Crime Correspondent: Melbourne

Qantas flight attendant Angela Cheuk Ying Wee Kwan Wong allegedly attempting to smuggle $31 million worth of ice, ecstasy and cocaine into Australia.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPikR40mMZCY4wXxrx6OKe_CKstnnpwwZuVY69hmCpVU6kl-gAUt_y-et6G67DzQ4Ou81aLHLZByZ7lQQ4KiGPUpMZxdOf6BRUlri4hGM8h3zIF9CaNHbdl9_03Vd04XugxhBKDaBpzWE/s1600-h/wong.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245177836772752034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPikR40mMZCY4wXxrx6OKe_CKstnnpwwZuVY69hmCpVU6kl-gAUt_y-et6G67DzQ4Ou81aLHLZByZ7lQQ4KiGPUpMZxdOf6BRUlri4hGM8h3zIF9CaNHbdl9_03Vd04XugxhBKDaBpzWE/s320/wong.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Qantas flight attendant has been released on bail after an allegedly attempting to smuggle $31 million worth of ice, ecstasy and cocaine into Australia.23-year-old Angela Cheuk Ying Wee Kwan Wong was arrested with six other in July and subsequently charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of the controlled drugs ice, ecstasy and cocaine.Today a Melbourne magistrate has released Wong from custody with strict conditions, including an $80,000 surety.AFP officers say a Vietnamese crime syndicate is responsible for the attempted importation.

Qantas flight attendant Angela Cheuk Ying Wee Kwan Wong allegedly attempting to smuggle $31 million worth of ice, ecstasy and cocaine into Australia.

Qantas flight attendant has been released on bail after an allegedly attempting to smuggle $31 million worth of ice, ecstasy and cocaine int...

Vera Momcilovic is facing a maximum 15-year jail sentence after being convicted in July of trafficking methamphetamine.

Vera Momcilovic was a successful lawyer with a $600,000 city apartment and reputation as a church-goer when love led her to the dark side of the law. The 41-year-old patent lawyer, described as a quiet and caring woman, is facing a maximum 15-year jail sentence after being convicted in July of trafficking methamphetamine.Her barrister Robert Richter, QC, today told the County Court falling in love with her drug-dealing boyfriend had been like entering a "black hole" for Momcilovic."There is a phenomenon of intelligent, bright, intellectual women who, for whatever reason, fall in love with the wrong person," he said. "There are a number of cases that come to my mind of very upright respectable women who fall in love with people who may well be called Robin Hoods." Momcilovic was found guilty by a jury after police found $169,500 cash in a shoe box and nearly 400 grams of ice, worth an estimated street value of up to $300,000, at her Exhibition Street apartment.The drugs and money belonged to her partner Velimir Markovski, 57, who is serving at least four years' jail, but the jury rejected Momcilovic's testimony that she hadn't known about the stash of drugs. The court heard that Momcilovic's conviction would mean she would lose her livelihood and home.Momcilovic sat forward and cried into tissues as her family and friends told a pre-sentence hearing, of their shock at learning that the woman they knew as a dedicated daughter, who attended Serbian church regularly and did volunteer work, was involved in drugs.Her cousin Melissa Mustica said finding out about Momcilovic's conviction through a media report had been like "bad dream" while her uncle Michael Vekovic said the experience was like "watching a movie". Ms Mustica said she had met Markovski and "would have wanted something better" for her cousin whose academic achievements, including a masters in law, had been the pride of their working-class families in St Albans.Retired police sergeant and family friend Dennis John Hughes was on the verge of tears as he told the court he and his wife had been "devastated" by Momcilovic's crime but had not hesitated to pay for her legal fees from their superannuation."The involvement in the activity she was charged with, it's going to devastate her career and future prospects. It's totally out of the blue," Mr Hughes said. Mr Richter said Momcilovic was the victim of a violent crime in 1992 in the presence of Markovski which had tightened the bond between them. "There was love there," he said. Mr Richter said Momcilovic had played no part in dealing the drugs.He said Momcilovic had served 23 days behind bars and should be released from jail and given a suspended prison sentence of between two and three years.Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC, said an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate but agreed Momcilovic's offending was at the lower end of the scale.Judge Damien Murphy denied Momcilovic bail and said he would sentence her next week.

Vera Momcilovic is facing a maximum 15-year jail sentence after being convicted in July of trafficking methamphetamine.

Vera Momcilovic was a successful lawyer with a $600,000 city apartment and reputation as a church-goer when love led her to the dark side of...

Pasquale ''Pat'' Barbaro,Rob Karam ,John William Samuel Higgs.arrested

arrested as Griffiths man Pasquale ''Pat'' Barbaro, Crown casino high-roller and Tony Mokbel mate Rob Karam and the founder of the Black Uhlans bikie gang in Melbourne John William Samuel Higgs.Various close relatives of Mr Barbaro, 46, were named in the Woodward Royal Commission as being members of the Calabrian Mafia gang responsible for the 1977 murder of Donald Mackay.Mr Keelty revealed 400 AFP agents conducted more than 10,000 hours of secret surveillance on gang members and that the AFP estimated the international drug syndicate was responsible for 60 per cent of all drug importations into Australia.Members of various organised crime gangs collaborated with each other in a rare case of unity to fund and organise the massive ecstasy shipments. AFP intelligence suggests Australian members of the Calabrian mafia played major roles in the international syndicate. They teamed up with criminals from other gangs, including some of Lebanese extraction. A founding member of a Melbourne bike gang was among those arrested today. One of those arrested in Griffith in New South Wales has strong links to the Calabrian mafia cell responsible for the murder of anti-drug campaigner Donald Mackay. That Australia was on the smuggling route of an international gang dominated by the Calabrian mafia came as no surprise to Italian organised crime experts. The Calabrian secret society at the centre of the global drug racket is known in Calabrian dialect as N'Dranghita. N'Dranghita has had very strong cells in Australia since at least the 1930s. It is particularly prevalent in Melbourne, Mildura and Shepparton in Victoria, Griffith in New South Wales, Adelaide and Canberra. N'Dranghita is called L'Onorata Societa or the Honoured Society by some Italians, La Famiglia or the Family by others, and simply the mafia by most in Australia. It is the gang responsible for the the 1977 murder of Griffith anti-drugs crusader Donald Mackay. N'Dranghita has been responsible for growing and distributing much of Australia's marijuana for decades. It also got involved in heroin importations in 1978 through now dead crime boss Robert Trimbole and is known to have been involved in massive cocaine importations since at least 2000. The AFP has been working closely with several overseas law enforcement agencies to gather evidence to bust the network's Australian arm. The arrests followed the arrival in Melbourne on July 24 of a shipping container with three 50kg bags of cocaine hidden in a load of coffee.

Pasquale ''Pat'' Barbaro,Rob Karam ,John William Samuel Higgs.arrested

arrested as Griffiths man Pasquale ''Pat'' Barbaro, Crown casino high-roller and Tony Mokbel mate Rob Karam and the founder ...

Christopher Ferraro pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in commercial quantities of drugs.

Christopher Ferraro, 29, of Doncaster, organised safe houses for the storage of drugs for the syndicate, which called itself The Company. The Supreme Court heard Ferraro's friends from his days at Whitefriars College, Joseph John Mansour and Bart Rizzo, ran the drug business while Mokbel was on the run in Greece. While Mansour and Rizzo allegedly personally received instructions from Mokbel, Ferraro did not know him and played a lesser role involving storing amphetamines and drug-making chemicals in return for cash. From January 2006 to June 2007, the group moved 42kg of speed with a wholesale value of $4.2 million but with a street value many times that, the court heard. Ferraro's cut was $500 for each pound of amphetamines he stored for The Company. Defence lawyer Rob Melasecca said his client wasn't in it for the money. He said Ferraro, who has cerebral palsy, was bullied as a teenager because of his disability. He felt indebted to Rizzo and Mansour as they were his close friends and protectors at school. Ferraro, who has no prior convictions, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in commercial quantities of drugs. Judge Betty King will sentence Ferraro at a later date.

Christopher Ferraro pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in commercial quantities of drugs.

Christopher Ferraro, 29, of Doncaster, organised safe houses for the storage of drugs for the syndicate, which called itself The Company. Th...

Van Quyen Ken Tang charged with possessing and importing commercial quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy

Van Quyen Ken Tang, 41, of Vancouver, appeared in court Thursday charged with possessing and importing commercial quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy. Australian police pegged the value of the haul at $78 million.Australian newspapers report that neither Tang nor three others applied for bail when they appeared in a Melbourne Magistrate's Court. They will be held in custody until their next appearance on Sept. 4.Australian Federal Police and Customs officers had been watching the container and swooped when four men began to unload it, Assistant Commissioner Tim Morris told the Melbourne Herald Sun."It's currently the subject of ongoing investigations, both here in Australia but certainly with our international counterparts in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police," he said. "Obviously we have a lot of questions, and investigations are now taking place in Canada to look at the other end of the syndicate."Also charged are three Australians -- Son Anh Pham, 46, Tien Trinh, 26, and Thuan T. Le, 26.

Van Quyen Ken Tang charged with possessing and importing commercial quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy

Van Quyen Ken Tang, 41, of Vancouver, appeared in court Thursday charged with possessing and importing commercial quantities of methamphetam...

Carl Williams seeking leave to appeal his minimum 35-year sentence for his role in three underworld slayings.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWPtjWyEUJTHT192eal1AbfrEFJfZcw_eBqcfnyczyXWsG76J8JcaNZrKKIOcqMVXPCB7-vZIJLrOsNQSASzEsLLRH5s6ibzkbix-28Q7eaEAprW5vyM4b8ZrUUzAjR6wEP2U_oaBZCM/s1600-h/will.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190330972921662674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWPtjWyEUJTHT192eal1AbfrEFJfZcw_eBqcfnyczyXWsG76J8JcaNZrKKIOcqMVXPCB7-vZIJLrOsNQSASzEsLLRH5s6ibzkbix-28Q7eaEAprW5vyM4b8ZrUUzAjR6wEP2U_oaBZCM/s320/will.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Carl Williams will appear in a Melbourne court seeking leave to appeal his minimum 35-year sentence for his role in three underworld slayings.Tight security will surround Williams' appearance before Justice Marcia Neave in the Court of Appeal. Williams was last year convicted of the murders of gangland rivals Jason Moran, Lewis Moran and Mark Mallia, and a failed conspiracy to murder underworld figure and former lawyer Mario Condello.He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 35 years.It is understood Williams' lawyers have launched the appeal on the grounds the sentence was manifestly excessive and the sentencing judge, Justice Betty King, made errors of law and fact.If the original sentence stands, Williams will be 71 years old before he will be eligible for parole. Jason Moran, 36, and associate Pasquale Barbaro, 40, were shot dead in a mini-van in the car park of the Cross Keys Hotel in Essendon North, as five children inside looked on, on June 21, 2003. Williams was convicted only for Moran's murder. Two months later, on August 18, 2003, the charred remains of Mark Mallia, 30, were discovered in a drain in West Sunshine.Then, on March 31, 2004, crime family patriarch Lewis Moran, 58, Jason Moran's father, was gunned down by two men in the front bar of the Brunswick Club in Sydney Road, Brunswick.A series of police raids averted an attempt on the life of Mario Condello outside his home in North Road, East Brighton, on June 9, 2004.Condello was later shot dead in the driveway of his house on February 6, 2006. Williams was not charged with that murder.

Carl Williams seeking leave to appeal his minimum 35-year sentence for his role in three underworld slayings.

Carl Williams will appear in a Melbourne court seeking leave to appeal his minimum 35-year sentence for his role in three underworld slayin...

Que Tran, 71, of Ascot Vale, and her daughter, Thi Minh Doan, 49, were arrested and taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital

Thi Que Tran, 71, of Ascot Vale, and her daughter, Thi Minh Doan, 49, were arrested and taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital. There, police cla...

Huy Quach

Huy Quach, 33, a leading senior constable at a police station in Melbourne's east, is accused of four counts of rape, 11 drug offences and a charge of perverting the course of justice. Quach also faces two counts each of misconduct and offering bribes or commissions. The four counts of rape are against three alleged victims, one a woman police say was bipolar and at risk of suicide. Documents before the court also outline 10 drugs charges involving ecstasy, methamphetamine and cocaine. Sen-Constable Quach, who was stationed at Box Hill, is accused of trying to supply cocaine to a minor in Hawthorn last April. Two charges allege he corruptly offered a bribe of beer to a senior constable to show favour to or withdraw a penalty notice against someone. The court heard yesterday police needed extra time to prepare a brief of evidence because telephone intercepts have yet to be transcribed. The charges are the result of a six-month investigation by Victoria Police Ethical Standards Department. Yesterday, Magistrate Greg Connellan remanded Quach, who has been suspended from duty, in custody to appear in the same court today for a bail application. A committal mention is scheduled for May 2.

Huy Quach

Huy Quach, 33, a leading senior constable at a police station in Melbourne's east, is accused of four counts of rape, 11 drug offences a...

One of the Victotias biggest ever drug busts.

Police arrested the 33-year-old Ivanhoe man at a property at Northcote, in Melbourne's north-east early yesterday morning.Police were ca...

Elizabeth Mary Gordon

Elizabeth Mary Gordon, 19, of 1964 Washington Ave., Melbourne. Charges: driving under the influence with property damage, reckless driving.

Mary Elizabeth Killeavy

Mary Elizabeth Killeavy, 18, of Indian Hrb. Charge: driving under the influence.

Sean Leearic Pope

Sean Leearic Pope, 18, of 173 Ulster Lane, Melbourne. Charges: possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of cocaine, possession ...