Fugitive Mustafa Tanc’s final act before arrest in luxury Park Hyatt Melbourne hotel

Police officers were forced to fish a fugitive’s drugs out of a luxury East Melbourne hotel toilet moments after he was caught trying to flush them, court documents claim.

The Park Hyatt hotel in East Melbourne, where fugitive Mustafa Tanc was found by police. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Police officers were forced to fish a fugitive’s drugs out of a toilet at a luxury Melbourne hotel after he frantically tried to flush them in his final moments of freedom, court documents claim.

Mustafa Tanc, 39, had been wanted for almost a month after he allegedly assaulted a man with a firearm in a dramatic extortion plot involving an escort.

But he was eventually tracked to the five-star Park Hyatt hotel in East Melbourne on January 4, prompting members from the elite special operations group to storm his hotel room.

Court documents obtained by the Herald Sun reveal that upon entry, the heavily-armed operatives claim they saw Mr Tanc flushing illicit substances down the loo.

He was swiftly arrested and a search of the toilet was conducted, with police allegedly fishing out a large zip lock bag containing meth.

Police scoured the rest of the room, allegedly seizing $50,000 in cash and quantities of ketamine, methylamphetamine and 1,4-Butanediol.

Mr Tanc made a bid for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last week, arguing he should be released from custody to complete a 84-day residential rehabilitation program.

Mustafa Tanc was arrested at Melbourne’s Park Hyatt Hotel.

But Detective Senior Constable Sean Mitchell told the court he strongly opposed Mr Tanc being granted bail, noting that no one could stop him from walking out of the facility and committing further offences.

“Police have found it extremely hard to locate this male,” he said.

“He’s well financed. He uses alias names, fake IDs … so he’s truly hard to find.”

The court heard he books short-stay accommodation under fake names to evade authorities.

Mr Tanc is facing charges including extortion, making threats to kill, assault with a weapon, trafficking and possessing methylamphetamine and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, Mr Tanc organised for an escort to attend an Airbnb apartment he had rented on December 7, paying her $1800 for her services and an advance payment of $1000 to see her again.

However, the woman believed the $1000 to be a tip with no conditions attached.

Over the following days, Mr Tanc allegedly demanded he see her again or have the $1000 returned.

The woman decided to return to the South Yarra apartment with her boyfriend.

Mustafa Tanc was seen flushing illicit substances down the toilet, police claim.

But when they sat down at the dining room table to discuss the money, Mr Tanc is accused of pulling out a silver handgun, pointing it at her boyfriend and striking him across the face with it twice.

He then allegedly pointed the gun again, saying: “Give me my money back.”

She said she believed he gave her the money willingly but he said: “No I didn’t, I gave it to you to make you come back.”

According to court documents, she returned the $1000 before leaving and calling triple-0.

Mr Tanc is also accused of a separate incident on December 27 involving a woman he befriended on Snapchat.

At a different Airbnb, he gave the woman – who had brought along her three-year-old son – a designer bag and shoes worth $6000.

The woman would later tell police that it appeared as though Mr Tanc was on a “drug bender” and had not slept in five days.

He allegedly attempted to have sex with her in the Airbnb but she refused, with the woman telling police he acted as if he was entitled to sex because of the purchases he had made.

She went to leave but he responded by grabbing her by the neck and choking her, police allege.

Mustafa Tanc allegedly assaulted a woman in front of her child.

“The son saw the assault, started crying and went running to his mother,” a police summary states.

She went to leave the apartment but he followed her to the hallway, allegedly grabbing her by the neck and stating: “I will kill you.”

The court heard the firearm used in the alleged assault on December 7 was not recovered from the hotel room, with police concerned he could retrieve it if he was granted bail to the rehabilitation facility.

A manager of the rehabilitation facility told the court if Mr Tanc was to abscond from the facility, the police would be notified.

But Magistrate Brett Sonnet denied Mr Tanc bail, saying he remains an “unacceptable risk” of committing further offences if he was released from custody.

Mr Tanc, who has since grown a beard, appeared via video link from custody.

He will return to court for a committal mention on April 2.