Third Melbourne club identity Rory Higgins left Bali before raids
A Melbourne nightclub identity who left Bali after being tipped off has gone to ground after the cocaine arrests of two fellow Australians. Rory Higgins was pictured revelling in Canggu before his southeast Asian jaunt “turned to s---”.
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Melbourne nightclub identity Rory Higgins has gone to ground amid the arrests of Will Cabantog and David Van Iersel in Bali.
The Herald Sun understand Higgins quickly scarpered from Bali to Singapore after getting a tip-off from a former manager at Love Machine nightclub in Prahran about the duo’s arrest.
Mr Higgins, 31, has worked at various clubs around Melbourne, including popular nightspot Secret Garden where Mr Cabantog, 35, was also understood to have worked as a promoter.
Nightclub sources and friends of Mr Higgins have told the Herald Sun that he is on tenterhooks after police swooped on Mr Cabantog and Mr Van Iersel at Canggu nightspot Lost City about 2.30am on Friday.
A photo from a fortnight before the raids showed Mr Higgins partying at Lost City nightclub with Mr Cabantog.
The pair was revelling with Gehan Rajapakse, who is understood to have worked alongside Mr Cabantog at Crown Casino’s Club 23 and Lost City.
The Canggu nightclub boasted in the post that its weekly hip hop party was getting “HOTTER every week”.
“Come and experience the best premium Hip Hop party in Canggu,” Lost City posted.
Mr Higgins was on an extended holiday in the popular beach resort area with his girlfriend and mother.
Sources said Mr Higgins left Bali after learning of Mr Cabantog and Mr Van Iersel’s arrest.
It is believed Bali police spoke to Mr Higgins’ girlfriend Emily Brown and his mother Kerry Higgins soon after he left Indonesia.
Mr Higgins posted a cryptic message, believed to be not long after fleeing Bali, with a picture of he and Ms Brown.
“Our last 24 hours has been an absolute nightmare, from what was meant to be a special two months break together at our home away from home has turned to s--- literally overnight,” Higgins wrote in the now-deleted post.
“@EmilyBrown and @Kezzaskitchen (Kerry Higgins) you are the strongest women I know.
“Thanks for everyone who has reached out to Mum, Emmy and me. We are all safe now! See you girls soon.”
He then posted a rat emoji and said “don’t trust” anyone, or words to that effect.
Mr Higgins appeared to have wiped his social media accounts amid the Bali drug drama.
The Melbourne nightclub and hospitality scene is tight knit, with many people saying Mr Higgins was a good operator.
One nightclub owner who had worked with Mr Higgins at Secret Garden in the past told the Herald Sun he was always fantastic as an employee.
“He is a good kid,” they said.
Another source who had worked with Mr Higgins thought he was lying low at the moment hoping it would “all blow over.”
Mr Rajapakse was thought to be the link to Mr Cabantog and Mr Van Iersel’s involvement in Lost City but today distanced himself from the venue, saying he finished work there in April.
“Thanks for everyone’s love and concern — I have not worked at Lost City for over 2 months — to start my MBA this month,” he posted on Facebook.
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Bali police said they were still chasing more suspects in their probe into an alleged cocaine trafficking ring after parading Mr Cabantog and Mr Van Iersel to a media throng shackled in chains wearing prison orange.
The Herald Sun is not suggesting either Mr Rajapakse or Mr Higgins are suspects.
Mr Cabantog and Mr Van Iersel now face up to two months in a police cell awaiting trial and a sentence of up to 12 years in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan Prison if found guilty of possessing cocaine.
Denpasar police’s investigation unit chief Mikael Hutabarat said the men told police they had bought less than two grams of cocaine from another foreigner.
The police referred to the man by the initial ‘N’.
Originally published as Third Melbourne club identity Rory Higgins left Bali before raids
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