Jailed Aussies ‘surprised’ by $500m cocaine bust to spend month in Serbian prison
SERBIAN police allege Australian man David Campbell, who has been remanded in a Belgrade jail for a month, was armed with a gun during a $500 million hotel drugs bust.
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AUSTRALIAN man David Campbell has been remanded in jail for a month in Belgrade as Serbian police investigate suspicions he was armed with a gun at a meeting where almost $1 million was allegedly due to change hands.
And two of his Australian associates have expressed surprise that they were detained by Serbian police in a dramatic gunpoint raid.
Campbell, 49, of Murrumbateman in NSW, is being held in the huge, communist-era Central Prison in suburban Belgrade after being remanded by a judge of the Higher Court (Visi Sud).
Two other Australian men, Rohan Arnold, 43, and Tristan Waters, 34, are being held in a separate jail outside Belgrade, the Padinska Skela, in a special unit for foreigners and those awaiting extradition.
All three men, and an alleged Lebanese associate, Diab Geagea, 41, were detained at gunpoint by Serbian police on Tuesday at the luxury Metropol Palace Hotel in Belgrade at the request of the Australian Federal Police.
RELATED: Inside the hotel where the three Australian men were arrested
The raid, which Serbian police say happened at a “money changeover”, came as the AFP said the men were wanted in relation to the shipment of $500 million worth of cocaine into Sydney on a ship from China last April.
Police seized just under $1 million in various currencies, mainly euros, from a bag the men had at the hotel lobby meeting.
While Arnold and Waters are not facing any investigation from Serbian authorities, and have told their Serbian lawyer they are surprised at the police action, Campbell and Geagea are both being investigated for alleged breaches of local law.
Campbell appeared in the Higher Court (Visi Sud) of Belgrade on Thursday to face a preliminary investigative hearing about a gun police found during the raid.
A spokeswoman for the Higher Prosecutor, Tatiana Sekulic, told News Corp Campbell had been brought to the prosecutor “because of reasonable suspicion that he committed a crime of illegal production, holding or carrying or trafficking of firearms and explosive materials.”
“He used his legal right to defend himself by silence,” Ms Sekulic said.
“The prosecutor has organised an investigation and put the proposition to the judge of the Higher Court in Belgrade to put this man into custody because of the danger of escaping (absconding.)”
The Higher Court, which usually deals with organised crime and war crimes, confirmed it had remanded Campbell in custody for 30 days due to fears he may abscond.
Spokeswoman Bojana Stankovic said the court hearing dealt only with the issue of detention, and a pre-trial judge had interviewed him briefly in the court, with an interpreter.
“It was just about the circumstances of the detention and not the criminal case. Where he lives, what he was doing jn Belgrade,” Ms Stankovic said.
“The judge ordered detention for 30 days ... because of the risk of escape.”
Geagea also appeared in a court in Belgrade on Thursday where he too was remanded in custody. He is being investigated on suspicions of holding fake passports and Identification papers.
A potential Serbian criminal case could hold up Campbell’s extradition to Australia. However, illegal possession of a weapon is not considered a particularly serious crime in Serbia, and may not even carry a jail term.
It is not clear if police will try to extradite Geagea.
Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter will have to sign off on the request and Serbian officials said they had not yet received it.
The process could take up to six weeks.
The Serbian lawyer for the three Australians, Jaksa Pekovic, said no Serbian legal action was underway again Waters and Arnold.
“They were held under explanation their identity was not possible to confirm,” he told newspaper Politika.
“Even though they have regularly passed the border, checking in at the airport and have registered in a hotel.
“I was talking to them and they were surprised with everything that has happened.”