George Marrogi gained notoriety as a kingpin of Melbourne's underworld — but police have a clear message for anyone planning to follow in his footsteps.
"We will target you, we will hunt you, and we will take your assets off you," Australian Federal Police (AFP) Superintendent Anthony Hall said.
On Friday, Marrogi was sentenced to 22 years behind bars for running an international drug importation syndicate from inside prison, aided by his girlfriend Antonietta Mannella.
Given Marrogi is already serving time for murder, the 34-year-old will now have to wait until he is in his 60s before he is eligible for parole.
Despite being held inside the maximum security Barwon Prison, Marrogi coordinated the scheme by secretly calling Mannella on the outside, who carried out his orders.
"Importing illicit drugs and harming the Australian community is their business model," Superintendent Hall told the ABC.
"We suspect that they were importing for some time."
Plot involved secret phone lines and code words
Marrogi, a convicted murderer and self-styled gang leader, began using a prison phone to regularly call his law firm in July 2021.
However the calls automatically diverted to Mannella, who answered her phone pretending to be the firm's receptionist.
Police suspected the pair were behind a 400-kilogram drug shipment intercepted in Malaysia a month later. It was destined for Australia and had a street value of $160 million.
By November 2021, federal police launched Operation Fuji and tuned in to Marrogi and Mannella's daily phone calls, which were laced with codewords investigators eventually deciphered.
It led to Marrogi's drug operation failing spectacularly twice more.
In January 2022, Victoria Police intercepted a truck carrying 347 litres of drug precursor chemicals.
The following month, the AFP seized 69 kilograms of methamphetamines and heroin hidden in a green tea shipment. It was flown into Melbourne via Bangkok, and taken to a warehouse in Epping.
"How are the fish going? Did they move to the aquarium or not yet?" Marrogi asked his girlfriend on the day of its arrival.
But Mannella's repeated attempts to collect the drugs were unsuccessful, and she eventually realised police had seized them.
When she rang Marrogi to deliver the bad news, his fellow inmate and underworld figure Tony Mokbel picked up the phone and was given a message to pass on.
"Tell him no good … they got it … so that's that yeah?" Mannella told him.
Investigators raided Mannella's house in Melbourne's north in April 2022, charging her and Marrogi with importing a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs and attempting to traffic a large commercial quantity of drugs.
Marrogi's offending 'outrageous', judge says
In the County Court on Friday, Judge Peter Rozen gave a scathing assessment of Marrogi, who he said committed the offences for "pure financial gain".
He said it was "outrageous" that the criminal was able to run a drug syndicate while behind bars for murder.
"Such brazen conduct makes a mockery of the criminal justice system and is an affront to the community," he said.
Marrogi, who watched the hearing via video link from Barwon Prison, remained silent but rolled his eyes as his violent criminal history was read out to the court.
In a complex sentencing, Judge Rozen ordered Marrogi serve 22 years for the drug offending, which incorporated both state and Commonwealth offences.
The sentence — which will be formalised next week — dictates most of Marrogi's penalty for the drug offending will run concurrent to his three-decade sentence for murder.
It means he will not be eligible for parole until 2049, when he will be in his 60s.
Judge Rozen sentenced Mannella to 13 years for her part in the scheme, but she could be released in about six years when a non-parole period and time already served is taken into account.
He noted conditions in prison would be "appalling" for Mannella, who is being kept in solitary confinement for safety reasons due to her relationship with Marrogi.
Judge Rozen said Mannella had no prior criminal history, but had suffered a traumatic childhood due to her father being murdered.
He said she had been "manipulated and used" by Marrogi, who drafted her in to help with the drug syndicate.
"I accept her prospects of rehabilitation are very good," Judge Rozen said.
'Long and laborious work' to catch drug criminals
Superintendent Hall praised the work of his officers, Victoria Police and other partner agencies.
"It's a difficult role. It is long and laborious work. You need to be quite an analytical person to do that," he said.
"The amount of illicit drugs taken out just from this one particular investigation is significant."
Earlier this month, dozens of people allegedly linked to the Marrogi syndicate were charged, and Victoria Police confiscated millions of dollars of assets.
Superintendent Hall said Marrogi's sentencing would "send a message to the rest of the organised crime network", but conceded law enforcement faced a never-ending battle to stifle the drug trade.
"There are always other members of organised crime syndicates who are available to step up and take their place," he said.
Last year, federal police and Border Force officers intercepted more than 700 drug shipments, finding substances hidden in jukeboxes, barbecues, clothing, timber pallets and tyres.
This month, they also sounded a warning about an increase in illegal shipments of the synthetic stimulant Dimethylpentylone, which produces a similar effect to amphetamines.
