|
|
 |
VICTORIAN detectives are under investigation for hiding millions
of dollars in overseas bank accounts made through corrupt drug
deals with some of the state's most notorious criminals.
The ABC's Four Corners program examining corruption within
Victoria Police made the allegation last night.
The program was not shown in Victoria because of ongoing criminal
trials involving police.
Four Corners also revealed that Victoria Police's Ethical
Standards Department is investigating allegations former drug
squad detectives were involved in their own amphetamines
manufacturing operations.
The ESD investigations flow from widespread corruption
allegations within the now disbanded drug squad.
At least 10 former detectives from the squad have been charged,
with two, Steve Paton and Malcolm Rosenes, pleading guilty.
The allegations of corruption are widely acknowledged to be
linked to the drug squad's Controlled Chemical Deliveries
program, which began in the mid-1990s.
Under the policy, police purchased precursor drugs used to make
speed from legitimate drug manufacturers and supplied them to
criminal syndicates. The drugs were then meant to be monitored,
allowing police to crack extended drug rings and manufacturing
laboratories.
But the policy has been widely discredited in other jurisdictions
because it is considered hard to control and easy for corrupt
police to manipulate.
The policy was described by Ombudsman Barry Perry as an
"unmitigated and foreseeable disaster" in a report
tabled in parliament last year.
Four Corners claimed the policy was pioneered by a detective
sergeant without the approval of senior officers. "(It was)
seemingly not authorised and certainly wasn't supervised by
senior management," Acting Ombudsman Robert Seamer told the
program.
The corruption allegations have played havoc with drug
prosecutions in the state.
At least two prosecutions have been overturned or dismissed, and
more than a dozen have been delayed.
In October 2001, Outlaw motorcycle gang secretary Kim Sloan was
released from prison after his drug convictions were overturned.
Mick Pritchard, a close associate of Mr Sloan, told Four Corners
drug squad detectives stole $100,000 worth of pseudoephedrine
from his premises after turning off surveillance cameras in
February 2000.
Pritchard alleges detectives later planted diluted
pseudoephedrine at the same premises.
The program also revealed murdered that gangster Mark Moran had
been under investigation by the drug squad at the time of his
death, and had received large quantities of drugs through the
Controlled Chemical Deliveries program.
Despite the allegations, Police Minister Andre Haermeyer rejected
calls for a royal commission into the force.
"I've got to say the record of royal commissions of putting
crooks behind bars is not a good one," he said.
© The Australian
