Top Oz cop busted! - National Injustice/Law

Mark Standen, assistant director of the NSW Crime Commission -- previously of the Federal Police and Commonwealth Customs -- has been busted conspiring to import large quantities of precursor drugs used in the manufacture of ‘ice.’ The AFP, which had been monitoring Standen’s illegal activities, estimated that the quantity of pseudoephedrine involved would have produced $120 million of ‘ice.’ All the arguments against increased powers granted to regulators have been validated with the arrest of Standen – when temptation increases proportionately with the increase of powers, who is watching the watchers or regulating the (corrupt) regulators?

A week prior to Standen’s arrest a clear indication of misguided policing and an inflated sense of authority appeared in the form of NSW police storming an Art Gallery and closing an exhibition by acclaimed Australian artist, Bill Henson. A rabid arch-conservative and philistine originally lodged the complaint claiming the works were pornographic. Police should have taken advice; however, with increased powers comes increased arrogance; half the works were confiscated by police -- the last organisation in the country qualified to evaluate the Arts!

The current government, led by conservative PM, Kevin Rudd, announced it would filter Internet content at provider level and allow bosses to snoop on the private emails of their employees.

I hope recent events have made it abundantly clear that conservatism and over-regulation are undesirable.

Conservative ideology is responsible for most of the world’s current wars and social problems -- I am reminded of the chorus of an old song, “when will they ever learn?”

THE mistress and colleague of a senior NSW Crime Commission investigator accused of planning to import illegal drugs was moved only months ago to the Independent Commission Against Corruption - the body now investigating corruption within the secretive crime-fighting agency.

As Mark Standen's drug and murder cases face review and his gambling problem was revealed, the Herald confirmed he had been having an affair with an ICAC officer who had had access to highly sensitive information.

The woman was employed at the NSW Crime Commission but was moved to the ICAC about 15 months ago. The transfer followed a personal request from the crime commission head, Phillip Bradley, who cited an affair with an unnamed senior officer.

"Senior management has been kept informed at all times about the Australian Federal Police investigation, including her involvement with the subject officer," an ICAC statement said last night.

"This information has been kept strictly confidential within the executive of the commission and managed in a way which would not in any way jeopardise the integrity of the investigation by the federal police." The ICAC said the woman, who was an intelligence analyst, was not a suspect in the Standen case.

The 51-year-old was brought to Central Local Court in a caged van yesterday but was not required to answer charges that he conspired to supply a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and pervert the course of justice.

His lawyer, Paul King, said: "He's obviously stressed and upset about the whole thing. I think it's all taken him by surprise."

His alleged co-conspirator, Bakhos Jalalaty, 45, of Maroota, faces the same charges.

Standen was remanded for a bail application next Wednesday.

Police will allege they were trying to import 600 kilograms of pseudoephedrine, which would have produced 480 kilograms of the drug ice - worth $120 million - inside a container of rice from Pakistan.

Standen is one of the country's most senior and experienced investigators and has been involved in some of the country's best-known drug, murder and internal affairs investigations over decades.

The NSW Crime Commissioner, Phillip Bradley, confirmed that Standen was involved in many cases.

"We will look at the ones that we think will need to be reviewed jointly with the AFP, based on the evidence we've collected," Mr Bradley said. "I'm not aware of the basis for a retrial in any of those matters."

He admitted the allegations were "very damaging, there's no doubt about that", but there was no need for a royal commission.

"This is an isolated incident, one person engaging in crime," Mr Bradley alleged.

Rumours of Standen's gambling problem have been floating around police circles for several years. Sources told the Herald he used a payout while he was working for federal police to finance his debts.

However, Mr Bradley said he found out about the gambling problem only recently.

Standen allegedly leaked information on police tactics and drug enforcement, the Home Affairs Minister, Bob Debus, told Parliament yesterday.

Standen worked with the former NSW police commissioner Peter Ryan and the deputy commissioner Mal Brammer on internal affairs investigations.

Among the cases Standen investigated recently were the conviction of the former South Sydney league player Ricky Montgomery for drug importation and an international cocaine ring involving baggage handlers at Sydney Airport.

Standen has also been involved in an investigation into whether the shooting murder of two Yugoslav migrants in 1993 was linked to the 2001 killings of a barman, Ian Draper, and the convicted drug dealer Terry Falconer.

He was not involved in an investigation into the Swedish backpacker Charlotte Lindstrom, or her former fiance, Steven Spaliviero. A federal police spokesman confirmed Standen had taken voluntary redundancy in 1996 and had left with "a clean employment record". Records state that Standen started at the NSW Crime Commission in March 1996.

The federal police would not comment on rumours of Standen's gambling problem, nor that he had used a windfall while at the agency - the redundancy or part of his superannuation fund - to pay off gambling debts.

The NSW Crime Commission has no direct oversight body, unlike virtually every other law enforcement agency in the country.

The NSW Police Association yesterday called for a new body, saying the commission had extraordinary powers. "The Crime Commission should, as a matter of public policy, be subject to a standing oversight body to ensure those powers are not abused and they too are held accountable for their actions," said the association's secretary, Peter Remfrey.

A spokesman for the NSW Department of Corrective Services said Standen was on remand in the maximum security unit of a Sydney jail, and would be on suicide watch.

© 2008. The Sydney Morning Herald

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/06/03/1212258826262.html

Topics

Other Press

Cleaves on Disc/Stick