FOUR local men charged in relation to the world’s biggest-ever ecstasy haul will be tried simultaneously, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said more arrests were likely – not only in Griffith, but nationwide.
Dominic “Bubbles” Barbaro, 31 of Todd Road, Lake Wyangan, faced court in Melbourne, while Saverio “Puss” Zirilli, 51, faced court on Monday.
Both did not apply for bail and were remanded to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on March 26, alongside local co-accused Pasquale “Garbo” Barbaro, 46, and Pasquale “Poppy” Sergi, 45.
The four are charged with a range of drug offences, following what the Australian Federal Police believe to be the world's largest ecstasy seizure, worth $440 million, with $37.5 million of cocaine also found.
Pasquale Sergi and Pasquale Barbaro fronted the Melbourne Magistrates Court last week, with Pasquale Barbaro charged with laundering more than $7.4
million.
Twenty-one people have been arrested and 20 charged in relation to the 4.4 tonne, 15 million ecstasy pill haul that was allegedly hidden inside tomato tins imported from Italy in June last year.
There was dramatic scenes during Dominic Barbaro’s case yesterday when his solicitor Jim Valos demanded the magistrate order police to provide a summary of the allegations.
Mr Valos told Melbourne Magistrates Court: “There are a number of people in custody and some are asking ‘what am I doing here?”
He said he could not answer them, but told magistrate Peter Couzens: “I need to tell them something at the end of the day.”
Mr Valos asked the AFP to fax or email its summary of the allegations because he could not properly advise his client, Dominic Barbaro, who only had a charge sheet.
“We are entitled to know why he is here,” Mr Valos said of his client who is held in the Melbourne Custody Centre.
In response, Common-wealth prosecutor Matthew Sinnett said police had written 160 pages. It is expected that summary will ultimately be more than 200 pages long.
Mr Sinnett said the investigation involved four operations, 187,000 telephone intercepts, 3600 hours of listening device product, 100 search warrants and 20,000 hours of surveillance.
He said police were working “flat out” to complete the summary by Friday.
Mr Couzens refused to order police to produce the summary, but told Mr Valos that if it was not ready when promised, he could raise it with the court.