Eight people have been arrested under operation Astatine, a joint investigation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the NSW Police Force. They are concerned about corrupt networks being built within the Australian Border Force (ABF) financed by drug money. Those arrested include figures connected to the Jomaa crime syndicate, both in NSW and on the Gold Coast. The ABF is conducting its own integrity assurance measure, Operation Arete.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and Australian Transaction Reports & Analysis Centre will be sent a list of the names of about 14,000 ABF staff. Money laundering and crime gang specialists will check for unexplained wealth and questionable associates. It is alleged that one ABF team leader was able to inform crime bosses whether law enforcement had flagged the shipping containers their drugs were in. The syndicate had operated out of Dubai for a significant period of time, with impunity. While arrests were being made in Sydney and the Gold Coast, the AFP simultaneously nabbed Koder Jomaa in a raid in Dubai.
After receiving information about a significant amount of the border-controlled drug, MDMA, the operation prevented more than 200kg of ecstasy entering Australia. The bust was the equivalent of two million ecstasy tablets, with a street value of more than sixty million dollars.
The probe will continue as to how inside information helped the syndicate. It will be alleged that certain persons utilised their knowledge and expertise to assist in the importation of illegal drugs into Australia.
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Source: Courier Mail 11 August 2017
