Nazir Haddara, the alleged ringleader of the $30 million syndicate, was arrested at Melbourne Airport on Tuesday as he was attempting to board a flight to Dubai.
The alleged ringleader and the enforcer of a $30 million illicit tobacco syndicate will be released back into the community despite one of the men being arrested at the airport as he attempted to leave the country.
The arrests followed a 12-month police investigation where officers say they intercepted more than 10,000 telephone calls by alleged syndicate members detailing the operations and structure of the enterprise and the roles several key players held. The court heard Haddara used encrypted messaging apps to liaise with members of the syndicate and had a series of bank accounts that received millions of dollars in credit from a network of confectionary and gift shops across Victoria selling illicit tobacco and vapes.
“This mindset is demonstrated by some of the shops in which police intervention has taken place, restocking overnight and open for business again the following morning,” Keenan said. “It’s clear that there’s a significant amount of money that is involved in this illicit tobacco business, and Nazir has demonstrated that he’s been able to get his hands on multitudes of cash,” Keenan said.Keenan said officers had only been able to locate $70,000 connected to the criminal network, which meant there could be significant cash “out there in other forms” for Haddara to flee Australia.
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