Australia's Porous Borders- the Yacht Option

by Des Ryan on 6 Jun 2008 It has all the ingredients of a thrilling crime novel, except that it's true, and we're just finding out about it years later. Gangland VIP in hiding needs to escape from Australia, money no object. They figure the easiest way to do it is by buying a yacht, installing a secret cabin, and smuggling him across the oceans to end up in Greece. Good plan.

It's a matter of fact that Australian Customs are more used to trying to keep people out rather than keep them in. Neither are Australian yacht agents, on a day-to-day basis, necessarily alert for international intrigues, so it was a very good plan.

The details of Tony Mokbel's escape from Australia in 2006 have now been splashed across the pages of Australia's Dailies, and it raises 20/20 hindsight questions.

When the underworld figures paid $340,000 for the yacht, Edwena, in September 2006, the agent believed them when he was told they wanted to modify it use it for charter in Greece. He DID think it odd that they gave the modification to a small private boat builder rather than a commercial shipwright, especially when they were in a hurry for the job to be done, but yacht agents come across a lot of unusual characters in their business, so it's hardly strange that he didn't immediately think, 'I know, they are going to build a secret cabin and smuggle out a drug boss.'

Then, instead of sailing the vessel westwards, as anyone (except Round-World Racers who want to catch up a leg) would, they TRUCKED it across Australia to the West, then sailed it to the comparatively remote Geraldton, 400 kilometres north of Perth. Geraldton, population 32,000, is a laid back place, and you don't expect to see gangland criminals walking around the streets there.

Now, if you've ever checked out of Australia in a yacht, you'll know how easy it would have been, and checking out of Geraldton was a cinch, and so it should have been, as the Gangland VIP was not yet on board. (He was being secreted across Australian by other means.) and it was only a dinghy ride out to the boat off the coast.

Australian Customs Officials lack the paranoia of Israel, or the bureaucracy of India, so after the check out, it would have been laughably easy to smuggle Tony Mokbel, King of the Amphetamine business in Melbourne, aboard.

Will Australian Customs toughen up their procedures for yachts as a result of this case, as they've toughened up their incoming procedures? (Remember the couple that ended up owing $19,000 in fines and costs because they had not notified Customs of their arrival!)

Are there other criminals, runaway teens, drug barons or fathers escaping their child support getting out of the country like this every year? How many could?