SYNDICATE BRIBED DETECTIVE, COURT TOLD

A detective gave criminal associates keys to the Victorian drug squad
storage compound as part of a conspiracy to make and sell amphetamines, the
Melbourne Magistrates Court was told yesterday.

It was alleged that Detective Senior Constable Kevin Hicks accepted
thousands of dollars in bribes to supply the sophisticated drug syndicate
with chemicals seized in police raids.

Mr Jeremy Rapke, prosecuting, said Mr Peter Pilarinos used the keys to
steal chemicals from the drug storage area in Attwood between mid-1991 and
1996 and had talked about "the millions of dollars that could be made".

Mr Rapke said to avoid detection, the chemicals - used to make high-quality
amphetamines - were replaced with Coca-Cola, water and tile grout.

He said the syndicate's inner workings were exposed after confessions from
two key associates - James Sweetin and Grantley Connell - who were arrested
as part of Operation Guardsman in August 1996.

"The picture which emerges . . . is one of the existence of a long-standing
corrupt relationship between Pilarinos and Hicks," Mr Rapke said. "It is
clear that the object of the relationship was the illegal manufacture of,
and trafficking in, amphetamines."

Mr Pilarinos and Mr Hicks - two of nine people charged in connection with
the conspiracy - are contesting numerous charges at a committal hearing
expected to proceed for 20 days.

Mr Rapke said police had been concerned that someone was stealing or
tampering with chemicals stored at the compound for some time.

In June 1992, a new analysis of drug exhibits seized as part of a
prosecution's case against Laurence Sumner and stored at Attwood found the
chemicals were no longer the same concentration or content as previously
reported.

An internal investigation later concluded that if a theft occurred at
Attwood, it was an inside job.

Mr Rapke also told the magistrate, Mr David McLennan, that Mr Hicks allegedly:

Staged a false police raid on a drug supplier and gave the confiscated
chemical to Mr Pilarinos.

Was the officer responsible for auditing chemicals stored at the Attwood
storage compound.

Tipped off Mr Pilarinos that the drug squad had Connell under surveillance.

Was given white envelopes containing sums of money ranging from $500 to
$2500 on 10 occassions at the Aegean Restaurant in Brunswick Street.

Mr Rapke also told the court that Mr Pilarinos headed the drug syndicate.
Connell and Mr Hicks were major players and Sweetin was "the cook".

Backyard laboratories were set up at Mr Pilarinos's Dandenong home and
later in Connell's garage.

Chemistry reference books were stolen from the compound and one of the
co-accused, Mr Albertus Van Donkelaar, a senior CSIRO technical engineer,
sought advice from work colleagues about how to make the drugs, he said.

Mr Pilarinos, 43, and his wife, Valerie, 52, both of Doncaster; Mr Hicks,
43, of Lima East; Mr Jurgen Hadler, 41, of Greensborough; Mr Ronald
Andrews, 65, of Reservoir; and Mr Gary Sellman, 45, of Perigian,
Queensland, are contesting various charges at the committal, which is
continuing.

Lawyers for Warwick Harbour, 29, of Ferntree Gully, and Albertus Van
Donkelarr, 48, of Eltham, yesterday said their clients would plead guilty
to charges on 25 May in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Allan Colson, 48, of Eltham, yesterday pleaded guilty to two charges, and
will appear in the County Court on 3 August.