out murders while on bail over serious charges. [continues 756 words]
Drug squad detectives are threatening to stop arresting alleged amphetamine and ecstasy traffickers until corruption allegations being investigated by an internal taskforce are completed. But the ethical standards inquiry, codenamed Ceja, is to be extended following fresh allegations of illegality in the squad. Drug squad detectives met last month to consider postponing planned arrests because they believe court cases will not proceed while the corruption claims remain unresolved. The proposal put to the meeting was that detectives continue gathering evidence but to delay final raids until the Ceja taskforce has completed inquiries. [continues 354 words]
Police are planning a massive crackdown on heroin dealers they believe are selling drugs on Melbourne trains. The move comes as Bayside Trains began recruiting 53 extra staff to improve security on their lines. Assistant Commissioner (Crime) George Davis said dealers were jumping on the trains when police began to saturate an area to stop drug activity. "We have information that they are selling drugs on the trains because they believe they can avoid police scrutiny," he said. The crime department and transit police were developing tactics to move on the dealers. [continues 123 words]
Victoria's most senior drug investigator has called for prescription heroin for long-term addicts and supervised injecting room trials. Detective Chief Inspector John McKoy, who retired yesterday as head of the drug squad, said he had reluctantly concluded that the steps were necessary. "This goes against my training, upbringing and beliefs but I believe we have to look at these alternatives," he said. "Prescription heroin would save a heck of a lot of lives and would reduce other crime problems dramatically. [continues 607 words]
Police will launch a series of blitzes in country Victoria to crack down on the growing heroin trade in regional centres. The tactical response squad would be briefed to move into areas where local police believed there were drug syndicates operating, said Assistant Commissioner (Crime) George Davis. "We have been watching where there is drug activity around the state and we will be concentrating on problem areas. When they move, we will move," he said. Mr Davis said the tactical response squad would progressively target drug hot spots around the state. [continues 386 words]
It had been 30 years since the group of middle-aged businessmen were at private school together, and they wanted the reunion to be one to remember. Many - but not all - had realised their boyhood potential, making an impact in the fields of finance, medicine, engineering, education and the law. The reunion was a chance to catch up with old mates - to brag a little and drink a lot. One of the old boys, a man who had been successful in a cut-throat industry, had been looking forward to the night for weeks and he wanted to make sure his old school chums would be able to share in the spoils of his success. [continues 1252 words]
Less than 12 hours after Mark Moran was murdered outside his luxury home, a group of his associates met in another house in the north-eastern suburbs to begin planning the payback killing. Yesterday, both homicide squad detectives and the group of criminals were making separate inquiries as to who ambushed and killed Mr Moran on Thursday evening. If police find him he will face murder charges, but if the gang finds him first he is likely to be the next statistic in a sporadic underworld war conducted in Melbourne over the past 30 months. [continues 1084 words]
For eight years, Victoria Police drug squad detective Lachlan McCulloch was isolated and condemned as obsessive by many colleagues for his fight against corruption in the squad. Yesterday he was vindicated when a one-time mate, former detective Kevin Hicks, and a long-term enemy, career criminal Peter Pilarinos, were sentenced to lengthy jail terms. And this time McCulloch was not alone. A month ago he received a phone call from his former boss, Detective Chief Inspector John McKoy, who declared: "I would be proud to walk into court with you." [continues 900 words]
A Melbourne lawyer believes a break-in at his office may have been an attempt to find files on a secret witness who was forced to leave Australia after giving evidence against a major drug ring. Corrupt police had already burgled the drug squad to try to find where the witness - codenamed E2/92 - was living. The latest burglary was at the office of the witness's lawyer, Mr Paul Duggan, only two weeks after E2/92 left Australia in April. [continues 545 words]
St Kilda detectives are so proud of their reputation they have had a special tie made up. The insignia is the scales of justice - on one side is a black crow with a syringe in its mouth and the other a stick figure with a halo above its head. The crow represents the prostitutes of the area, the sainted figure is a detective - and in his left hand he carries a sledgehammer. The three-storey St Kilda police station in Chapel Street is like no other in the state and some of Australia's best - and strangest - detectives have worked there. [continues 501 words]
Police internal investigators yesterday seized heroin, cannabis, illegal guns and money from the headquarters of the Criminal Intelligence Unit in St Kilda. The seizures came during a routine visit to the station after they received an anonymous statement from a police member complaining of management problems at the station, including concerns over the number of detectives taking sick leave. Sources said the "visit" became a raid when Ethical Standard Department investigators began to search lockers. It is believed investigators then called in forensic and crime scene experts to conduct a thorough search of the office and photograph the area as possible court exhibits. [continues 238 words]
It was nearly midnight on 16 September last year and Heat nightclub at Crown casino was crowded. Two fit young men and a woman were straining to be heard over the beat of the music. The two men were league footballers - not household names but well-known enough to be minor celebrities in football-mad Victoria. The players were long-time mates who no longer played for the same team. One was free to go clubbing because his side hadn't made the finals. The second was having his first serious drink in months because he had only just been told he hadn't made the side for one of the finals to be played in two days' time. [continues 655 words]
Ecstasy is a dangerous drug, English comedian Lenny Henry once quipped, because it makes white men think they can dance. It's true: regular ecstasy users are almost always devotees of the "rave" dance culture. There's no break between the techno songs, and no applause - just the insistent beat that accentuates the effect of the drug. The people who go are mostly young, but old enough to hold career jobs without kids and mortgages to cramp their style - or their spending. This time they've gathered for a dance party on a Saturday night in a warehouse in Fitzroy but it could as easily be in St Kilda, Prahran, Footscray or Richmond. [continues 1300 words]
"Julie" is a passionate, articulate and fiercely independent woman. That is why she cannot understand how the criminal justice system has reduced her to a nobody, now dependent on her husband to survive. Her husband was a secret police witness, who spent three years gathering evidence on one of the biggest drug rings in Australia. He was so secretive, in fact, that he didn't tell her he was risking his life and the family's security. Now Julie is on the run. She has lost her job, home, country and peace of mind and she believes she will never get them back. [continues 1332 words]
