Convicted drug kingpin Tony Mokbel is asking a court to free him for the first time in almost 18 years as he awaits a decision on whether his drug trafficking convictions will be quashed.
Mokbel, 59, arrived at the Court of Appeal for his bail application on Tuesday in the back of a high-security BearCat police vehicle, surrounded by more than a dozen security officers.
Police blocking a path behind the van transporting Tony Mokbel to court.Credit: Luis Ascui
The court heard Mokbel would submit to GPS monitoring via an ankle bracelet and provide a surety as conditions of bail.
If Mokbel is released, it would be his first taste of freedom in 6511 days. Mokbel has been behind bars since he was arrested while on the run in Greece in 2007, disguised in a bad wig.
He was handed a 30-year prison sentence, with a non-parole of 22 years, in 2012 after pleading guilty to masterminding an elaborate drug syndicate.
Mokbel has applied to have his entire conviction quashed because of the Lawyer X scandal, after the discovery that his barrister, Nicola Gobbo, was also working as a double agent for police.
The armoured van transporting Tony Mokbel.Credit: Luis Ascui
Mokbel’s fate now rests in the hands of Justices Karin Emerton, Robert Osborn and Jane Dixon.
In November last year, a judge found that police took part in a “joint criminal enterprise” to pervert the course of justice when they used Gobbo to help bring down Mokbel.
