A marked police car slipped in behind the courier's vehicle in Box Hill. The courier became nervous when he saw the police car and kept checking his mirror, which is why he did not see the red light he ran on the Maroondah Highway. It gave police the perfect opportunity to pull him over. That was when they found the package of $499,950 in cash. They seized a further $8950 at his home.
One of the team rang Mokbel to inform him the cash was gone. Mokbel, in Athens, told the subordinate not to worry. He would ensure the same amount would be in his hands within six days. Put it down to a business expense, he said.
On May 15, when police identified Mokbel's hideaway as somewhere in the Athens suburb of Glyfada, a Purana detective and a federal agent were sent to work with local police. The search area was further narrowed when Mokbel said on the bugged phone he was heading to a local Starbucks for a coffee.
In early June police narrowly missed the fugitive! . They knew Mokbel and his partner, Danielle McGuire, took their six-month-old daughter to a local pool for swimming lessons. Police arrived at the pool just minutes after the family had left.
Three days later police were tipped off that Mokbel would visit a small seaside restaurant for a financial meeting and would be carrying a folder with paperwork. They arrived at the crowded restaurant but could not spot the balding head of the fugitive.
The local police then carried out what was to appear to be a routine identity check. A well-tanned man with long dark hair opened a folder to produce a passport with the name Stephen Papas. The Purana detective saw it was Mokbel in a wig.
At first the suspect appeared relaxed, believing he would be able to bribe his way out of any minor passport offence. But his face dropped when he saw the Purana detective. He had the good grace to say: "I don't know how you did it, but you've done a brilliant job."
Mokbel,! who jumped bail in March 2006 and was sentenced to a minimum ! of nine years' jail for cocaine trafficking, has been charged with new drug offences and two counts of murder.
Although he is being held in a top-security Athens prison, he has gained access to another mobile phone and has contacted Purana to try to cut a deal where the murder charges would be dropped. "I'm a drug dealer, not a killer, " he told an investigator.
Mokbel, who has been sentenced to 12 months' jail for passport offences, is continuing to fight a Greek court's decision to allow extradition to Australia.
A senior Melbourne police source said informer 3030 was certain to be paid a substantial reward. "He provided the breakthrough and he deserves to be paid for the risks he took and the information he provided."
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Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/bugged-mobile-phone-led-to-mokbel/2007/10/28/1193555531558.html
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