The Tony Mokbel Files

Greece’s Chief of Police says he expects Australia’s request for the extradition of convicted drugs trafficker Tony Mokbel to be met.

After holding talks with Australian police chief Mick Kelty, Greece’s police head Anastassios Dimoshakis said he believed Tony Mokbel could be exptradited back home.

Although local authorities were looking into whether the fugitive had set up a drugs network in Greece similar to the one he operated in Australia, the police chief said the investigation would not impede Mokbel’s extradition.

The announcement came as the convicted drugs baron told reporters in an Athens court that he would fight such a request 100 per cent, saying he did not think he would get a fair trial in Australia a country in which, he claimed, he had done nothing wrong.

Source: ABC

How does a “cunning and intelligent” member of Melbourne’s underworld end up in a terrible wig in Athens?

If you believe all the theories, or some, he flees Australia disguised as a Maronite priest following a route planned by a murder victim, then hops between Malaysia, Turkey, Colombia, South Africa and Cairo, surviving a shoot-out with rivals in Lebanon and enjoying a flutter at the Dubai World Cup.

Tony Mokbel then buys a Greek shipping company and settles into a lavish lifestyle with his hairdresser lover, her young daughter and the couple’s newborn baby, all the while keeping a firm hand on his import and export business - also known as the drug trade.

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A $1 million reward for information about Tony Mokbel could be still up for grabs, despite his arrest in Greece yesterday, according to Victoria Police.

Head of Purana task force Detective Inspector Jim O’Brien said that information from the public and from authorities had informed the investigation into Mokbel, whose Greek location was confirmed by police on May 15.

“We’ve had information from various sources as you would in any investigation and that matter will be looked at in the fullness of time,” he said.

Police Minister Bob Cameron said that the reward may still be handed over.

“We have to wait and see if anyone comes forward to claim it. The process… is if someone does come forward police then make recommendation if someone can receive that reward, but we do very much have to wait and see,” Mr Cameron said.

Source: Brisbane Times

Victorian Supreme Court judge Justice Bill Gillard received an unexpected retirement gift today, with the capture of fugitive drug baron and accused murderer Tony Mokbel overnight.

Justice Gillard retired from the bench today after a decade in the job.

He presided over Mokbel’s cocaine trial and sentenced him to 12 years’ jail in March last year after he skipped bail in the final days of the hearing and vanished.

In court today, Justice Gillard thanked the legal profession for its support and happily noted his last day as a judge coincided with Mokbel’s arrest in Athens.

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After 15 months on the run, the Melbourne gangland fugitive, cocaine smuggler and murder suspect Tony Mokbel has been captured whilst, police allege, running a major drugs operation from Greece.

Police arrested Mokbel in the affluent seaside suburb of Glygafa where he was disguised and allegedly had a fake passport and driving license.

After the arrest, Victorian police moved and arrested 14 people in raids on 22 properties across Victoria. 120 police were involved in the operation.

“We believe that Mokbel was directing and organising production, distribution of drugs overseas (and) was in regular contact with associates in Melbourne,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon has said.

“(He) had associates in Victoria distributing cash proceeds of drug sales to him using international banking accounts and cash transfers.”

Nine of those arrested overnight are due to face court in Melbourne today. “A large amount of cash, drugs and firearms have been seized as a result of these raids,” Ms Nixon has said.

The Australian has more details.