Sport of kings rocked by horse owner’s multimillion-dollar cocaine ring arrest

Damion Flower has been banned from all racecourses and stables in NSW and stripped of his Everest barrier slot. Racing NSW has imposed the tough sanctions on Flower pending the outcome of his serious criminal drug charges.

Damion Flower has been banned from all racecourses and stables in NSW and stripped of his Everest barrier slot.

Racing NSW has imposed the tough sanctions on Flower pending the outcome of his serious criminal drug charges.

The ban also prohibits the horses that Flower has shares in or owns outright from wearing his racing colours which are red and white.

Any money that these horses win, that would normally have been pocketed by Flower, will now be frozen and held in a trust pending the outcome of his criminal case.

Flower has been banned from all racecourses and stables in NSW and stripped of his Everest barrier slot.

It’s understood Racing NSW has issued Flower with a show cause notice to argue his case but given he remains behind bars they don’t expect he will be able to front the industry body.

Racing NSW is considering who will take over the vacated barrier slot for the next Everest.

Today, NSW Crime Commission has seized all of the interests and property of Mr Damion Flower.

Flower was arrested at his Moorebank home on Wednesday and faced six drug importation charges at Liverpool Local Court yesterday.

Late yesterday the Supreme Court of NSW approved an application from the NSW Crime Commission to seize all of Flower’s property and interests.

“The NSW Crime Commission did not seek an order to seize any race horses, however the interests Mr Flower has in any racehorse will be captured by the restraining order,” NSW Crime Commissioner Peter Cotter said.

ALAN JONES DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM CHARGED RACE IDENTITY

Broadcast king Alan Jones has distanced himself and other horse racing identities from owner and alleged drug smuggler Damion Flower.

Using his morning radio slot on 2GB, Jones said he had barely spoken to Flower despite owning shares in the same horse.

“I wouldn’t have had two conversations with Damion Flower in my life,” Jones said.

“To be mentioning John Messara and I, and John Singleton in the same context as Damion Flower, is I think, bottom of the bird cage stuff.”

Flower appeared in Liverpool Local Court yesterday facing six charges of importing border controlled substance, cocaine.

Alan Jones said he had barely spoken to Flower despite owning shares in the same horse.

Police allege Flower was assisted by two other men importing cocaine on Qantas flights from South Africa.

The 47-year-old Moorebank man is one of Sydney racing’s most high-profile owners.

Mr Flower is a popular figure on racetracks and at yearlings sales where he is often flanked by his good friend, NRL legend Phil Gould.

Flower has shares in more than 60 well-bred racehorses out of his Platinum Park complex at Hawkesbury racecourse.

He hit the jackpot, securing the yearling for $260,000 and named him Snitzel in 2004.

Snitzel developed into an outstanding racehorse, winning seven of his 15 starts including the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate in 2006, amassing more than $1 million prize money.

When Snitzel was retired to stand at stud, Flower negotiated a multimillion-dollar sale to John Messara’s Arrowfield Stud, retaining a 1/40th share.

“For reasons that were never asked or explained Damien Flower proceeded to sell off the 40 shares in the horse,” Mr Jones said on 2GB this morning.

“John Messara, one of the greatest authorities in the world on breeding, had recognised the stallions worth and proceeded to buy whatever shares became available.

“I also bought some, so much so that Damian Flower out of 40 shares now has one left.”

SPORT OF KINGS ROCKED BY ARREST

Some of the state’s top horses could be held under court order by the NSW Crime Commission as it investigates a leading racing identity’s alleged links to a multimillion-dollar cocaine ring.

Former baggage handler Damion Flower is alleged to have teamed up with an ex-colleague and another man as part of a plot to smuggle the drugs through Sydney Airport.

The 47-year-old, a part-owner of renowned racehorse Snitzel, To Oto O Junior Mafiti, 50, and Ashoor Youkhana, 42, have been charged over their alleged roles in an international cocaine syndicate, which is claimed to have imported drugs worth tens of millions of dollars.

Camilla Flower leaves Liverpool Local Court. Picture: Liam Driver

Damion Flower.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the powerful NSW Crime Commission is set to lodge an application in the NSW Supreme Court to freeze all of Flower’s assets, including his racehorses.

The application would, if successful, stop him from selling any interests in the horses, but would not necessarily prevent them being trained or raced.

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The ex-Waverley College student paid $2.4 million for barrier slots in four consecutive instalments of the prestigious annual The Everest, the world’s richest race on turf.

Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said industry participants could be banned if they were deemed to have brought the sport into disrepute.

“At Racing NSW, we have always had a no-fault stand-down rule similar to the NRL, where we reject nominations from anyone who we think is not acting in the best interests of racing,’’ Mr V’landys said.

“Racing NSW also has options in regards to The Everest slot, but we need to consider all the information first so we can make informed decisions on this matter.’’

To Oto O Junior Mafiti, 50, from Oran Park, was allegedly using his airside access to import cocaine through the baggage holds of commercial flights.

It is understood that when he was arrested, Flower owed $2.4 million for four yearlings he bought last month at the Inglis Easter sales.

Flower was arrested at his Moorebank home at 5pm on Wednesday, taken to Liverpool police station and charged with six counts of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

At the same time, Qantas baggage handler Mafiti was arrested at the airport, allegedly with 28kg of cocaine in a bag. He was charged with five counts of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

Neither of the men applied for bail in brief court appearances on Thursday, where Flower’s wife Camilla sobbed before her husband was brought up from the cells at Liverpool Local Court.

Damien Flower and his wife Camilla, in 2005.

It is alleged Mafiti, from Oran Park, was using his privileged access to import cocaine through the baggage holds of commercial flights. Flower, who is intending to plead not guilty, was allegedly seen by police with Mafiti when the drugs were dropped off after being removed from the planes.

The syndicate is alleged to have used Qantas flights from South Africa — including QF64 on Wednesday — to import the drugs.

Flower has been charged over alleged importations of cocaine on May 22, April 15, March 15, February 12, January 29 and January 22.

Their arrests come more than a month after Youkhana, from Middleton Grange, was arrested in a car near Sydney Airport, allegedly in possession of a duffel bag containing 27kg of cocaine in vacuum-sealed packages wrapped in black and silver paper. He has been charged, in relation to the syndicate, with one count of trafficking in a commercial quantity of a controlled drug.

About $8 million in cash was seized at Hoxton Park

A major police operation swooped on homes and storage units in Hoxton Park, Oran Park, Moorebank and Revesby yesterday, with police allegedly seizing more than 50kg of cocaine and $8 million cash.

Flower’s arrest has rocked Australia’s thoroughbred racing community. He is a high-profile identity in the sport who has shares in more than 50 horses trained by Brad Widdup at Platinum Park at Hawkesbury.

Flower first came to prominence as the owner of the outstanding sprinter Snitzel, winner of seven races including the Group 1 OakIeigh Plate in 2005, earning more than $1 million prize money.

In the 2017 Everest race he entered a horse called Clearly Innocent, which finished eighth.

Damion Flower, owner of Golden Slipper favourite Snitzel, in Martin Place. Picture: AAP

DEVIOUS HANDLERS ARE BAG OF TRICKS

Crooked baggage hand­lers at Sydney’s internat­ional airport can be worth more than their weight in gold as former Bondi surfer Shayne Hatfield discovered.

Hatfield, who headed the most infamous Sydney ­cocaine importation racket along with Michael Hurley and Les Mara, posed for a souvenir photo showing him with $10 million cash, just a third of what the syndicate raked in the early 2000s.

They paid the baggage handlers $300,000 to ­ensure their marked cases were removed before they got to customs.

Shayne Hatfield and his cash.

Former pro-surfer Hatfield, now 54, is serving 26 years after pleading guilty to heading the $30 million drug cartel importing more than 200kg of cocaine, Mara is serving up to 20 years and Hurley died of cancer in jail in 2007.

Bribable baggage hand­lers are nothing new — one report linked them to org­anised crime rackets as far back as 1977. Crooks refer to them as “doors” as in “I’ve found a door for you”. Their methods vary from changing baggage tags to avoid Customs examinations to being told what specific “bag tag” numbers to look out for.

One notorious operation in 2012 involved a senior customs official, Christopher Cranney, and more than a dozen customs officers and baggage handlers. He was jailed for 13 years in 2016 over the pseudoephedrine racket.

— By Janet Fife-Yeomans

Originally published as Sport of kings rocked by horse owner’s multimillion-dollar cocaine ring arrest