Inner workings of Tony Mokbel’s drug cartel revealed

Tony Mokbel straddled the legitimate and criminal divide to amass a fortune and acted as a “banker” for the Williams clan, top-level police files reveal.

Police deemed going “head-to-head” with the Mokbels was a waste of time.

Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams’ criminal alliance went back to the early 1990s when they burgled a chemical warehouse in Sydney, police documents say.

The files show how police suspected Mokbel acted as a “bank” for Williams and his father George while they all built powerful criminal empires over the next decade.

Mokbel — who will soon begin a court battle for freedom over the Lawyer X scandal — was the target of operation Posse, which operated on the basis his relationship with the Williamses went back further than many believe.

The key police planning documents reveal the inner workings of his cartel, how police were to fight the drug lord and the critical importance of taking him down.

Posse was one of the key pushes which would ultimately dismantle the Mokbel empire, tackling the drug kingpin by trying to isolate him from both criminal and legitimate connections.

Carl Williams, his hitman Andrew Veniamin and Tony Mokbel. Picture: Supplied

It lists Mokbel’s most important allies, chief among them the Williams father-and-son team, who concealed their wealth by getting him to hold their profits.

“It would be safe to conclude that Mokbel acts as banker and supplies cash as and when required,’’ the Posse files say.

“It is suspected that Mokbel receives a percentage of all narcotic transactions made by Carl and George Williams, holding a position within the organisation superior to both of them.

“There has been a longstanding relationship between Carl Williams and Mokbel over a number of years, dating to at least the early 1990s when Williams travelled to Sydney with Mokbel and was suspected of involvement in the burglary of a chemical warehouse there.”

The Posse files and police diaries from the period also say:

TONY Mokbel paid for the casino christening of Carl Williams’ daughter Dhakota at Crown.

POLICE used a vehicle tracker to monitor George Williams’ clandestine meetings with Mokbel.

MOKBEL and his three brothers had 32 aliases between them.

THE drug boss was said to have had almost $1 million in cash squirrelled away overseas when he turned fugitive.

Mokbel acted as a “banker” for Carl Williams and George Williams.

Mokbel’s other key associates listed in the Posse files showed how he straddled the legitimate and criminal divide to amass a fortune.

They were a mix of businessmen, drug cooks and traffickers, racing and punting industry figures and a large-scale tax fraudster.

Bar operator and Mick Gatto ally John Khoury was named, as were Mokbel’s partner Danielle McGuire, nightclub operator Glenn Wills, rising underworld figure Mohammed Oueida and drug manufacturer Paul Howden, who died when a lab exploded in the northern suburbs.

Also listed was lawyer Nicola Gobbo.

Mokbel will in coming months launch his court bid for release from prison on the basis that his prosecution was tainted by police use of Ms Gobbo.

Posse viewed his breadth of connections as being a potential weakness.

It said going “head-to-head” with the Mokbels was a waste of time but there were other ways to strike at him.

“Like any organisation, there is an Achilles heel, and that is their associates and business partners,” the Posse assessment said.

“It will be through targeting these persons and groups that the operation will achieve success.’’

The cost of failure was viewed as significant.

Mokbel and Williams at the funeral for Andrew Veniamin in Sunshine in 2004. Picture: Colin Murty

“The reputation of the Victoria Police and other law enforcement bodies will rest on the outcomes of the operation. Should the operation fail, then the Mokbels, as well as other criminals such as Italian organised crime identities will continue to run rampant in the belief that they are able to outsmart the police.”

The Posse material notes the many identities used by the Mokbels over the years.

Tony Mokbel had a total of 16 aliases, ahead of Horty with eight, Kabalan on six and Milad with two.

Most of Tony’s were small variations on his real name, possibly tweaked so they could be used separately in paperwork without being connected by computer checks.

The assessment also notes he was also referred to as the Lords Mayor and the Octopus.

His criminal history was traced back to 1983 when he was fined $750 for unlawful assault.

The Posse files outlining his full record state he made regular court appearances from then on for matters ranging from using indecent language to drug trafficking.

There was a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice in 1992, a fine for hindering police and notation of a court adjournment for assaulting police.

But by early in the 2000s, he was a man of enormous wealth and influence.

A police diary shows investigators were told he had $600,000 stooked away in Turkey and another $300,000 by the time he fled the country while on bail.

MOKBEL HIGHER UP GANGLAND CHAIN

Police suspected Tony Mokbel was a “bank’’ to gangland’s Carl and George Williams.

Intelligence reports from Operation Posse indicate Mokbel held funds for the father and son team, who were answerable to him.

Investigators and analysts suspected Mokbel paid for the christening of Dhakota, the daughter of Carl and Roberta Williams in December, 2004, and paid the Williams’ a percentage for their narcotics dealings.

The Herald Sun understands Mokbel also paid for Dhakota Williams’ private school fees before police took over the payments.

“Fat Tony’s” generosity, matched with intelligence gleaned from surveillance, revealed to investigators Mokbel was higher up the Gangland chain, and among the most powerful Melbourne underworld figures.

Mokbel paid for Dhakota’s glitzy christening at Crown, also attended by Nicola Gobbo.

“It has been suspected that Mokbel holds funds for both George and Carl Williams,’’ Operation Posse intelligence states.

“Neither of Williamses displays any great signs of wealth, however both enjoy a lifestyle above their incomes.

“It would be safe to conclude that Mokbel acts as banker and supplies cash as and when required.’’

“It is suspected that Mokbel receives a percentage of all narcotic transactions made by Carl and George Williams holding a position within the organisation superior to both of them.

Gangland’s “old man’’ George Williams played a key role for Tony Mokbel.

There was regular contact between Carl Williams’ father and Mokbel, but intercepted telephone calls rarely picked up anything more than chitchat.

“Considering the knowledge of police procedures that both parties had, this is not surprising,’’ the Posse intelligence files state.

A tracking device fitted to Williams’ car showed George would call Mokbel in the vicinity of his mother, Lora’s, house in Canberra St, Brunswick.

Carl Williams, Dhakota, hitman Andrew Veniamin and George Williams in 2004: Picture: Supplied

Their familiarity was obvious, referring to one another as “habibi’’, an Arabic word for “darling’’ commonly used for family members.

They would often meet at Brunswick Market in the heart of Sydney Rd, in which Mokbel had a financial interest.

Operation Posse suspected Williams was answerable to Mokbel in the manufacture and distribution of amphetamines.

It is likely his son, Carl, met Mokbel as he emerged as a dominant player in Melbourne, and then Australia’s, illicit drug market.

“There has been a longstanding relationship between Carl Williams and Mokbel over a number of years, dating to at least the early 1990s when Williams travelled to Sydney with Mokbel and was suspected of involvement in the burglary of a chemical warehouse there,’’ the Posse report states.

At that time police knew Williams was a close associate of Mark and Jason Moran.

Their relationship soured after the brothers put a bullet in his belly over a drug dispute.

Phone bugging revealed to police Williams’ referred to Mokbel as “The Lord Mayor’’.

Intercepts also picked up Williams bemoaning to Mokbel about his ban from a number of venues in the inner-Melbourne area, including Crown Casino.

Williams was also banned from venues in Stonnington even though he may have held an interest with Mokbel in nightspots which were money laundering fronts.