Alleged drug mule granted bail

Minister for Home Affairs Jason Clare talks about the arrests of Customs officers at Sydney airport

AFP Commissioner Tony Negus addresses media following a major drug sting at Sydney Airport that has arrested eight people.

The AFP is reportedly investigating claims that customs officials have been involved in drug importations.

Krystle Hill, 27, has been charged as part of the Australian Customs bust today. Source: The Daily Telegraph

ALLEGED drug mule Krystle Hill has been granted bail, with the surety paid for by another woman, after controversial businessman Jim Byrnes was deemed not a suitable person.

The 27-year-old part-time model and makeup artist's bail application was delayed this afternoon, after the Crown argued Byrnes' criminal record made him unsuitable to pose as a guarantor.

Instead, another woman stepped up and posted the $20,000, and Hill was granted bail.

Byrnes, whose Bellevue Hill mansion was shot at last month, had appeared in person at Central Local Court today to offer his support to makeup artist Krystle Hill, 27.

Hill is accused of running pseudoephedrine between Thailand and Sydney and has been charged with bringing in a commercial quantity of the substance.

Hill was arrested in Adelaide on Tuesday and extradited back to Sydney yesterday.

The court heard she was allegedly paid $10,000 when she carried the substance back from Thailand in 2009, and was escorted through customs so as not to be detected.

As well as dabbling in makeup artistry, Hill has been employed recently by Byrnes as a public relations consultant, which is how the pair met.

The magistrate said conditional bail would be granted to Hill, provided $20,000 surety be paid, and that the person putting up the bail was of "suitable character".

The matter will return to court at 3pm when the magistrate will decide if Byrnes is a suitable person.

"Expect more stings, expect more arrests"

The hearing comes after explosive revelations into alleged illegal activity inside Australian Customs.

Two customs officers and a quarantine inspection officer have been arrested over the alleged importation of narcotics into Australia with more arrests over illegal activity expected.

The arrests come after a two year investigation by the Australian Federal Police, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, Home Affairs Minister, Jason Clare,said today.

Mr Clare said a total of eight arrests had been made as part of the investigation and warned more corrupt officers were yet to be charged.

"It is anticipated further arrests may be made in the future," Clare said.

"There is no place for corruption in our law enforcement agencies. Where it exists we have to weed it out.''

Mr Clare said the details of the investigation can only be released after a suppression order from a Victorian court was lifted.

Clare says one customs officer, one quarantine officer and two members of the public were arrested this week.

The other four were arrested in August and October. 

The arrests include: a 22-year-old North Sydney woman and a 27-year-old Abbotsford woman who have been charged for their role as alleged drug couriers, a 35-year-old woman - who is an Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) officer - who was arrested on corruption and drug importation charges and a 28-year-old serving customs officer who was arrested on corruption, weapons and drugs charges.

AFP Commissioner Tony Negus said the customs officers were allegedly walking drug couriers through customs.

He said drugs were not being planted in the luggage of other flight passengers.

"Wherever this investigation takes us, across any agencies to do with any of the border control areas, we will take action appropriately," he said.

Mr Clare said the operation was "just the start".

"This year I have introduced a major package of reforms to crackdown on organised crime and corruption."

"I have done all of this because of this investigation.

"And there is more to come."

As part of the crackdown former Royal Commissioner James Wood has been asked to investigate and advise the government on potential corruption risks as part of a Customs Reform Board.

He will be joined by former NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney and former Chairman of Australia Post and Leightons Holdings David Mortimer.

Mr Clare said most Customs officers would be "disgusted" by the revelations.

"Most officers are good, honest, and hardworking people," he said.

"(But) There will always be people who are tempted.

"You can expect more stings, you can expect more arrests and if you're a corrupt officer you can expect to be caught.

"If you're corrupt. We will hunt you down and lock you up."

Opposition customs spokesman Michael Keenan said the allegations are the most significant to rock a federal agency in decades.

"Given the seriousness of these charges the government must outline to the Australian people exactly what has happened and why it has been allowed to happen,'' he said in a statement.

"The widespread and systemic nature of it calls into question the culture of the agency that has allowed this to fester.''

Mr Keenan said Labor had cut 750 customs officers and stripped funding from the agency since being elected, leaving it open to exploitation from criminal syndicates.

Canberra Australian Customs and Border Protection Service acting chief Michael Pezzullo said he was disappointed but not surprised by the corruption revelations.

"I'm not so naive as to think that criminal elements will not attempt to penetrate this service, its systems and its staff,'' he told reporters.

His agency had identified the cell and notified ACLEI about it in January 2011.

Mr Pezzullo said his job now was to drive further integrity reforms.

New laws recently passed mean customs and border patrol officers will be subject to drug, alcohol and integrity tests; the laws also give the agency new dismissal powers.

"We're going to root out these cells,'' Mr Pezzullo said.

Mr Clare said the government in January had expanded the scope of the ACLEI to include Customs.

Around that time, Customs identified what it believed was potential evidence of corruption at Sydney Airport and referred its suspicions to the commission.

The watchdog has the power of a standing royal commission and can tap phones, coerce people to give evidence and execute search warrants.

The crackdown comes in response to wide-ranging allegations of corruption and criminal activity inside Sydney airport.

Officers are alleged to have ignored the illegal importation of cocaine and pseudoephedrine, used to make methamphetamine.

It was also alleged the officers may have been entire shifts of staff who were receiving kickbacks for their roles in the importation ring.

A Customs and Border Protection officer from Sydney International Airport yesterday faced Central Local Court charged with importing a commercial quantity of pseudoephedrine and receiving a bribe aimed at encouraging him to "circumvent Customs protocol". He has also been charged with abusing his office to gain a financial advantage, after allegedly receiving a bribe between August 10 and August 18.

Paul John Katralis, 25, of Menai, was arrested by the Australian Federal Police on August 20, two days after the man accused of paying him the bribe was arrested at Sydney Airport as he got off an international flight.

In October, Joseph Harb, 28, of Ashfield, pleaded guilty to bribing a Commonwealth official. He also entered a guilty plea to charges of supplying the banned drug MDMA and importing the precursor drug pseudoephedrine.

A third co-accused, Isabel Martin, 20, of Swansea, was also charged over the alleged drug importation.

With Carleen Frost, Vanda Carson and Mark Morri

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