Sydney cocaine king Shayne Hatfield released from jail after 18 years

Here’s the inside story of how a Bondi surfer became a cocaine kingpin, and part of the notorious baggage handlers’ drug syndicate which included a NSW footballer and the ‘Prince of Thieves’.

Shayne Hatfield poses with a huge pile of cash in a 2005 photo. It was found when police from Operation Mocha raided Hatfield’s house.

One of Sydney's first major cocaine kingpins has been released from jail after serving 18 years for his part in a 200kg importation of the drug.

Shayne Hatfield, 57, was part of the baggage handlers syndicate which included former NSW footballer, Les Mara, and the “Prince of Thieves’’’ Michael Hurley, considered one of the states greatest crooks.

He walked free on December 20, still with six years of his sentence left but under strict parole conditions.

The syndicate was uncovered after police launched Operation Mocha in 2004 when one of Hatfield’s most trusted lieutenants turned informer and showed police a photo of himself and Hatfield wearing balaclavas in front of $10 million in cash.

In 2005 after an eight-month secret operation, 13 people including Hatfield were arrested when police realised their secret informant’s life was in danger when the group discovered they had a mole among them.

‘Prince of Thieves’, ex wharfie Michael Hurley, was a known organised crime figure involved in the syndicate.

Hurley and Mara fled before police could arrest them with suspicions they were tipped off by a corrupt cop and went on the run for the next year before being caught.

During the operation, it was later revealed police allowed the informant known as Tom to sell more than 7kg of cocaine on the streets of Sydney – a tactic that was heavily criticised after it came out in court.

Former Balmain rugby league player Les Mara being arrested by AFP officers after 18 months on the run.

Hurley and Mara, both known organised crime figures, had paid drug mules known as “walkers” to bring the cocaine into Australia in black briefcases which were marked and taken from the luggage compartment of the at Sydney airport before it went through customs.

“This was the first time NSW and Australia really saw such an organised method of importation and on such a large scale,” former head of the NSW Drug Squad Nick Bingham said.

“They certainly knew what they were doing. In those days if we got a few kilos we were excited, so 200kg was a major deal. Now it’s commonplace with tonnes being imported,’’ the former police officer said.

During his trial Hatfield claimed he was coerced to stay in the drug syndicate because a Bandido called Rodney Monk, nicknamed Hooksie, would kill him or his girlfriend if he didn’t go along with the importations.

Monk was later shot dead in a laneway near Stanley Street in the city in 2007 by a fellow bikie.

In 2009 Hatfield was sentenced to a minimum 14 years and a maximum of 26 years by District Court Judge Helen Morgan.

Mara was jailed for a minimum of 13 years and has since been released from jail while Hurley died in jail, aged 61 in 2007 before he faced trial.