…..and the Australian police let him slip through their fingers and escape the country!
You know what is really interesting about this story, besides the fact that they actually have real investigative reporting in Australia, is that if the police suspected two years ago that he was a smuggler, why was he given refugee status—two years ago?
From AFP (emphasis mine):
SYDNEY — Australian police said Thursday an alleged people-smuggling kingpin who was granted a refugee visa fled the country this week after a television expose, and they were powerless to stop him.
Tony Negus, head of the Australian Federal Police, said the accused smuggler known as Captain Emad flew out of Melbourne on Tuesday after a damning documentary about him aired in Australia on Monday.
Emad had travelled from Indonesia on a people-smuggling boat in January 2010 and set up smuggling operations in the national capital Canberra after being granted asylum under a false name, according to the ABC Four Corners programme.
The allegations angered Jakarta, who described them as “disappointing and difficult” given that Australia expected their help in tracking down people-smugglers.
Negus took the rare step of confirming Thursday that Emad had been the focus of police inquiries for two years, given the significant public interest in the case, but said the Iraqi-born man had since fled.
“There was an operational decision made by investigators that he could not be detained as the officers had no lawful basis to prevent him from departing Australia,” Negus told reporters.
“This was despite the material recently aired in the Four Corners programme being thoroughly analysed by our investigators.
Something smells about this story. Why let the “head of the snake” go? Not enough evidence! Why anger the Indonesian government? Why give him refugee status in the first place?
Emad was described as the “head of the smugglers, the head of the snake” by an informant who linked him to a powerful Indonesian ring behind two ill-fated boats which sank before reaching Australia, killing almost 150 people.
He was sent as part of a plan to expand the ring’s operations in Australia, along with “at least” another six agents on board his ship who were also granted refugee status, according to the programme.
There is more, read it all. Maybe its time for ol’ Tony to get the boot! (come to think of it, that could be the theme song for the refugee program in general!)