Mostafa Baluch bought a $244k Bentley days after police say he sealed a $270m cocaine deal
Accused drug lord Mostafa Baluch bought the perfect sports car to reflect a gangster image only days after allegedly securing a $270 million cocaine deal. Brenden Hills goes inside the police investigation into Australia’s most wanted man.
Police & Courts
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Days after he allegedly finalised a $270 million cocaine deal, Mostafa Baluch splashed out on a luxury sports car.
On May 13, the 33-year-old walked into Woolloomooloo’s luxury car dealership, Scuderia Graziani, before driving away in a “glacier white” Bentley Continental coupe that cost $244,000.
The luxury car was parked in the garage of Baluch’s parents’ home where police arrested him on June 3 before charging him over an attempt to smuggle almost a tonne of cocaine into Australia.
Baluch vanished on Monday after his monitoring bracelet was cut from his ankle. He had been controversially granted bail on a $4 million security in Central Local Court on October 21.
Part of the Bentley’s price tag was covered by the $145,000 trade-in Baluch got for a 2020 Mercedes AMG, according to documents used in the transaction. Baluch also handed over $99,000 cash to pay the balance.
The purchase capped off a challenging period for Baluch.
According to police documents tendered to court, Baluch allegedly attempted to smuggle 27kg of cocaine through the post, which failed when the packages were intercepted by police.
Police allege Baluch believed he had recovered a 900kg cocaine shipment that was to be shipped from Ecuador to Australia in late May.
The court documents said between April 26 and May 2 Baluch attempted to smuggle the 27kg of cocaine in three shipments, with two disguised as modelling clay and another in a wooden box with metal attachments.
The three deliveries were addressed to apartments in Bankstown and Revesby under fake names, including “Clay Thompson”, police allege.
Police allege Baluch was also an investor in a syndicate that shipped the 900kg of cocaine to a Lake Macquarie warehouse on May 26.
Ten days before Baluch picked up his new Bentley, police had intercepted the 900kg of cocaine and replaced it with a “sham load”, which was then delivered as a trap for whoever arrived at the warehouse to pick it up.
Officially, the Bentley’s paperwork said it was purchased by “Kahled Baluch”.
According to paperwork, the car was registered at the address of popular Newport pizza restaurant, Lucky & Pep’s — one of several Northern Beaches eateries run by Baluch’s parents. No allegations of wrongdoing are made in respect of Baluch’s parents.
Police had no trouble monitoring Baluch in his eye-catching car as he drove it around Manly, Mona Vale and other locations.
When police arrested Baluch at his parents’ Bayview home on June 3, the Bentley was parked in the garage.
On the front seat was an application form for a new passport for Baluch, court documents said.
Inside the home, police seized thousands of dollars of US and Australian currency, multiple high-end watches, including a Rolex, and Cartier jewellery.
Police also seized three phones, including a Google Pixel.
The phone was critical to the investigation.
WHO IS af3849?
Police allege the phone contained the supposedly encrypted messaging app ANOM. Earlier this year ANOM was revealed as a worldwide police sting that allowed investigators to monitor messages sent by users of the app.
According to the documents tendered to court, the phone had been used to arrange the cocaine imports, but the only identifying feature was that the messages were sent by a person using the ANOM username “af3849”.
The next challenge for police was to prove Baluch was “af3849”.
The phone was found in Baluch’s home, but the 33-year-old denied that it was his, the documents said.
GPS
One of several methods detectives used to allegedly link the phone to Baluch was to examine the device’s GPS coordinates.
This showed detectives where the phone had been located when it had been used.
They then allegedly matched those coordinates with locations that Baluch had attended, court documents said.
On multiple days in April, the phone had been used at Royal North Shore Hospital, court documents said.
Police checked the hospital records, which showed that Baluch’s sister had been a patient at the hospital before she died on April 18, the documents said.
On April 19, “af3849” sent a message that said: “Life is OK. My sister passed yesterday, so dealing with that.”
Between January and June, the phone was also used in the vicinity of Baluch’s Bayview home.
It was useful information for police as they watched “af3849” send messages on the phone allegedly arranging the smuggling of almost one tonne of cocaine into Australia.
Prosecutors will now use it to allege Baluch was a major player in the cocaine smuggling operation.
THE PACKAGES
Between April 20-24, “af3849” sent messages that provided addresses for apartments in Revesby and Bankstown for a delivery between 20 and 23kg, the documents said.
On April 26, 9kg of cocaine hidden in a package of terracotta modelling clay, and addressed to the Revesby apartment, was intercepted by Australian Border Force.
Another 14kg of cocaine hidden in modelling clay was seized the next day before it could be delivered to “Clay Thompson” at an apartment on Cairds Ave, Bankstown.
On May 2, another 4kg of cocaine was seized before it could be delivered to a Strathfield address hidden inside a plastic and wooden box with metal attachments.
That day “af3849” sent a series of messages, including one that said: “We not going near it. It’s red.”
THE 900KG INVESTOR
Police also allege Baluch was also “an investor” in a drug syndicate that attempted to smuggle 900kg of cocaine into Australia from South America.
In April, 1.5 tonnes of cocaine was seized off the coast of Ecuador.
Authorities replaced 900kg of the drug with a “sham load” that was sent to Australia, court documents said.
Undercover operatives allegedly assisted two other syndicate members, who police allege were the “NSW based shore party” of a “transnational drug supply syndicate”.
According to court documents, one man allegedly explained to an operative the economics of the cocaine trade in Australia.
“Put it this way. You get four tonnes, yeah? If you are able to transfer lets say 600-700 kilos to Perth yeah? And you keep the rest for here (NSW),” the man allegedly said.
“ … and send some into Victoria, 4-5 tonnes you cover the whole Australian market here for eight months, maybe a year … that’s the capacity of this market.”
He also allegedly explained there was one Australian group who purchased up to 800kg at a time with cash.
“F … ing bags (of money) I don’t know if you have ever seen piles of bags,” he allegedly said.
“It’s like f … ing nothing brother, you can’t even comprehend what is the value of this in these bags.”
On April 25, police allege Baluch sent a message outside the Bayview home allegedly explaining that the shipment “ … was supposed to be 2.3T but only 900 because (the) boat was late”.
Police allege a message was sent to a buyer on the ANOM profile claiming that he had control of the whole 900kg shipment.
The sham load of cocaine was delivered to a Lake Macquarie warehouse on May 26.
The next day, police allege a message was sent on the ANOM profile that said: “We are safe … 900” and “We control market.”
Another message on the ANOM profile allegedly said he was set to make $70 million but still had to pay the shipping crew.
At 8.32am on June 3, a man was arrested when he arrived at the Morisset warehouse.
Baluch was arrested at Bayview minutes later.
Police believe Baluch has gone into hiding after vanishing on Monday.
His court ordered ankle bracelet was cut off outside the Bayview home.
NSW Police Minister David Elliott told 2GB that police were furious about the bail decision. Court documents said Baluch had served a previous jail sentence for commercial drug supply and was still on parole as of April.
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