Criminals in Ports
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Criminals in Ports
Crime gangs infest ports
Linton Besser and Nick McKenzie
June 25, 2009
AUSTRALIA'S wharves and airports have been infiltrated by organised crime figures and are vulnerable to criminal exploitation, according to a confidential inquiry by the nation's peak criminal intelligence body.
A three-year intelligence-gathering operation by the Australian Crime Commission has uncovered serious weaknesses in the security of ports and airports.
Among those targeted during the commission's "Crime in the transport sector" inquiry, or who have been the subject of separate inquiries by it and other agencies, are:
* Associates of outlaw motorcycle gangs and other crime groups who work at airports;
* An executive of an Asian airline who used his official security pass to smuggle drug money through Melbourne Airport and onto a plane.
State and federal agencies have been briefed over the past six months on the commission's findings, which a state police source described as "damning".
Another senior police source said the wharves had entrenched criminal elements and that the maritime security identification card system had failed to stop criminal infiltration.
Last year the Australian Federal Police uncovered maritime industry workers in Melbourne passing sensitive information to the alleged drugs boss Rob Karam.
In a text message intercepted last July, Karam allegedly revealed he had been tipped off by a worker that police had intercepted a container filled with drugs.
The commission said its three-year probe had produced "intelligence on serious and organised crime in the aviation and maritime transport sectors", including 349 reports and intelligence briefs on waterfront criminality.
It said it had also created 86 reports on criminality in the airport sector.
As part of its inquiry, the commission used its coercive questioning powers to grill airport and wharf workers across the country, including those with suspected ties to criminals. A report to Parliament last December said the commission had found "a range of points of weakness in current control environments".
A spokesman for the Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O'Connor, said the minister would be briefed by the commission this week. He said the recent federal budget had committed $53.1 million to improving airport security.
Police are concerned that criminal figures are working at airports more than three years after the Wheeler inquiry called for an overhaul of airport security.
At Melbourne Airport, federal police are examining how the vice-president of the Outcasts outlaw motorcycle gang has been working as a baggage screener for a private security company.
The senior bikie has an aviation security identification card that gives him access to most areas of the airport.
A senior law enforcement source who is aware of the commission's report said serious problems also remained at Sydney Airport, including intelligence gaps and poor co-ordination between different public and private security agencies.
The commission's inquiry is believed to have focused on several methods used by organised criminals to smuggle drugs into the country, including "piggy-backing" on legitimate cargo.
Police sources said the maritime and aviation security card system was inadequate. It prevented people with serious criminal convictions from working in sensitive areas, although many people could work in the industry without a card or with a criminal conviction that was not considered unacceptable.
Police intelligence was not used in assessing whether a card should be granted.
Department of Transport figures reveal about 10 per cent of the 33,644 people who have applied for an aviation security card since last October had been convicted of a crime. Of those 148 have been refused.
Over the same period about 20 per cent of the 12,552 maritime workers who applied for a security card had a criminal record - only 41 were rejected.
The commission said it was enhancing intelligence sharing and co-operation between agencies to combat problems at wharves and airports.
Linton Besser and Nick McKenzie
June 25, 2009
AUSTRALIA'S wharves and airports have been infiltrated by organised crime figures and are vulnerable to criminal exploitation, according to a confidential inquiry by the nation's peak criminal intelligence body.
A three-year intelligence-gathering operation by the Australian Crime Commission has uncovered serious weaknesses in the security of ports and airports.
Among those targeted during the commission's "Crime in the transport sector" inquiry, or who have been the subject of separate inquiries by it and other agencies, are:
* Associates of outlaw motorcycle gangs and other crime groups who work at airports;
* An executive of an Asian airline who used his official security pass to smuggle drug money through Melbourne Airport and onto a plane.
State and federal agencies have been briefed over the past six months on the commission's findings, which a state police source described as "damning".
Another senior police source said the wharves had entrenched criminal elements and that the maritime security identification card system had failed to stop criminal infiltration.
Last year the Australian Federal Police uncovered maritime industry workers in Melbourne passing sensitive information to the alleged drugs boss Rob Karam.
In a text message intercepted last July, Karam allegedly revealed he had been tipped off by a worker that police had intercepted a container filled with drugs.
The commission said its three-year probe had produced "intelligence on serious and organised crime in the aviation and maritime transport sectors", including 349 reports and intelligence briefs on waterfront criminality.
It said it had also created 86 reports on criminality in the airport sector.
As part of its inquiry, the commission used its coercive questioning powers to grill airport and wharf workers across the country, including those with suspected ties to criminals. A report to Parliament last December said the commission had found "a range of points of weakness in current control environments".
A spokesman for the Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O'Connor, said the minister would be briefed by the commission this week. He said the recent federal budget had committed $53.1 million to improving airport security.
Police are concerned that criminal figures are working at airports more than three years after the Wheeler inquiry called for an overhaul of airport security.
At Melbourne Airport, federal police are examining how the vice-president of the Outcasts outlaw motorcycle gang has been working as a baggage screener for a private security company.
The senior bikie has an aviation security identification card that gives him access to most areas of the airport.
A senior law enforcement source who is aware of the commission's report said serious problems also remained at Sydney Airport, including intelligence gaps and poor co-ordination between different public and private security agencies.
The commission's inquiry is believed to have focused on several methods used by organised criminals to smuggle drugs into the country, including "piggy-backing" on legitimate cargo.
Police sources said the maritime and aviation security card system was inadequate. It prevented people with serious criminal convictions from working in sensitive areas, although many people could work in the industry without a card or with a criminal conviction that was not considered unacceptable.
Police intelligence was not used in assessing whether a card should be granted.
Department of Transport figures reveal about 10 per cent of the 33,644 people who have applied for an aviation security card since last October had been convicted of a crime. Of those 148 have been refused.
Over the same period about 20 per cent of the 12,552 maritime workers who applied for a security card had a criminal record - only 41 were rejected.
The commission said it was enhancing intelligence sharing and co-operation between agencies to combat problems at wharves and airports.
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I preferred the good old days when the wharves were populated by "disorganised" criminals.
Remember the "Wheelbarrows" joke?
P.S.
Remember the "Wheelbarrows" joke?
P.S.
Police intelligence was not used in assessing whether a card should be granted.
Last edited by Wod; 25th Jun 2009 at 06:07. Reason: Postscript
Police sources said the maritime and aviation security card system was inadequate
The radio news also reported of a Airline manager smuggling drug money past security onto aircraft out of Melbourne.
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And you think Australia is bad??????
Haven't any of you ever heard of or been to LHR? I regularly walk into restricted areas without any challenge whatsoever, no pass visible, no uniform etc. Now a game. All you have to do is latch onto someone going through and holding the door open. Soooooo easy!
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AUSTRALIA'S wharves and airports have been infiltrated by organised crime figures and are vulnerable to criminal exploitation, according to a confidential inquiry by the nation's peak criminal intelligence body.
A three-year intelligence-gathering operation by the Australian Crime Commission has uncovered serious weaknesses in the security of ports and airports.
Also, if it's so confidential, Why am I reading about this report on pprune??
.
.From a news story recently.
Top cop Mark Standen faces court over ice plot | The Daily Telegraph
A TOP law enforcement officer today arrived at court where his lawyers are deciding whether to seek bail after he allegedly masterminded a plot to produce Australia's biggest-ever haul of the deadly drug "ice".
Mark Standen - a senior investigator for the NSW Crime Commission who was arrested at his desk in Sydney yesterday for his alleged role in attempting to import enough ephedrine to produce more than $120 million worth of ice - arrived at Central Local Court shortly after 10.15am, seated in the back of a caged Nissan Patrol four-wheel-drive.
Wearing a dark corduroy-style jacket with a brown T-shirt, Standen's face gave nothing away as he passed the waiting media.
As NSW Crime Commissioner Phillip Bradley confirmed Standen had a gambling problem, Standen's barrister Paul King sought a brief adjournment from magistrate Allan Moore to determine whether to make a bail application.
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Do not worry fellow ppruners... Aviation is still safe, even though the criminals have access to our airports... My eight year old son is not allowed on the flight deck, so no threat there!
Good to see they have their eye on the ball!!!
Good to see they have their eye on the ball!!!
