AFL INTEGRITY UNIT JOINS PROBE INTO SPONSORSHIP OF FAR NORTH CLUB
THE AFL integrity unit is part of a top-level police probe into the sponsorship of a Far North footy club by an alleged outlaw bikie drug kingpin and claimed links to a Mexican cocaine cartel.
Ex-Melbourne-based Bandido bikie gang national sergeant-of-arms Lee Undy is accused of being the mastermind of an international cocaine and MDMA trafficking syndicate in the region.
The 46-year-old footy fan and gym owner was the target of a nine-month covert sting by a joint taskforce, dubbed Operation Papa Prowess.
Australian Federal Police, Queensland’s Organised Crime detectives, Victoria Police, Border Force and the Australian Taxation Office are now unpicking the trail of his alleged unexplained wealth. The AFL integrity unit has also been briefed about alleged money laundering, as officers investigate if the syndicate’s reach extended into the code.
Queensland Organised Crime detective Senior Sergeant Kevin Goan said the joint taskforce was analysing financial transactions between the syndicate and the AFL.
“It’s hard to get a true pic- ture yet,’’ Sen-Sgt Goan claimed. “This is a very complex web of money trails and a lot of payments were in cash.”
Undercover agents infiltrated the Port Douglas Crocs AFL footy team. Mr Undy was a sponsor of the club.
Four years earlier, the Bandido’s feared ex-enforcer had left Melbourne after a botched execution attempt – with a contract on his head. He had settled in Port Douglas before about 50 taskforce members raided his luxury home, a yacht, two gyms and a yoghurt shop in March.
Court documents show Mr Undy and his 14 other co-ac- cused syndicate members were targeted by phone taps and electronic surveillance.
Investigators monitored five encrypted telecommunications devices, including Mr Undy’s mobile, as the alleged “head of a major drug trafficking syndicate” for nine months, documents show. It followed a global bust led by the FBI on encryption device company Phantom Secure, allegedly used by bikie gang members in Australia linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel to organise drug imports, extortion and murders.
Mr Undy has been remanded in custody at Lotus Glen.