Rohan Arnold in Yass in August 2016. Credit:THE LAND Police raided Mr Arnold's home and business premises when they searched properties in Murrumbateman, Jeir, Goulburn and Canberra on Wednesday. Mr Arnold's defence lawyer, Ben Aulich, said: "We're in the process of organising access to see him in Serbia. "That will be co-ordinated through [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade]." "If everything is co-ordinated smoothly and he is not facing charges in Serbia, then we expect him back in the country within four-to-six weeks."

Three Australians were arrested in the foyer of a Belgrade hotel, accused with importing cocaine into Australia. Credit:Serbia Police Mr Aulich declined to comment further. Serbian police released dramatic footage of the arrests that took place overnight in a Belgrade hotel. The footage shows police running through the hotel's doors and pointing their guns at several men sitting in the lobby. Three Australians were arrested in the foyer of a Belgrade hotel, accused with importing cocaine into Australia. Credit:Serbia Police Officers pinned the men to the ground before they handcuffed them.

Police said the arrests were made during a "money handover". The footage also showed a bag filled with foreign currency. Three Australian men suspected of being part of an international drug-smuggling group have been arrested in Serbia. Credit:Serbian police Serbian authorities said the arrests had been made in cooperation with Australian police. No-one has been arrested in Australia. Police identified the men by their initials and year of birth as Australian citizens TV (1983), RA (1974), and DK (1969); along with DG (1977), a citizen of Lebanon. The Lebanese citizen was detained and charged with having forged identity documents.

B92 reported the men were arrested with a large amounts of various currencies, including euros, Australian, US and Singaporean dollars, Czech korunas, Vietnamese dong, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, Thai bahts, and Serbian dinars. They also allegedly had one pistol. Serbian authorities said they would "continue to cooperate with Australia's authorities in order to implement further action related to this permanent international investigation". In a statement, the Australian Federal Police said it launched an investigation into an alleged organised crime syndicate after Border Force officials intercepted the shipping container, which had arrived in Sydney via China. "AFP forensic chemists conducted a deconstruction and analysis of the cocaine and determined a purity of around 78 per cent, meaning the seizure has an estimated street value of up to $500 million," the statement said.

Border Force acting assistant commissioner of strategic border command, Tim Fitzgerald, said intelligence officers targeted the container for a search when it arrived and described the alleged drug stash as a "sophisticated concealment". The trio is expected to face charges of conspiracy to import commercial quantities of a controlled drug in the NSW Supreme Court. That offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Mr Arnold's business website said he was born and educated in Canberra. He graduated with a commerce degree in 1995. He had a 20-year career in the steel manufacturing industry and acted as director of ArnoldCo, Arnold Trading and Arnold Contracting, the website said. He also worked on regional projects including the South Eastern Livestock Exchange in Yass and the Mortlake Saleyards.

Directors of SELX Pty Ltd, which owns the livestock selling centres at Yass and Mortlake, held an emergency meeting after they learned of Mr Arnold's arrest through media reports. "The operation and management of [South Eastern Livestock Exchange] and [Western Victoria Livestock Exchange] are not affected by this development," they said in a statement. "Livestock sales will continue as scheduled." SELX Pty Ltd director Brendan Abbey, whose wife is Yass Valley mayor Rowena Abbey, said he heard about Mr Arnold's arrest on the 6am news and had been in "total shock and disbelief". He had last spoken to Mr Arnold in Australia on Sunday, when he told Mr Abbey he would be overseas for a short time. Mr Abbey said he assumed Mr Arnold had travelled to China, where he often visited a couple of steel factories

He said Mr Arnold was held in "very high esteem" in the community and there had been no signs of any involvement in the alleged drug operation. "Nothing at all, not a sign of financial stress. Completely out of the blue." Mrs Abbey said her business dealings with Mr Arnold did not affect her position as mayor of Yass Valley Council. "There'd be no reason to change [my position], I haven't done anything. The mayor's got nothing to do with the sale yards," she said. "It's a private business owned by shareholders that I happen to be the director of, but it has no effect on or anything to do with council because council's not involved with the sale yards.

"It's business as usual … it is operating as a company, [Mr Arnold] happens to be a shareholder, there are other shareholders and directors involved and the business will continue." -with AP</s>Three Australians arrested in Serbia accused of drug smuggling</s>Three Australians arrested in Serbia over $500 million cocaine shipment

Armed Serbian police stormed a Belgrade hotel to arrest three Australian citizens suspected of being part of an international drug-smuggling group.

Police alleged the men "are linked to" the discovery of 1,280 kilograms of cocaine that was seized last April on a Chinese boat docked in Sydney.

They said the drugs were worth $500 million.

Police released footage of the arrests that took place in the lobby of the hotel, with the men putting their hands in the air before being handcuffed.

Authorities in Belgrade said two of the Australians were in their late 40s with another in his mid-30s.

A bag filled with foreign currency banknotes from Europe, Australia, China, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam also was shown, and police said the arrests were made during a "money handover".

A Lebanese citizen was detained and charged with having forged identity documents.

Serbian authorities said the arrests were made in cooperation with Australian police.</s>Serbian police said on Wednesday they have arrested three Australians and a Lebanese national in an operation to dismantle an international cocaine trafficking ring.

The arrests at a Belgrade hotel followed a nine-month investigation led jointly with Australian authorities, an interior ministry statement said.

The three Australians, identified by their initials and year of birth only, were involved in smuggling of 1,280 kilograms (2,820 pounds) of cocaine seized in Sydney.

Investigators launched a probe in April 2017, after the drugs were seized in the port of Sydney in a container arriving from China, the ministry said.

The Australians are suspected of being part of an “organised criminal group” and the Lebanese of “forging documents”, it said.

The suspects arrived in Belgrade to hand over the money, the ministry said without elaborating on the intended beneficiary.

Migrants sleep rough in wintry weather on Serbia’s border hoping to cross into the EU

During the operation police seized 638,020 euros (US$778,000) as well as cash in other currencies including Australian dollars, Japanese yen and the Czech crowns, along with a pistol.

Serbia lies on the so-called Balkan route used by traffickers to smuggle drugs, weapons and people towards western Europe.

In neighbouring Montenegro, an Australian-Montenegrin man, described by local media as a Balkan drug kingpin, has been held in prison since mid-2017.

Vaso Ulic is suspected of organising the trafficking of 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of MDMA – commonly known as ecstasy – to Australia from several countries between July 2007 and May 2008.</s>BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbian police have arrested three Australian citizens suspected of being part of an international drug-smuggling group.

The police alleged in a statement issued on Wednesday that the men “are linked to” the discovery of 1,280 kilograms (2,822 pounds) of cocaine that was seized last April on a Chinese boat docked in Sydney, Australia. They said the drugs were worth 500 million Australian dollars ($400 million.)

Police released footage of the arrests that took place in the lobby of a Belgrade hotel. A bag filled with foreign currency banknotes also was shown, and police said the arrests were made during a “money handover.” A Lebanese citizen was detained and charged with having forged identity documents.

Serbian authorities said the arrests were made in co-operation with Australian police.</s>CANBERRA, Australia — Three Australians have been arrested in Serbia over the second-largest cocaine haul in Australian law enforcement history, police said on Thursday.

Serbian police alleged the men arrested in a Belgrade hotel foyer on Wednesday “are linked to” the discovery of 1.28 metric tons (1.41 U.S. tons) of cocaine that were seized last April on a Chinese freighter docked in Sydney. The drug haul was worth 500 million Australian dollars ($400 million), police said.

Police said the arrests were made during a “money handover.” A Lebanese citizen was detained and charged with having forged identity documents.

The drug was concealed in pre-fabricated steel in more than 2,500 individual blocks and was the second largest cocaine seizure in Australia, Australian Federal Police and the Australian Border Force said in a statement.

“This was a sophisticated concealment, but thanks to our highly trained officers and world-class screening technology, we were able to locate the cocaine and ultimately disrupt a significant international drug operation,” Border Force Assistant Commissioner Tim Fitzgerald said.

The largest Australian haul of the illicit drug was 1.4 metric tons (1.5 U.S. tons) found in February last year in a yacht that had allegedly smuggled it from the South Pacific. Six people were charged and face potential life prison sentences.

That larger haul was valued at over A$300 million because of its lower purity than the second-largest haul.

After the Serbian arrests, Australian police executed five search warrants in the national capital Canberra and three towns in New South Wales state. No arrests have been made in Australia, but investigations continue, police said.

Illicit drugs command relatively high prices in Australia, making it an attractive market for international drug networks despite its remoteness.</s>He is the prominent businessman whose roaring success in the steel and livestock industries gifted him opportunities like racing in the Sydney to Hobart.

But just three weeks after a successful finish of the great yacht race, Rohan Arnold has found himself in a Serbian jail cell suspected of having ties to an international drug syndicate that tried to smuggle more than a tonne of cocaine into Sydney.

The 43-year-old, together with two other Australians and a Lebanese man, were dramatically arrested at gunpoint in a five-star Belgrade hotel on Tuesday.

They stand accused of being connected to the discovery of 1280 kilograms of cocaine that was seized from a Chinese container boat docked in Sydney last year.

Police said the cocaine, hidden inside pre-fabricated steel and which had a street value of $500 million, was the second largest seizure of the drug in Australia.

As the men languished behind bars, Australian Federal Police raided Mr Arnold's home at Murrumbateman, just outside the ACT, and business premises in Goulburn on Wednesday.

Officers also searched properties in Jeir and Canberra.

At least one of the other Australians is also believed to have been a prominent businessman who had moved his base to Dubai.

Mr Arnold's defence lawyer, Ben Aulich, on Thursday said: "We're in the process of organising access to see him in Serbia.

"That will be co-ordinated through [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade].

"If everything is co-ordinated smoothly and he is not facing charges in Serbia, then we expect him back in the country within four to six weeks."

Serbian police released dramatic footage of the arrests that took place in a Belgrade hotel. The footage shows police running through the hotel's doors and pointing their guns at several men sitting in the lobby.

Officers pinned the men to the ground before they handcuffed them, the video showed.

The footage also showed a bag filled with foreign currency. Police said the arrests were made during a "money handover".

Serbian authorities said the arrests had been made in cooperation with Australian police. No one has been arrested in Australia.

Police identified the men by their initials and year of birth as Australian citizens TV (1983), RA (1974), and DK (1969); along with DG (1977), a citizen of Lebanon.

The Lebanese citizen was detained and charged with having forged identity documents.

B92 reported the men were arrested with large amounts of various currencies, including euros, Australian, US and Singaporean dollars, Czech korunas, Vietnamese dong, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, Thai bahts and Serbian dinars.

They also allegedly had one pistol.

Serbian authorities said they would "continue to cooperate with Australia's authorities in order to implement further action related to this permanent international investigation".

In a statement, the Australian Federal Police said it launched an investigation into an alleged organised crime syndicate after Border Force officials intercepted the shipping container, which had arrived in Sydney via China.

"AFP forensic chemists conducted a deconstruction and analysis of the cocaine and determined a purity of around 78 per cent, meaning the seizure has an estimated street value of up to $500 million," the statement said.

The trio is expected to face charges of conspiracy to import commercial quantities of a controlled drug in the NSW Supreme Court. That offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Mr Arnold's business website said he was born and educated in Canberra. He graduated with a commerce degree in 1995.

He had a 20-year career in the steel manufacturing industry and acted as director of ArnoldCo, Arnold Trading and Arnold Contracting, the website said.

He also worked on regional projects including the South Eastern Livestock Exchange in Yass and the Mortlake Saleyards.

Directors of SELX Pty Ltd, which owns the livestock selling centres at Yass and Mortlake, held an emergency meeting after they learned of Mr Arnold's arrest through media reports.

"The operation and management of [South Eastern Livestock Exchange] and [Western Victoria Livestock Exchange] are not affected by this development," they said in a statement. "Livestock sales will continue as scheduled."

SELX Pty Ltd director Brendan Abbey, whose wife is Yass Valley mayor Rowena Abbey, said he heard about Mr Arnold's arrest on the 6am news and had been in "total shock and disbelief".

He had last spoken to Mr Arnold in Australia on Sunday, when he told Mr Abbey he would be overseas for a short time..

"He has an interest in some steel factories in China and we thought he was going there," Mr Abbey said.

"It was a regular thing, [he'd go] every month or six weeks."

He said Mr Arnold was held in "very high esteem" in the community and there had been no signs of any involvement in the alleged drug operation.

"Nothing at all, not a sign of financial stress. Completely out of the blue."

Australian Federal Police's co-ordinator of organised crime and cyber, Detective Superintendent Stephen Dametto, said the worldwide span of the police operation showed how international law enforcement networks to target global crime syndicates.

"This investigation has demonstrated the agility and ingenuity of AFP investigators, who took a seizure and ran with it in cooperation with our international partners to identify an organised crime syndicate," Detective Superintendent Dametto said.

"We know Australia remains one of the most attractive markets for drug imports – in 2017, we made record seizures of cocaine at the Australian border in AFP joint operations.

"We will continue to work cooperatively with our partners to dismantle syndicates behind importations and target their crime networks at their source, wherever in the world that may be."

Australian Border Force's Acting Assistant Commissioner, Strategic Border Command, Tim Fitzgerald, said the seizure was a testament to the detection, intelligence and investigative capabilities of the ABF and partner agencies before, at and after the border.

"This was a sophisticated concealment, but thanks to our highly trained officers and world-class screening technology, we were able to locate the cocaine and ultimately disrupt a significant international drug operation."</s>Police say three Australians have been arrested in Serbia over the second largest cocaine haul in Australian law enforcement history.

Serbian police allege the men arrested in a Belgrade hotel lobby on Wednesday are linked to the discovery of 1.28 tonnes of cocaine that was seized last April on a Chinese freighter docked in Sydney.

Police in Australia said the drug haul, concealed in pre-fabricated steel in more than 2,500 individual blocks, was worth $A500 million ($NZ546 million).

After the Serbian arrests, Australian police executed five search warrants in Canberra and three towns in New South Wales.

No arrests have been made in Australia, but investigations continue.

The largest Australian drug haul was 1.4 tonnes in February last year found on a yacht.</s>Serbian police have arrested three Australian citizens linked to an international drug-smuggling group.

Serbian police have arrested three Australian citizens linked to an international drug-smuggling group.

Australians linked to massive cocaine haul arrested by Serbian police The West Australian

Three Australians have been arrested in Serbia accused of being part of an international drug-smuggling ring.

The police alleged in a statement issued on Wednesday that the men “are linked to” the discovery of 1280 kilograms of cocaine that was seized last April on a Chinese boat docked in Sydney, Australia.

The drugs were estimated to be worth $500 million.

Police released footage of the arrests that took place in the lobby of a hotel in Belgrade, Serbia.

A bag filled with large amounts of various foreign currency banknotes was shown, and police said the arrests were made during a “money handover”.

Serbian authorities said they would “continue to co-operate with Australia’s authorities in order to implement further action related to this permanent international investigation”.

A Lebanese citizen was also detained and charged with possessing forged identity documents.</s>A Canberra businessman is among three Australians arrested at gun-point in Serbia over a $500 million international cocaine-smuggling ring. Salesyard director and steel importer Rohan Arnold and the other two Australian men are locked up in a Serbian jail following a dramatic arrest at a five-star hotel over a syndicate that tried to bring more than a tonne of cocaine into Sydney via China last year.

THREE Australians detained in Belgrade over alleged links to a $500 million cocaine bust could be held in a grim Serbian prison for up to six weeks before they are extradited to Australia.

Construction magnate from NSW Rohan Arnold, 43, former Canberra nightclub security manager Tristan Waters, 34, and a third man, David Campbell, 49, were all detained at gunpoint in the luxury Metropol Palace Hotel in the capital on Tuesday as part of a co-ordinated Serbian-Australian Federal Police operation.

The trio are being held in the Padinjak Prison in Paldinjak, 30km from central Belgrade, and could be behind bars there for up to six weeks as the two countries negotiate to extradite them.

None of the men have been charged.

The Serbian Ministry of Justice told the local paper Telegraf the Australian Government had not yet launched a formal extradition request.

Serbian media is abuzz with rumours about the raids, which saw the Special Police Organised Crime Squad storm the lobby of the luxurious hotel with guns drawn and video-cameras rolling.

A small suitcase was filmed at the scene and police later said it contained a huge amount of cash in 10 currencies — 638,020 euro, 11,350 Australian dollars, 4,000 US dollars, 18,300 Czech koruna, 528,000 Vietnam dongs, 9,000 Japanese yen, 2,940 Chinese yuan, 2,500

This equates to $996,267 in Australian dollars.

A gun was also found at the scene. Police described the meeting in the lobby as a “money handover.’’

The men, who have been detained but not arrested, were wanted for questioning in connection with an inquiry by the Australian Federal Police which saw 2576 blocks of cocaine weighing 1.28 tonnes seized in a container of prefabricated steel which arrived from China into

Police believe the drugs came via China from a source country, but it is not clear if Serbia was that country.

The seizure, worth $500 million on the streets, was the second-largest cocaine seizure in Australian history.

A Lebanese man, Diab Geagea, 41, was also detained by police at the lobby meeting, apparently in connection with false documents.

Inquiries are underway into whether the Australian men were travelling under false passports or had false identification papers.

Consular assistance has been offered by the Australian Embassy in Belgrade.

“We are working close(ly) with Australian colleagues in this case and they have praised us for professional co-operation”, a spokesman for Serbian police told the media.

No Serbian nationals were arrested during the raids.

The Australian Federal Police have a small, permanent prescience in Belgrade.

The men may appear in coming days in the Specijalni Sud (Special Court) in Belgrade for preliminary hearings ahead of any extradition application.

Those court hearings are unlikely to be open to the public.

The raid made front-page news across Serbia, not least because of the dramatic way it was carried out in the marble-lined lobby of one of Belgrade’s finest hotels.

The Bulgarian Ambassador was hosting at event at the Metropol at the time of the raids, celebrating Bulgaria taking over the revolving presidency of the European Union.

A number of diplomats were present at the function but mostly did not witness the raids as they were in a separate area of the hotel.

Serbian folk singer Radisa Trajkovic Djani also told local media he witnessed the raid.

In an unconnected coincidence, the singer’s best man at his wedding, Nenad Stankovic, was once arrested in Australia for drug dealing.
Police in Serbia arrest three Australians, one of them Rohan Arnold, a known businessman, for allegedly smuggling 1,280 kilograms (2,820 lb) of cocaine into Sydney in 2016.