Operation Lantana - Police Integrity Commission

vi
(i) He proposed to LP1 that the two of them engage in wrongful conduct whereby,
purportedly acting in their capacity as police officers, they would carry out ‘fake’ searches
of tobacconist shops which were suspected of selling illegal tobacco and ‘seize’ that
tobacco with the intention of on-selling it and corruptly keeping the proceeds;
(ii) He and LP1, while purportedly acting in their capacity as police officers, carried out these
activities on at least three separate occasions; namely, the three ‘raids’ on tobacconist
shops;
(iii) He and LP1 shared payments which were wrongfully received by them from the proprietors
of at least two of those tobacconist shops on the basis that they could improperly influence
any investigation into the possession by the tobacconists of illegal tobacco;
(iv) He and LP1, while purportedly acting in their capacity as police officers and with the
assistance of Masri and others, carried out a ‘raid’ at the home premises of a Cabramatta
tobacconist shop proprietor as a result of which they wrongfully ‘seized’ a large quantity
of cigarettes and some illegal loose tobacco which were subsequently on-sold and the
proceeds shared between Battal and LP1;
(v) He and LP1 wrongfully took money in the sum of $40,000 from the residents of the
Cabramatta premises on the pretence of making any “investigation” into their involvement
with illegal tobacco “go away”;
(vi) On at least three separate occasions, with LP1 he wrongfully used his authority as a police
officer in order to ‘seize’ drugs from persons with the intention of supplying the ‘seized’
drugs to Hijazi to on-sell and corruptly share the proceeds amongst the three of them;
(vii) He together with LP1, and purportedly acting in their capacity as police officers, used
a hire-car intended to appear as a police vehicle and intercepted a truck carrying illegal
tobacco with the object of ‘seizing’ that tobacco in order to on-sell it and wrongfully keep
the proceeds for themselves (the Masri truck incident). Although the theft of the tobacco
was ultimately carried out, it was subsequently returned to its ‘owner’ after a number
of unidentified persons showed up at Battal’s premises and demanded the return of
the tobacco;
(viii) He participated with LP1, Hijazi and Baroudi, in carrying out a plan to intercept, as a
purported police operation, a truck carrying a container of illegal tobacco and ‘seizing’ (i.e.,
stealing) the tobacco for the purposes of on-selling it and wrongfully sharing the proceeds
with the others involved. That plan was not subsequently carried out, as the ‘target’ truck
failed to arrive at the intended interception point on the evening in question;
(ix) He proposed to LP1 the theft of a large quantity of cigarettes and/or tobacco products
from an unidentified warehouse although the proposal was never carried out;
(x) He purchased and possessed a prohibited pistol, being a .357 calibre revolver, without
proper authorisation by way of a valid licence or permit.
POLICE INTEGRITY COMMISSION – REPORT TO PARLIAMENT - OPERATION LANTANA