Customs officers charged

Two members of a cell of allegedly corrupt Customs officers have been charged as part of a series of raids targeting organised crime figures in Australia and Dubai this week, according to a story by Dan Oakes for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Australian Customs official Craig Richard Eakin and former Customs employee Johayna Merhi were said to have been charged this week with corruption offences over an alleged tobacco smuggling ring.

‘Documents obtained by the ABC suggest Eakin and Merhi are allegedly the latest in a line of Sydney-based Customs officers suspected of passing information to members of the Jomaa family and its associates for years, which police allege allowed the smuggling of cigarettes and drugs into Australia,’ Oakes wrote.

‘The arrests raise questions about how the influence of the family was allegedly allowed to permeate Customs for so many years, despite warnings from law enforcement agencies.’

Oakes’ story is at: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2017-08-10/customs-officers-suspected-of-passing-information-to-alleged-crime-figures/1692686