Customs officers and crime family member admit to roles in smuggling ring
Two Australian Border Force officers and a member of the Jomaa crime family have admitted to their roles in an international smuggling syndicate.
ABF team leader Craig Richard Eakin pleaded guilty for Central Local Court magistrate Megan Greenwood to aiding and abetting the importation of tobacco products and receiving a bribe as a Commonwealth public official.
His admission of involvement in the smuggling ring with links in Sydney and Dubai follows the guilty plea of his ABF colleague early last week.
Customs officer Johayna Merhi will face a NSW District Court on Friday over bribery, aiding and abetting the importation of tobacco and for dealing with proceeds of crime.
Eakin is also set to appear before the District Court on Friday and will face a later local court hearing on a charge relating to the unsafe storage of a firearm.
Police have previously alleged in court documents that alleged syndicate kingpin Ali Jomaa bribed Mr Eakin.
Koder Jomaa, who was running a health food café in Dubai at the time of the arrests, has pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and will also face a District Court judge on Friday.
All three guilty pleas were entered following negotiations that resulted in other charges against the smugglers being withdrawn.
Abbas and Ali Jomaa are due to be arraigned in the District Court on Friday on a raft of drug and tobacco importation, and bribery-related charges.
All three brothers are in custody.
Police made several arrests of alleged members of the syndicate in dawn raids across Sydney in August last year.
Police have previously alleged the ring illegally imported 200kg of MDMA and 50 million cigarettes.
angusthompson@fairfaxmedia.com.au