John Ibrahim: What NSW Police found raiding Dover Heights home
Police spent 12 hours searching through John Ibrahim’s mansion and when they came across some pills in his bedroom, they confronted the Kings Cross identity. A police video, tendered in multiple court cases, reveals his response and reaction. WATCH THE VIDEO
NSW
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When police raided John Ibrahim’s house in 2017, they spent 12 hours turning his Eastern Suburbs mansion upside down looking for incriminating evidence.
The Kings Cross identity wasn’t charged, but police found several surprises in his house, like numerous safes, bags of white powder and that his house was a communal living arrangement.
It was the climax of an 18 month police investigation that led to about 20 arrests and the simultaneous raids of the homes belonging to John’s siblings, Michael, Fadi and Jazz Dior. Police recorded each of the raids, which were tendered in multiple court cases.
The videos shed unprecedented insight on one of Sydney’s most fascinating families.
The searches uncovered a hidden pinhole camera, a confession of a drug addiction and a questionable interior design choice in the form of a very large tap in the shape of a dolphin.
John Ibrahim is brought into the top floor bedroom of his cliffside mansion by the police who have spent hours ransacking it.
One of the officers believes he has uncovered something illegal.
On the giant bed, which is adorned by a decorative horned skull, are a handful of coloured pills the officer has discovered in the pocket of the Kings Cross identity’s jeans during a 12-hour search of his eastern suburbs home.
The police now want to film Ibrahim being questioned about what the officer has discovered. It is important, because Ibrahim’s response might be used as evidence and what he says now will lock him into a version.
The videos of the exchange emerged in evidence that was tendered in court in relation to the cases against John’s younger brother Michael and a number of associates in a case relating to a billion-dollar drug and tobacco smuggling syndicate.
John Ibrahim was not charged and there is no suggestion he engaged in illegal activity.
But, given his close relationship to some of the people charged, Ibrahim’s house was searched.
The officer introduces himself to the camera. Name, rank, badge. He then says: “I just found these coloured pills.”
Ibrahim is wearing Air Jordan slip-on sandals, tracksuit pants, a cardigan and a quizzical look on his face. He interrupts the officer to let him know what he has discovered.
“Tic Tacs,” Ibrahim says as he starts laughing at the two cops in the room.
The officer responds: “Are they Tic Tacs? I don’t know …”
But there is something else among the small pile of confectionery that the officer points out.
“Is that a Viagra?” the officer says in the video as he picks up the pill and shows it to Ibrahim and the camera.
Ibrahim confirms it: “Yes, and Tic Tacs. There is a script in my drawer downstairs.”
Another officer in the room attempts to mask a smile.
It is not the first time police have found sexual paraphernalia while searching Ibrahim’s house.
In his 2017 autobiography Ibrahim revealed an anecdote from the early 2000s when authorities searching his home found a cupboard full of sex toys, including a pump for the male anatomy.
Ibrahim wrote that he told the cops: “I have NEVER seen that thing before in my life.”
After the discovery of the Tic Tacs during the 2017 search video of his bedroom, Ibrahim and the two officers then make their way to the door.
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On the way, the officer points out another white pill that he found on the bed head.
“That’s a Viagra as well,” Ibrahim says in the video that was tendered in evidence, before he corrects himself after a closer inspection.
“No, that’s a mint.”
The officer then lifts the cushion on a single seat lounge near the doorway to reveal a pile of money totalling in the hundreds.
“That’s my cash,” Ibrahim says as he collects the notes and puts them in his pockets.
Ibrahim’s patience is clearly wearing thin as he runs through a list of legal items that the police have found: “That’s a mint, that’s a Viagra, they’re Tic Tacs.”
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
The raid took place on August 8, 2017, and Ibrahim’s house was once of about 20 properties police descended on just before sunrise.
It was the climax of an almost two-year undercover police investigation, known as Operation Veyda, which targeted a large section of Ibrahim’s family and social circle.
The investigation has since resulted in the former nightclub boss’s younger brother Michael Ibrahim pleading guilty to smuggling almost two tonnes of drugs and millions of illegal cigarettes into Australia.
More than 20 people were arrested, including Ibrahim’s one-time gofer Ryan Watsford, who was jailed over the cigarettes and an 800kg MDMA shipment.
John Ibrahim was not charged and there is no suggestion he took part in any illegal activity.
But that did not stop police spending almost 12 hours turning his cliffside mansion upside down unsuccessfully looking for evidence.
Police filmed every element of the search, including several exchanges with John’s charismatic housemate, Mim Salvato. They also filmed each discovery, such as several bags of white powder and hidden safes.
The videos were included as evidence in the case and were tendered in several cases of Michael and his co-accused.
A squad of police — some heavily armed — came knocking on Ibrahim’s Dover Heights mansion about 5.40am.
According to documents tendered in court, Ibrahim’s housemate, Mim Salvato, opened the door but stood behind a locked gate.
One of the officers told Mim: “Australian Federal Police. Open the gate and let us in.”
Salvato’s response showed he wasn’t convinced, the documents said.
“I don’t believe you. This is a gee-up,” he said to the police.
He soon learnt that it wasn’t.
John came to the door and the documents state the officer repeated his request and added he had a warrant to search the house.
The Kings Cross identity was shown the warrant and the long line of police filed into the home, the documents state.
By the time the officers left, it was close to 5pm.
During the search, the officers found hidden safes, a door with a fingerprint reader and a door that led to what could have been used as an escape tunnel under Ibrahim’s pool. They went through every cupboard and also discovered numerous bags of white powder, which looked suspiciously like cocaine.
They also seized a long list of items ranging from more than $20,000 cash found in an electronic safe in Ibrahim’s bedroom, CCTV footage, other safes and a computer.
There was also a little black book and a ledger that appeared to show amounts of money that were either outstanding or needed to be paid.
The police also discovered a book, titled Lesbian Secrets For Men, which was not seized.
Then there were those now infamous eyebrows that police found during the search. They were the ones still on their wax strips after being ripped off the heads of Ibrahim underlings Watsford and Jaron Chester as punishment for taking $65,000 from Michael Ibrahim.
Police were also made aware of the communal living arrangements within Ibrahim’s house and the cast of characters and transients who either live in the King of the Cross’s other bedrooms or left their prescription medicine or human growth hormones in his butter tray.
One of the transients even got blamed for a bag of white powder found inside a Home Beautiful magazine.
Originally published as John Ibrahim: What NSW Police found raiding Dover Heights home
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