Nick McKenzie, Joel Tozer and Fergus Hunter15:38, Jun 07 2021
Sydney Morning Herald
Some members of the Aussie Cartel: Hakan Ayik (centre), Mark Buddle (left) and Angelo Pandeli.
Australia’s most dangerous and wanted crime bosses have organised themselves into a cartel earning an estimated A$1.5 billion (NZ$1.6 billion) a year by smuggling drugs past the nation’s borders with the help of corrupt government officials and border insiders, the nation s peak criminal intelligence agency believes. The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission says nine men, drawn mostly from Australian bikie gangs and Middle Eastern crime syndicates, make up what the agency has named the “Aussie Cartel”. The nine have been confidentially designated by the intelligence agency as Australian priority organisation targets after an assessment that they pose the gravest organised crime risk to the nation.
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Qantas said it was disturbed by claims that some staff may have been involved in organised crime following an Australian media report that gangs had infiltrated the airline.
It said agencies believe organised crime groups had infiltrated Qantas to facilitate illegal activities.
In a statement Qantas said authorities had not raised any concerns.
The BBC approached Australian authorities for comment on the report.
The Nine newspapers said the classified intelligence operation found up to 150 Qantas staff had been linked to criminality. It said agencies believe they included motorcycle gangs that were involved in drug importation and other activities.
Nine men drawn from Australian bikie gangs, Asian triads and Middle Eastern crime syndicates make up what criminal intelligence authorities have called the ‘Aussie Cartel’.
2021-03-12 02:05:28 GMT2021-03-12 10:05:28(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
SYDNEY, March 12 (Xinhua) The Australian police have seized a boat packed with an estimated 200 kg of cocaine off the coast of New South Wales (NSW) near Sydney, authorities revealed Friday.
A 27-year-old man was charged in relation to the haul, worth an estimated 90 million Australian dollars (70 million U.S. dollars) on the street.
According to a joint statement by local law enforcement, the Australian Federal Police were tipped off last weekend that a cargo vessel was allegedly carrying a large quantity of cocaine bound for Australia.
Police then tracked the vessel as it made its way to Sydney. The drugs were transferred to a smaller vessel before dawn on Thursday, which was intercepted by law enforcement as it made its way to shore.