Drug cartel crackdown: Man flying from Dubai to Australia arrested

Dubai - Lesniewski is the 18th person taken into custody as part of the multinational police effort against the gang.

A man suspected of being part of a drug trafficking organization targeted in near-simultaneous raids in Dubai, Australia and the Netherlands last week was arrested in Sydney after disembarking from a flight from Dubai, according to Australian media reports.

According to the 'Sydney Morning Herald', the suspect, 38-year old Toby Lesniewski, was taken into custody by Australian authorities on Thursday night after arriving from Dubai. The following day, the Central Local Court granted him "strict conditional bail" after prosecutors did not oppose it.

The report notes that Lesniewski was not subject to an extradition order by Australian authorities, and returned to the country of his own accord.

Lesniewski is the 18th person taken into custody as part of the multinational police effort against the gang, which Australian authorities say was responsible for the large-scale importation of MDMA, cocaine, crystal meth and illegal cigarettes into Australia.

Quoting Australian police sources, Australia's 'Daily Telegraph' describes Lesniewski as one of the primary money launders for Michael and Fadi Ibrahim, two of the five men arrested by Dubai Police on Tuesday, August 8.

The 'Daily Telegraph' report noted that police will allege that Fadi Ibrahim drew down $1 million against one of his properties before transferring the money to Lesniewski and another suspected money launderer, Jaron Chester. Lesniewski then allegedly withdrew over $770,000 to be used as a cash payment to buy bulk quantities of MDMA.

Additionally, Lesniewski and Chester also stand accused of depositing the sum of $600,000 into their bank accounts before depositing cash cheques to deposit the money into Fadi Ibrahim's account.

Lesniewski is expected to appear again in court on November 1.

bernd@khaleejtimes.com