Second bag handler gone: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 04 June 2005: 9.
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Abstract
Mr [Geoff Dixon] said the airline had been working in close co-operation with the NSW Crime Commission, NSW Police and Australian Federal Police in its investigation and said the man had been under surveillance for some time.
The cocaine bust was originally seen as a coup for law enforcement, before it was revealed in court proceedings that alleged kingpins of the conspiracy to import between $15million and $20million worth of cocaine from South America, Michael Hurley and Leslie Mara, had slipped the net, possibly as a result of a tip- off.
QANTAS has sacked a second baggage handler after a police investigation into the $30million cocaine-smuggling operation at Sydney airport that was smashed on May 9.
Qantas chief executive officer Geoff Dixon said last night the company had maintained constant surveillance on a "very small number of people" since the arrest of 14 people in the police swoop.
Mr Dixon said the airline had been working in close co-operation with the NSW Crime Commission, NSW Police and Australian Federal Police in its investigation and said the man had been under surveillance for some time.
"We have a zero tolerance for any illegal activity and will act quickly to ensure people who should not be in our workforce are dealt with appropriately," he said.
The cocaine bust was originally seen as a coup for law enforcement, before it was revealed in court proceedings that alleged kingpins of the conspiracy to import between $15million and $20million worth of cocaine from South America, Michael Hurley and Leslie Mara, had slipped the net, possibly as a result of a tip- off.
The AFP suspended an officer on May 27 over his alleged misconduct during the investigation.
Sydney airport has come under intense scrutiny over its loose security practices in the wake of the alleged role played by baggage handlers in the drug-smuggling operation.
AFP commissioner Mick Keelty said baggage handlers were "part of the international syndicate who are operating to help import the drugs into Australia".
Mr Hurley, 58, and Mr Mara, 52, are both on the run, with federal arrest warrants issued against them.
Those arrested as part of the syndicate included NSW police detective sergeant Ian Finch and former Macquarie Bank executive director Ian Robert Chalmers, who was granted $500,000 bail this week.
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