Melbourne kickboxer Omar Dib caught up in $1b drug plot

A kickboxer, a tradie and an auto shop boss unmasked as the trio accused of trying to import a staggering amount of drugs in Operation Ironside sting.

A kickboxer, a tradie and an auto shop boss are among Melbourne men accused over a $1bn ice and cocaine importation conspiracy.

Fighter Omar Dib, tradie Robin Reffo and International Motor Cars founder Joe Scordo were allegedly part of a plot to bring 1.6 tonnes of the narcotics from the United States and India.

Authorities say the plans were thwarted in the global AN0M sting run by officers from the Australian Federal Police’s operation Ironside.

Investigators say Mr Scordo’s IMC was to be the “main door” for the illicit cargo, to be concealed in tyre rims.

Kickboxer Omar Dib was allegedly involved in the drug plot.

The Herald Sun has been told IMC, in Sunshine West, had been shot at in a drive-by attack last year.

It is not clear what the motive was but sources say Mr Scordo, 51, of Deer Park, had been in a number of financial disputes, including over customer’s vehicles.

Mr Scordo has imported cars and motorcycles from the US since the 1990s.

The IMC website, recently removed, boasted of its ability to get vehicles from America and modify them to Australian specifications.

Omar Dib, another of the accused charged as part of the investigation, dubbed Andiamo, is well known in Melbourne’s kickboxing world.

Auto business operator Joe Scordo.

Tradie Robin Reffo.

Mr Dib, of Werribee, is understood to have worked in a soup kitchen for the needy.

He is a friend of Werribee man Rob Reffo, also charged over the alleged IMC plot, with the pair believed to have trained at the same gym.

The charging of Mr Reffo, named as one of the syndicate’s “workers”, came as a shock to some who know him.

One local said the carpenter, arrested on a work site, was community-minded and betrayed no signs of a drug-trafficking double life.

“It is totally incomprehensible. It is so out of left-field,” that person said

The scheme’s accused ringleader is Danny Zayneh, who also lives in the Werribee area.

Fighter Omar Dib in action.

Melbourne Magistrates’ Court was recently told Mr Dib acted as a “lieutenant” to Mr Zayneh.

It is alleged Mr Zayneh persuaded 41-year-old Sydenham father Mark Joannou, to invest in the importation but that conversations they thought were beyond surveillance on an encrypted AN0M app were actually being monitored by police.

It was alleged Mr Zayneh told Mr Joannou – who police said was known as Wolf on the network – his group had breached Australia’s borders twice previously and would do it again.

“They knew nothing. And we will f--king land three more times, bro. Watch!” Mr Zayneh allegedly wrote.

Police say a subsequent swoop on Mr Joannou’s home uncovered a loaded gun and $430,000 hidden in walls. A sixth man, Sebastian Bezborodoff, was also swept up as part of the importation allegations.

The AFP recently said those allegedly involved would have remained “invisible” without the insight from Ironside surveillance.

The accused have all been charged with conspiring to import a big commercial quantity of drugs. Arrests have been made worldwide as part of the sprawling Ironside inquiry. Many were ensnared after using the app set up by police to trick them into thinking their conversations were concealed from authorities.

[e-mail]