Melbourne underworld: David ‘Drago’ Komljenovic charged with dealing with proceeds of crime

A softly spoken long time Melbourne crime figure is battling to keep his dubious fortune out of police hands.

First photo: David ‘Drago’ Komljenovic (left) at Heidelberg Magistrates Court with his lawyer.

A Melbourne underworld figure and convicted drug dealer claimed $262,000 seized from his public housing rental home was won playing cards at dodgy gambling venues.

David ‘Drago’ Komljenovic fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court earlier this year charged with dealing with proceeds of crime and drug possession.

Komljenovic has managed to survive Melbourne’s volatile gangland world and remain out of the public eye since at least the 1980s.

However, Victoria Police and Australian Federal Police National Anti-Gang Squad (NAGS) members raided Komljenovic’s Boyd Crescent, Heidelberg West public housing rental and a Glen Waverley home linked to the investigation in August 2021.

During the raids, investigators seized $262,300, a taser and small amounts of heroin, cannabis and a methamphetamine precursor.

The court heard police found three bundles of cash, some of it in foreign currencies.

Police also found six bundles of $100 notes and 12 bundles of $50 notes stashed in a “void” behind a hallway bookshelf.

The court heard AFP members spotted an “anomaly” with the book shelf which prompted investigators to probe the area more closely.

A police informant told the court she viewed messages on Komljenovic’s phone which, she suspected, were related to drug trafficking.

The court also heard multiple people claiming to be Uber drivers, and a woman on a bike, arrived at the premises during the police search.

However, the court heard there was no other evidence of drug trafficking, such as scales, or deal ledgers at the house.

In response, Komljenovic claimed he won the cash at “illegal gambling businesses” scattered throughout Melbourne’s north including along Sydney Rd Coburg.

Komljenovic’s lawyers argued their client had won the cash at “high roller” clubs for “elderly migrant types” who like to bet big on cards.

The police informant confirmed she was aware “such venues” existed.

“(Komljenovic) told us he was playing card games through word of mouth and didn’t want to tell us where or with whom …,” the informant said.

“There was intelligence in relation to there being card games in the area, however I was unable to confirm Mr Komljenovic’s involvement.”

Komljenovic, now aged either 67 or 68, was convicted by a County Court jury in November 2004 for trafficking heroin and cannabis.

He was jailed for a maximum six years after being caught selling drugs out of his Box Hill home in 2002.

He was also previously convicted of trafficking heroin in 1993 and handed a 10-year maximum jail term.

He has also previously fought attempts by police to confiscate his assets.

In 2014, police seized $337,700 in cash from the Essendon North home of his mother, Lucy.

The money was found in a green shopping bag in the laundry and seized under an unexplained wealth order.

It was argued Komljenovic won $100,000 of that cash at the casino.

In 1994, the County Court ordered him to forfeit a hotel, flats, houses and two cars valued at almost $1.5 million after a judge found they were bought with the proceeds of heroin trafficking.

The seized property included The Wicks Tavern in Brunswick, three houses in Buckley St, Footscray, four flats in Johnson St, Reservoir, proceeds of a house sale in Browning St, Moonee Ponds, a Jaguar XJS and a Holden Commodore sedan.

Those seizures came after Komljenovic was arrested following a seven-month investigation by the gaming and vice squad in 1990.

Komljenovic’s current matter will return to court at a later date.

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