Shane Ross’ final interview before killing: ‘I wasn’t a drug lord’
In Shane Ross’ final bombshell interview before his murder, the father-of-three strongly denied he was linked to convicted drug lord Ivan Tesic and vowed to clear his name. READ THE FULL REPORT
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SLAIN ex-Comanchero bikie Shane Ross vowed to clear his name before his execution after sensationally being named as the real kingpin in drug lord Ivan Tesic’s criminal trials.
In his only sit down interview into his alleged links to the underworld, Ross told the Gold Coast Bulletin he had been “thrown under the bus” and that his home had been raided by police only after his name surfaced in Tesic’s 2017 drug trafficking trial.
As a result of the raid, Ross faced court for possession of steroids and fireworks.
The Bulletin’s three-year-old interview can only be revealed now after Tesic’s legal options were exhausted.
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Flashy Gold Coast drug baron Tesic was charged with trafficking and possession of ice following a protracted and covert operation by Queensland and NSW police, as well as federal agencies during 2013 and 2014.
He originally hired high-profile Sydney lawyer Ali Abbas to help him defend his drug charges. Abbas has himself now been charged with being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Sydney teenager Brayden Dillon.
Court documents show 39,000 phone calls were analysed as part of the Gold Coast police sting to catch Tesic.
In February last year, he was jailed for eight years and nine months after a second jury found him guilty by a majority verdict on a charge of possession of six bottles of meth oil, capable of producing ice with a street value of $5.2 million. He was not found guilty of trafficking.
A jury was unable to reach a verdict in an earlier trial.
Tesic was brought unstuck after a young Gold Coast apprentice carpenter turned drug mule claimed he used to move drugs for the man.
The defence case centred around the fact the mule had allegedly fitted-up Tesic and lied to police to shield the real drug kingpin, who they claimed was Ross.
The man who turned police supergrass told officers he moved bottles of methylamphetamine for another man, which he would then place into the concealed space in his Hilux car.
He told the Brisbane Supreme Court that in late 2013 he was using his car to deliver methylamphetamine to several men including Ross.
The mule claimed in the trial that Tesic had directed him to pick up crystal meth in a tub from Ross and deliver it to the “boys”.
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He also said in a trip from Sydney in 2014 that the Gold Coast nightclub owner asked him to move bottles of meth oil with a particular colour lid to Ross, who would contact him.
The mule claimed he was paid $5000 for the trip.
But court documents from Tesic’s appeal show the mule later said in a statement to police that he had “never delivered methylamphetamine oil to Rossy”.
In a Queensland Court of Appeal judgment handed down last year, it says that during Tesic’s trial the mule claimed he changed his statement to “protect himself from Ross who he was scared of and intimidated by”.
The majority judgment did not allow Tesic’s appeal, but did concede the mule had been an unreliable witness.
His comments can now be published one year after his death following Tesic’s conviction and unsuccessful appeal in Queensland and to the High Court of Australia, which was handed down last week.
The heavily tattooed Ross cut an intimidating figure but talked of his family and business plans.
“If I was the kingpin don’t you think they would have found more than just steroids and fireworks at my house?” Ross said over coffee.
“I only knew Tesic through an interest in cars and I just feel like I’ve been thrown under the bus.”
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Ross was fined $500 for the steroids and fireworks in September 2017 but received a one-year jail sentence, wholly suspended, for failing to provide the pass code for a phone.
During Tesic’s trial, defence barrister Saul Holt QC told a Brisbane Supreme Court jury that even though the now convicted drug lord drove Lamborghinis and Mercedes-Benzes, split his time between mansions in Sydney and the Gold Coast and earnt $2.6 million over three years, it didn’t make him a trafficker.
“Ivan Tesic has assets, but you know what, that’s not a crime,” Mr Holt said in court in 2017.
The 36-year-old father of three had gunshot wounds from two different guns. There is no suggestion Tesic is responsible for Ross’ death.
Police will allege Ross was shot by Lone Wolf bikies, who organised a meeting with the victims before shooting them dead.
He had once been a member of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang but his family say he left the club years before his killing.
Detectives said at the time of Ross’ shooting that both he and Martin had a “history with some people that are known for violence”.
Police said last year: “We also know they probably owed money to other people …”
Lone Wolf outlaw gang members Nathan Miller, 34, and Brodie Singh, 42, have been charged over the alleged premeditated double murder.
Originally published as Shane Ross’ final interview before killing: ‘I wasn’t a drug lord’