- Victorian police paid over half a million dollars to drug syndicate
- Only $32,600 of the money paid has been recovered, the court heard
- The case against one of the accused won’t be heard until July 2018
Victorian police have lost $600,000 of taxpayer’s dollars to Afghan heroin dealers during an undercover operation.
An investigative police operative allegedly paid over half a million dollars to the syndicate in 2014 but just $32,600 of the money paid has been recovered, the Herald Sun reports.
Despite this the Victorian police saw the feat as a triumph given the millions of dollars worth of heroin and ecstasy that was seized during the job.
Victorian police have lost $600,000 of taxpayer’s dollars to Afghan heroin dealers during an undercover operation
A number of men in Australia and New Zealand, including Mohammad Osman, were also arrested as a result.
Mr Osman applied for bail but Prosecutor Mark Gibson was opposed to it because the 52-year-old has an extensive number of properties in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Dubai, has no income other than a carer’s pension and is a flight risk.
‘In terms of the (flight risk) over $600,000 remains unaccounted for in terms of what was paid by the undercover operative,’ Mr Gibson said.
Mr Osman has already come clean about his role in trafficking 1kg of heroin and is likely to receive a significant jail sentence but the trial will not be heard before a court until July 2018.
The charges followed a multinational police operation that reportedly seized 15kg of heroin worth more than $4.5 million, and 8kg of ecstasy tablets with a street value in excess of $1.5 million.
Despite this the Victorian police saw the feat as a triumph given the millions of dollars worth of heroin (right) and ecstasy (left) that was seized during the job
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