How police nabbed Mostafa Baluch in border sting

Mostafa Baluch thought he had made it to Queensland after hearing a knock on the container in which he was hiding.

Mostafa Baluch thought he had made it safely over the border from NSW into Queensland after hearing a knock on the outside of the white shipping container in which he was hiding.

The alleged international drug kingpin didn’t know it, but his 16 days of freedom were over.

The truck carrying the container had just been pulled over by police at a border checkpoint.

With the container unloaded onto the grass on the side of the road, the hapless fugitive then knocked back, giving himself up.

“Armed police, armed police!” the officers yelled as they forced open the door. Inside the container they found a grey Mercedes SUV, so tightly wedged that the 33-year-old was forced to climb out through the boot.

“Hands up! Hands up! Leave them right there,” police called out as he emerged.

A freshly shaven and bald ­Mr Baluch, wearing a dark blue shirt and black Adidas pants, was ­immediately handcuffed and sat down on the side of the road.

Mostafa Baluch

The dramatic arrest marked the end of an intense two-week manhunt for Mr Baluch, who cut off his ankle monitoring bracelet in what senior police say was a desperate bid to escape overseas.

It also marks the beginning of a high-level scrutiny of NSW bail laws, after criticism of a magistrate’s decision to free Mr Baluch.

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman has ordered a review of bail laws after a string of recent decisions that have allowed high-profile suspects back onto the streets. The review will also examine the recent decision to give Stanley Lawrence Russell bail against police wishes. Russell later threatened police with an axe when they came to his Seven Hills home, a confrontation that ended with police fatally shooting him.

Mr Speakman said the “poor outcome” of the Baluch case showed why electronic monitoring could not be trusted.

On Wednesday, Mr Baluch was taken to Southport Watchhouse on the Gold Coast to face Southport Magistrates Court for an extradition hearing expected on Thursday. NSW Police detectives flew to Queensland on Wednesday afternoon.

With 70 per cent of Australia’s high-level organised crime targets living overseas, senior police are certain he was attempting to join them. “I don’t think his intentions were to join them and retire from the business that he was in, and that ultimately he was looking to get overseas to continue making money by preying on vulnerable people,” AFP Commander Brett James told The Australian.

The car inside the truck shipping container where Mostafa Baluch allegedly hid. Picture: NSW Police

The Australian Federal Police are remaining tight-lipped on exactly how they knew Mr Baluch would be travelling in the truck across the border from NSW, ­referring only to “high-end technical capabilities”.

“I think we may have surprised the criminal milieu in regards to our extra capability, and our ability to stay a step ahead of them,” Commander James said.

“I can say it came from a high-end capability at the AFP. I think it’s fair to say encrypted communications is a challenge for the AFP and for any law enforcement around the globe. So our objective predominantly is … to infiltrate criminal networks.”

Mr Baluch’s parents look set to lose the $4m surety they put up for his bail, guaranteed by a Newport property. But his family in Sydney appear to be in denial, with brother Khaled Baluch telling The Australian that reports of the family’s property used as security for his bail were a “conspiracy”.

“There was no properties linked to him. When all these properties were bought, he was in his nappies. It’s all false information,” Mr Baluch said.

However, The Australian has confirmed a commercial property in Newport owned by his father, Aminullah, a retired doctor, and his siblings Waheed and Wagma was put up as part of the $4m bail upon which Mr Baluch was freed.

Police say they are in the process of seizing the property, which was bought in 2003 for $3,775,000 and is where the family’s restaurant, Lucky & Pep’s, and a cafe owned by the family are situated.

“Mostafa is a hard-working man, don’t get me wrong. These are allegations. These are allegations. There’s a reason why someone gets pressured to leave. I don’t know why he’s got pressured to leave the way he did,” Khaled ­Baluch said about his brother.

“It hasn’t done anyone any good. Especially the family. And especially himself.

“I’d be stupid to say it’s a good look. It’s just not. Of course it’s not a good look.”

Police say Mr Baluch had little support left in his alleged criminal underworld network.

For more than two weeks they had been playing a game of cat and mouse, raiding homes across NSW and seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars and drugs.

In the days immediately after his escape, police began applying pressure on his family and known associates.

They were first hot on the trail of a theory that he had flown out of Bankstown Airport, speaking to airport management about the movement of aircraft.

They then seized a black Range Rover, with Queensland dealer plates, in which they suspected he was riding in the early hours of the morning on the day after he went missing.

AFP Commander James said that his alleged syndicate was “basically dismantled”.

“Whilst some of these networks overseas would still be contactable and available to him, his local syndicate – with the arrest of (accused associate Bennet) Schwartz last week – has basically been dismantled,” Commander James told The Australian.

“So whilst he was he might have had overseas contacts, he didn’t have much left for him here to actually do what he needs to do, which is sell drugs and make money out of vulnerable people in the community.”