Eight people were arrested in Melbourne over the past fortnight as part of a joint operation targeting an organised crime syndicate police will allege is responsible for the importation of over $20M worth of illicit drugs into Australia. On 7 January, a Malindo Air cabin crew member and an airline employee were arrested upon arrival at Melbourne International Airport by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Both AFP and Malindo Air issued a press statement (read more below).
Operation Sunrise commenced in August 2018, focusing on the importation and subsequent trafficking of high grade heroin to Melbourne.
Investigators will allege the syndicate was bringing the drugs into the country from Malaysia by using an international airline cabin crew as a courier.
The alleged offenders are linked to the trafficking of at least 6kgs of high-grade heroin and 8kgs of methamphetamine during the five-month operation.
Since 8 January 2019, seven search warrants were executed by the Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (JOCTF), comprising members from the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police, Australian Border Force and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, with assistance from the Victoria Police Drug Taskforce.
The properties targeted were located in the Melbourne suburbs of Richmond (two properties), Southbank, Abbotsford, Sunshine North (two properties) and Melbourne.
Eight people have been arrested as part of this operation and charged by police as follows:
All eight have appeared before Melbourne Magistrates Court with six remanded to appear again on 15 May.
The 30-year-old man and 46-year-old woman were bailed to appear again at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 15 May.
A number of items were also seized during the operation including the following:
Crime Command Assistant Commissioner Tess Walsh said the successful outcome of this operation sends a strong message that police and other law enforcement agencies remain strongly focused on disrupting those criminal groups bringing drugs into the Victorian community.
“This was a well organised syndicate we know had operated across Australia undetected for many years,” she said.
“To be in a position to make these arrests and dismantle this group is a significant win for both police and the Victorian community.
“The amount of heroin alone involved in this investigation amounts to almost fifty thousand thousand hits in real terms.
“We know the harm that drugs bring – not just the physical and health impacts on users, but the negative flow on effects to the broader community such as property crime, assaults and drug driving.
“This operation has been about ensuring that those within this group are held accountable for their criminal actions and show that police will actively work to disrupt the activities of those willing to bring drugs into Victoria.
“Our work certainly doesn’t finish with these arrests and the enforcement of drug offences remains a key priority for not only Victoria Police, but all law enforcement agencies across Australia.”
AFP Commander Amanda Kates said the operation was a great success and a strong example of the excellent cooperation between the State and Commonwealth law enforcement agencies. This investigation demonstrates the power of intelligence sharing between partner agencies.
“The arrest and dismantling of significant members of this criminal syndicate sends a strong message to international drug syndicates who choose to import and traffic such harmful drugs into Australia.”
“Law enforcement agencies in Australia will use all available resources and capability to identify, arrest and prosecute those responsible for spreading such destructive drugs into our community,” Commander Kates said.
Australian Border Force Regional Commander Victoria, Craig Palmer, said the arrests highlight the effectiveness of Australia’s multi-layered, multi-agency approach to targeting illicit drug imports.
“Would-be criminals should be aware that any attempts to bring these drugs into the country will be met with the full force of Australian border and law enforcement agencies, before, at and after the border,” Commander Palmer said.
“Airline staff are not above the law. They are subject to intervention at the border like everyone else and face significant penalties if they are found to be using their positions to attempt to circumvent our border controls.
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission Acting Executive Director Intelligence Operations Jason Halls said this outcome is a strong example of the value of intelligence sharing between the ACIC and partner agencies.
“By working together we are seeing significant results in preventing illicit drugs from reaching the community and we will continue to target the serious and organised crime groups who bring these drugs into the country, with no regard for the harm they cause,” he said.
Anyone with information about drug activity is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report to www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Malindo Air wishes to affirm that one of our cabin crew was arrested on arrival at Melbourne International Airport by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on 7th January 2019. To date however, we have not had any official communication either with our staff or from the AFP on the said detention. We had nevertheless duly raised the matter with the Malaysian Consul General’s office in Melbourne upon learning of the said detention.
We have now learnt from the various media reports that the said cabin crew was arrested for allegedly being part of an international drug syndicate which used various airlines’ cabin crews for smuggling drugs into Australia. Malindo Air through the various media reports is also aware that cabin crew from other international carriers have since been arrested on similar charges over the last couple of months. Malindo Air stands ready to co-operate with all the relevant authorities be it in Australia or in Malaysia in this regard. The said cabin crew has also been suspended with immediate effect pending termination. As a responsible international air carrier, Malindo Air does not condone any act that is criminal in nature or misconduct by our personnel. All our flight and cabin crew are adequately trained & continuously appraised in all aspects of their conduct to comply to our stringent operating standards.
Given all that we know to date & based on the findings of our internal investigations, we are confident that this arrest appears to be an isolated incident arising out of a crew’s misconduct. None of the remaining Malindo Air crew on the said flight were detained. Though only into our 6th year of operations as an airline, we wish to reiterate of our commitment to continue to take all necessary steps to ensure our passengers’ safety & security at all times. Malindo Air also continues to abide by all the prevailing international regulatory standards. We are particularly proud of our record to date of meeting the stringent laws & regulatory requirements imposed by the various international authorities as well as the Australian authorities where we commenced operations since Nov 2015.
We shall nevertheless work more closely with the relevant authorities to ensure that all our flight & cabin crew act professionally and in compliance with prevailing international norms & laws at all times.
This post was published on 16 January 2019 12:17
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