Baby Glock at Ibrahim girlfriend’s home linked to gun smuggling ring

EXCLUSIVE: The “baby Glock” allegedly found at the home of John Ibrahim’s girlfriend Sarah Budge may be linked to one of the biggest gun-smuggling syndicates in Australian history, police believe.

A gun allegedly found at the home of Sarah Budge, girlfriend of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, is being tested for links with one of the largest weapons smuggling operations in Australian history. Picture: Instagram

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THE pistol found in the cupboard of John Ibrahim’s girlfriend may be linked to one of the biggest gun-smuggling syndicates in Australian history, police believe.

Model Sarah Budge was charged with possessing a “Baby Glock”, allegedly found when police arrested her on August 8 as part of co-ordinated raids across three continents.

A police source has revealed there is a “high chance” the pistol is one of more than 130 guns smuggled into Australia by a syndicate working out of Sylvania Post Office that was busted in 2012.

Sarah Budge leaves Crane Bar after a meeting with John Ibrahim and another man last week. Picture: Richard Dobson

Only a small number of the smuggled weapons have ever been found by the investigation, known as Strike Force Maxworthy.

An Australian Federal Police source said yesterday: “It’s a high chance that it is (one of the Maxworthy guns) because there are very few other places that type of gun could have come from. They’re not available to members of the public.”

It is not suggested that Budge had any involvement in gun smuggling operation.

A “baby Glock” with associated parts.

Budge, 27, was arrested at her Double Bay home in an operation that also locked up Ibrahim’s brothers Fadi and Michael in Dubai, accused of playing various roles in a conspiracy to smuggle almost $1 billion worth of drugs and millions worth of bootleg cigarettes into Australia.

“To land a conviction they will need to prove that she had knowledge of the gun.”

Budge is charged with possessing an unauthorised firearm, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 14 years jail. She is also facing charges of possessing a gun with the serial number scratched off and having ammunition without a permit.

NSW Police raid an Australia Post office in Sylvania Waters, seizing gun parts and searching for drugs in 2012.

The few guns that have been recovered were found in the hands of some of Sydney’s most hardened criminals, including one that was allegedly used to shoot the aunt of Brothers For Life gang founder Bassam Hamzy in the leg.

AFP officers involved in her arrest recognised similarities between the weapon and the smuggled guns, and have sent it for testing in an attempt to identify whether it is one of the missing guns.

The fact that the serial number has been made unreadable has slowed efforts to identify where it came from.

A large number of the smuggled guns were Baby Glocks, also known as Glock 26s, only available to police but not for sale to the public.

Lawyer Paul McGirr, who is not involved in the Budge case, said prosecutors would need to prove she was possession of the gun, which is “a tall order”.

The syndicate had imported more than 130 guns by the time they were caught.

“To land a conviction they will need to prove that she had knowledge of the gun, that she knew of its existence and was in possession of it,” Mr McGirr said.

The gun smuggling syndicate came unstuck in 2012 when a low-level criminal was caught firing one of the weapons, which still had a serial number on it, on the streets of Wiley Park in south western Sydney.

AFP officers involved in Budge’s arrest recognised similarities between the weapon and the smuggled guns. Picture: Instagram

Police seized the weapon and the serial number led the investigation to uncover that the syndicate members had been importing gun parts from Germany, Switzerland and the US into Australia through the post.

The gun parts were often ordered using forged Customs documents before they were sent to Sylvania Post Office and later reassembled.

The syndicate had imported more than 130 guns by the time they were caught and about 100 are still on the streets. They had also planned to import hundreds more.

The members of the syndicate included the owner of the post office franchise Andrew Botros, freight forwarder Ahmed Karnib and Optus technician Khoder El Ali, who were all jailed.