Senior Calabrian mafia figure Saverio Zirilli appeals ecstasy importation conviction
A senior Calabrian mafia figure involved in the world’s then biggest importation of ecstasy into Melbourne will make his bid for freedom. Here’s why he could be released years before the end of his sentence.
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A key player in the world’s then biggest importation of ecstasy into Melbourne will launch an appeal against his conviction on Tuesday.
Senior Calabrian mafia figure Saverio Zirilli will have his first hearing in the Court of Appeal in a bid to walk free from prison.
The 63-year-old is serving a minimum 26-year prison sentence over the infamous “Tomato Tins’’ ecstasy importation.
Zirilli claims he was among several of the accused men Nicola Gobbo, aka Lawyer X, told to plead guilty after he was charged with drug trafficking after raids by the AFP on August 8, 2008.
It is believed Gobbo was seeking to protect her role as a police informer from being discovered.
Gobbo went on to represent or give legal advice to other “Tomato Tins’’ syndicate members, despite her crucial role in the sting, including Pasquale “Pat’’ Barbaro, Karam and Higgs.
Victoria Police, behind the scenes, warned her against it.
Zirilli was named as his cousin, Barbaro’s “right-hand man” in the importation of 15 million ecstasy tablets crammed into tomato tins and shipped to Melbourne from Naples in June, 2007.
Zirilli will potentially lead other “Tomato Tins” syndicate members Rob Karam, John Higgs, Jan Visser, Barbaro and others in seeking to overturn their convictions.
But while Zirilli is ploughing ahead with his appeal at court today, Barbaro is still preparing his appeal challenge.
Their cases have all have one thing in common — Lawyer X.
In June 2007, while Gobbo was acting as a lawyer for Karam, the barrister foiled the syndicate’s drug importation plans by photocopying a shipping document — known as a “bill of lading’’ – and slipping it to her Victoria Police handlers.
Gobbo, at the time, was a prolific police informer, snitching on her clients.
It was the “bill of lading’’ that directed police straight to the shipping container brought in on cargo ship the MV Monica from Naples 23 days later.
Australian customs officers found more than 3000 tomato tins filled with ecstasy pills, stamped with kangaroo emblems — estimated at $122 million.
The drugs were seized and replaced by fake pills by the Australian Federal Police for the syndicate to pick up.
But after no one collected the illicit haul, the AFP carried out an intensive surveillance operation for more than a year to bust the 31-strong syndicate.