REVEALED: What sparked violent prison ambush that left drug kingpin Tony Mokbel fighting for his life after being stabbed multiple times in the chest with a homemade knife
- Tony Mokbel fighting for life after being viciously stabbed with homemade knife
- The 53-year-old stabbed multiple times at Victoria's Barwon Prison on Monday
- Attack may have been sparked by a report claiming he was a 'top enforcer' in jail
- The drug lord was originally considered to be in a serious but stable condition
- Hospital said his condition had deteriorated overnight and he was now critical
Tony Mokbel (pictured in 2007) is fighting for life after being viciously stabbed with a homemade knife in prison
Tony Mokbel is fighting for life after being viciously stabbed with a homemade knife in prison - as it's revealed the attack may have been sparked by a news report which claimed the drug lord was a 'top enforcer' in jail.
The 53-year-old gangland figure was set upon by two inmates on Monday in the exercise yard of Victoria's Barwon Prison - the same jail where his mate Carl Williams was murdered nearly a decade ago.
Bleeding from his mouth and chest, Mokbel was airlifted to Royal Melbourne Hospital and was originally considered to be in a serious but stable condition.
A hospital spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday morning his condition deteriorated overnight and he was now critical.
A police source told The Age it was understood the attack was in response to a front page report which suggested Mokbel had 'lost none of his power' in jail.
The 53-year-old gangland figure was set upon by two inmates on Monday afternoon at Victoria's Barwon Prison and airlifted to hospital
Family members and friends of Tony Mokbel are pictured at Royal Melbourne Hospital on Monday
'All he has to do is say the word, and people listen,' a source told the Herald Sun.
The paper on Tuesday reported Mokbel had been getting under the skin of fellow inmates by talking about his plans to walk free from prison amid the Informer 3838 saga.
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'He's been a pest,' a source said.
Mokbel was one of two people stabbed on Monday, with a 31-year-old inmate transported by road ambulance to hospital in a serious condition.
Mokbel was airlifted to Royal Melbourne Hospital and was originally considered to be in a serious but stable condition
A hospital spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday morning his condition deteriorated overnight and he was now critical. Mokbel is pictured in 2007 after his arrest in Greece
The second man was reportedly injured when he tried to put himself in between Mokbel and the two men who attacked him.
Pictures from the prison showed Mokbel lying on a stretcher wearing shorts and with his top half bare as he was treated by paramedics near an ambulance.
Anxious family members including brother Horty Mokbel were pictured outside the entrance to the hospital on Monday evening as they waited for news on his condition.
Mokbel is escorted by plain clothes police officers after appearing in court in 2007 in Athens
Paramedics (pictured) were called to maximum security Barwon Prison in Victoria to reports of a stabbing at 3.45pm
Police said in a statement: 'A man in his 50s was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition.
'A second victim, aged in his 30s, was taken to hospital by road ambulance also in a serious condition. The investigation is ongoing.'
It is not the first time an inmate has died after appearing in the media.
Brother Horty Mokbel was seen inside of the Royal Melbourne Hospital after Tony Mokbel was rushed to the hospital after being stabbed just before 4pm on Monday
Williams' killing came on the same day as a newspaper report outlining that taxpayers paid for the multiple murderer, drug dealer and underworld figure's child to attend an exclusive private school through a deal with police.
Mokbel was handed a 30-year sentence in 2012 for masterminding a drug trafficking empire.
As arguably one of the most infamous men in Australia's gangland wars, Mokbel was extradited from Athens, Greece after fleeing the country in 2006.
Police said in a statement: 'A man in his 50s was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition (pictured a police car outside the hospital on Monday)
Mokbel was in such a bad way that an air ambulance was called to fly him to hospital. Pictured: Paramedics at the scene
He spent more than a year evading police after skipping bail during his trial for importing cocaine.
He fled after becoming aware of police investigating his possible links to gangland killings.
He was arrested 15 months after fleeing the country and extradited back to Australia to face trail.
Investigations into Mokbel's stabbing are continuing, police said.
Mokbel was stabbed at the same jail where his mate Carl Williams was murdered nearly a decade ago
The life and times of 'Fat Tony': Who is former drug lord Tony Mokbel?
By Daniel Piotrowski
'Fat' Tony Mokbel is a notorious Victorian mobster serving a 30 year jail sentence for masterminding a Melbourne drug empire.
Mokbel, now 53, was once the Ferrari-driving 'king' of the city's underworld and Australia's most wanted fugitive.
Before he was finally locked up for good, Mokbel's life of crime involved tonnes of amphetamines and some mean feats.
One incident that stands out is Mokbel being blown out the door of his Brunswick amphetamines lab when it exploded in 1997.
But he is best known for making one of the country's great escapes from the long arms of the law in 2006.
Despite being amidst a cocaine trafficking trial, Mokbel fled Melbourne, hid in a Bonnie Doon farmhouse, drove across the country to Fremantle, Western Australia, and sailed from there to the sunny Mediterranean coast.
Morkbel is currently serving his 30 year jail sentence, with a minimum parole period of 22 years, after being sentenced in 2012 for masterminding a multi-million dollar drug trafficking empire
He kept running his drug empire from Athens, Greece, with his syndicate reportedly trafficking more than 45 kilograms of MDMA and $4million worth of speed over three years.
But it all ended in handcuffs and mockery when police finally caught him with him while he attempted to disguise himself in a floppy wig.
One of Victoria's top policemen famously described the headpiece as a 'shocker'.
Mokbel was hauled back to Australia and in 2012 the Victorian Supreme Court sentenced him to 30 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 22 years.
EARLY LIFE
Born Antonios Sajih Mokbel in Kuwait to Lebanese parents in 1965, his family migrated to Australia when he was eight.
He grew up in poverty in Melbourne's northern suburbs.
As a teenager, Mokbel started out at his brother's pizza shop but within six years became the head of a multi-million dollar drug empire.
EARLY CONVICTIONS
It is understood the decision was made to keep Mokbel in general population where he was allegedly set upon by a gang (Mokbel pictured at court in July)
1980s - From the early 1980s, Mokbel was convicted of a variety of offences, including assaults, threats to kill, resisting arrest, possessing a gun.
1992 - Sentenced to 12 months for trying to bribe a County Court judge.
1998 - Convicted for amphetamine manufacturing.
DRUG TRIAL AND ESCAPE
2006
March 20 - Disappears during Victorian Supreme Court trial over the importation of 2kg of cocaine from Mexico to Melbourne.
March 31 - Mokbel sentenced in absentia to a minimum of nine years' jail for trafficking cocaine.
Mokbel hid in rural Bonnie Doon in Victoria for eight months before driving to Western Australia and fleeing on a yacht via the Suez Canal to Greece where he arrived on Christmas Eve, 2006.
2007
Feb 28 - Mokbel charged with the murder of gangland patriarch Lewis Moran, gunned down by two men in Melbourne in 2004. Mokbel is alleged to have ordered the hit on Moran for $140,000.
June - Police arrest him at a cafe in Athens
RETURN TO AUSTRALIA TO FACE JUSTICE
Mokbel is seen arriving at the Supreme Court in Melbourne in 2006 facing charges relating to the importation of a traffickable amount of cocaine
2008
May 17 - Mokbel lands at Melbourne Airport and is taken to Barwon Prison.
May 20 - Appears in court for the first time via video link from prison.
2009
April - A murder charge laid against Mokbel for the 2003 murder of Michael Marshall is dropped.
August - Trial begins for Mokbel over the murder of Lewis Moran.
September - Mokbel acquitted of murdering Moran.
2011
April - Mokbel pleads guilty to two counts of trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs.
2012
July - Jailed for 30 years a with a minimum of 22 years after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges
2018
February 11 - left in a critical condition after being stabbed in Barwon Prison.
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