Slain cocaine king’s mysterious Middle Eastern minions handed in a GRENADE LAUNCHER and assault rifles to cut their boss’s jail sentence in the ‘biggest handover of guns since the Port Arthur massacre’
- Alen Moradian, 48, was shot dead in Sydney on Tuesday
- He was jailed for ten years in 2011 for importing cocaine
- Moradian surrendered a stockpile of firearms to police
Alen Moradian’s barrister described it as the biggest single handback of guns since former prime minister John Howard offered a national firearm amnesty in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.
After Moradian was arrested over a massive cocaine importation in July 2007, the drug baron began thinking about how he might get his inevitable prison sentence reduced.
Moradian, who was shot dead at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east on Tuesday morning, had some powerful – and extremely dangerous – bargaining tools.
Following discussions with the NSW Crime Commission and jail conferences with his lawyers, Moradian arranged for the surrender of a huge arsenal of illegal weapons.
Alen Modian surrendered so many guns when he was facing sentence over a cocaine importation his barrister compared it to the 1996 national firearms buyback. Pictured are firearms handed over to police in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre
Among the stockpile of 17 firearms was a pristine World War II-era Bren machinegun, an AR-15-type assault rifle with a grenade launcher fitted below the barrel – and a grenade to go with it.
Between September and November 2010, and again in early 2011, unknown ‘Middle Eastern fellows’ would turn up with the guns in ‘dribs and drabs’ at the Sydney office of a prominent solicitor.
The solicitor would then take the weapons, which included sub-machineguns, assault rifles, shotguns and a starter’s pistol, to police.
Not among the haul was any of the ten M72 rocket launchers that were stolen from a military base in Sydney’s west between 2001 and 2003.
Moradian was arrested over his involvement in the so-called ‘golden gun syndicate’ named for a distinctive .357 Magnum Desert Eagle which was seized by investigating police.
A source familiar with the subsequent handover of weapons noted the only handgun surrendered by Moradian was the relatively harmless starting pistol.
Moradian’s wife Natasha (above on Tuesday) was also involved in the handover, which led to her husband receiving a 5 per cent discount on the sentence he would have received
‘That was interesting,’ he said. ‘I suppose any other pistols were needed for future enterprises.’
The source also said it was a shame the Bren gun – ‘a stunning piece of machinery’ – would be destroyed by police rather than being preserved in a museum.
Moradian’s wife Natasha was also involved in the handover, which led to her husband receiving a 5 per cent discount on the sentence he would have otherwise received.
Judge Andrew Haesler described the process of surrendering the weapons in his judgment when he jailed Moradian for a minimum ten years and five months in 2011.
‘The solicitor gave evidence that the surrenders took place after he had conferences with the offender at the jail,’ Judge Haesler said.
‘These surrenders appear to have been directed by the offender, although the solicitor said in evidence that the offender’s wife was also involved as she gave him photographs of some of the weapons.
‘Unknown ‘Middle Eastern fellows’ brought the weapons to the solicitor’s office and arrangements were immediately made for their surrender.’
Among the firearms Moradian surrendered was an AR-15-style assault fitted with a grenade launcher like the one pictured
A haul of guns seized by NSW Police – with fears criminals were gathering them together to reduce associates’ sentences
Moradian’s barrister, Phillip Boulten SC, referenced the federal government gun buyback that followed the slaughter of 35 people in Tasmania in April 1996.
The National Firearms Buyback Program ran from October 1996 to September 1997 and cost $304million in compensation for the 650,000 guns that were received.
‘It is highly unlikely there has been a handover of guns like this since prime minister John Howard offered a gun amnesty to all Australians,’ Mr Boulten said in his sentencing submissions.
Judge Haesler said he was required to take into account any assistance Moradian had provided when sentencing the drug baron but his cooperation had been limited.
‘It is important to note that the offender did not speak to police at any stage,’ he said.
‘No information was provided to any authority about who had possession of the weapons before or after the arrest of the offender, nor was any information provided about any criminal activity in relation to how they were obtained, possessed or used.
Moradian was arrested over his involvement in the so-called ‘golden gun syndicate’ named for a distinctive .357 Magnum Desert Eagle (pictured) which was seized by investigating police
‘There was no direct assistance or co-operation in the investigation of these or other offences.
‘There may be some indirect assistance if the weapons are traced to others via forensic investigation but, as I am presently advised, this is unlikely.
‘No one, including the offender, should he have had anything to do with these firearms prior to his arrest, can be brought to justice.’
Judge Haesler said the surrender of such a large number of illegally-held firearms had significantly reduced the risk they would be used to commit further crimes.
He also noted the police commissioner had stressed it was the responsibility of all good citizens to ‘dob in’ those who possessed such weapons and take advantage of periodic amnesties.
‘A good citizen however would simply “dob in” those with dangerous weapons for the community’s benefit and not seek to manipulate a direct reduction in penalty,’ Judge Haesler said.
A cache of guns found in the boot of a car in 2019 is pictured
Moradian surrendered a World War II-era Bren machinegun like the one pictured. A source said the pristine weapon was ‘a stunning piece of machinery’ and should not have been scrapped
Judge Haesler had a ‘nagging suspicion’ the firearms were in Moradian’s possession prior to his arrest but that could never been proven.
‘That said, there would have been no surrender had the offender not found himself in need of something to offer to secure a reduction of his sentence,’ he said.
‘The surrender of a large cache of very dangerous weapons on behalf of the offender remains very useful to the community and deserves appropriate reward, no matter that the offender’s motivation was clearly self-interest.’
Judge Haesler had originally made non-publication orders about Moradian’s surrender of the weapons but lifted that suppression upon sentencing.
‘Such is the number and nature of the weapons that it is in the public interest that there be some recognition, in stark terms, of the benefit to the community by this voluntary surrender,’ he said.
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