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| NEWS > 19 October 2006 |
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In 2001 Ch Supt Ali Dizaei was accused of fiddling his expenses and suggesting other o... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,A
19 October 2006
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Wayne Strawhorn in February 20
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Detective faces 25 years in ja
ONE of Victoria's top drug detectives faces up to 25 years in jail after he was convicted yesterday of trafficking commercial quantities of chemicals to the underworld.
Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne Strawhorn was found to have supplied chemicals six years ago to the Moran drug clan, which has since been wiped out in Melbourne's gangland war.
His conviction is the biggest scalp for the anti-corruption Ceja taskforce, which uncovered widespread corruption in the drug squad, disbanded by Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon five years ago.
Following the Supreme Court jury's decision, it can now be revealed that four other drug squad detectives face lengthy jail terms for serious drug charges. Strawhorn, 51, was remanded in custody for pre-sentencing submissions next Tuesday before Justice David Habersberger.
After deliberating for more than eight days, the jury found Strawhorn guilty of trafficking two kilograms of the chemical pseudoephedrine, an ingredient used in amphetamines.
He was found not guilty of four other charges. Three concerned his alleged involvement in trafficking the chemical to the Bandidos motorcycle club.
The fourth was an alleged threat to kill an investigating police officer.
The jurors were discharged without verdict after failing to agree on a sixth charge, which accused Strawhorn of taking part in trafficking pseudoephedrine to the Bandidos.
The Office of Public Prosecutions will consider whether to present Strawhorn for a retrial on the remaining charge. Lawyers for Strawhorn said outside court they could not comment on whether he would appeal against yesterday's guilty verdict.
Four other former drug squad members who have been convicted of criminal offences are:
David Miechel, who is serving a 15-year jail sentence, with a 12-year minimum, after being found guilty of drug trafficking, burglary and theft.
Ian Ferguson, jailed for 12 years, with an eight-year minimum, for conspiring to traffic heroin.
Stephen Cox and Glenn Sadler, who are awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of similar charges.
The jury verdict in Strawhorn's case followed three separate trials over 19 months that cost an estimated $6 million.
The first trial was aborted after a witness gave evidence that was not part of the case against Strawhorn. The jury at the second trial was discharged after failing to reach a verdict.
Strawhorn is the most senior of nine police to have been charged by Ceja. Six were members of the former drug squad. Others have been disciplined and, in some cases, moved to other duties. Ceja, a Victoria Police investigation, was overseen by the Ombudsman and later by the Office of Police Integrity.
Of the nine serving police charged, four have been convicted of drug offences in jury trials, three pleaded guilty to drug offences, and one, Joanne Ferguson, wife of Ian Ferguson, was acquitted of money laundering. One serving and another former officer are yet to be tried.
Eight former police and civilians, including a police informer, have also been convicted after investigations that were triggered by a criminal supergrass who taped his conversations with corrupt police.
The supergrass was well connected in Melbourne's underworld and a good friend of Mark Moran, who was shot dead at his home in June 2000.
Information supplied by the supergrass also led to arrests of underworld patriarch Lewis Moran and Tony Mokbel, who fled from authorities earlier this year while on bail. It has been alleged that Mokbel took out a $1 million contract on the supergrass.
Ms Nixon said Ceja's work had led to changes in corruption and drug investigations.
"I think it's important those who worked in the Ceja taskforce be given credit for working in a very difficult area," she said. "Investigating police officers is not easy, particularly when other members believe that these people are innocent and would often make the point that there was no evidence that these people had committed crimes or were corrupt."
Strawhorn was renowned for his protracted pursuit and bust of John William Samuel Higgs, who ran Australia's most sophisticated drug network. Higgs was jailed in 1999.
Central to the bust was the decision, urged by Strawhorn, to supply chemicals to Higgs through an informer, using a method which has since been abandoned. Strawhorn used informers or undercover detectives to provide chemicals to syndicates as a method of infiltrating them. During the controlled delivery operations, the drug squad was buying massive amounts of chemicals for undercover busts.
The then ombudsman, Dr Barry Perry, described the policy as "an unmitigated and foreseeable disaster". After the system was scrapped, police forfeited $281,416 to government consolidated revenue after a secret drug squad account was finally closed in 2002.
Ms Nixon scrapped the system in late 2001 and replaced the drug squad with the major drug investigation division.
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