STOLEN MAFIA FILE ALERTS UNDERWORLD

A SECRET intelligence file stolen from Victoria Police tipped off
Melbourne's underworld about a federal police investigation into a
number of men suspected of conspiring with the Calabrian Mafia to ship
huge amounts of cocaine into Australia.

Information about the AFP investigation was contained in the highly
protected file that was compiled in 2002 and stolen from police offices.

A corruption probe last year headed by Tony Fitzgerald, QC, found the
file was most likely stolen by a police officer and leaked to several
underworld crime figures after it was stolen in September 2003. The
timing of the theft means that the file may have been circulating in
the underworld three months before the AFP raided the homes of
suspects in the cocaine conspiracy in early 2004 while the
investigation was at a highly sensitive stage.

The Age has confirmed that some of Melbourne's criminals who received
the leaked file are associates of the men targetted by the AFP during
its operation.

The file states that the Victoria Police had made "enquiries with F/A
(federal agent) Appleby AFP who stated that Loprette (sic) is the main
target relating to the container import being conducted by the AFP".

Yesterday The Age revealed that Adelaide man Carmelo Loprete, along
with Victorians Nicola Ciconte, Vincenzo Medici and Michael Calleja
were jointly investigated by the AFP and Italian police over a
conspiracy to smuggle up to 500 kilograms of cocaine into Melbourne.

The men's involvement was detailed in documents issued by a court in
Catanzaro, Calabria.

A lawyer for Mr Ciconte has denied the allegations. The Age has been
unable to contact the other men

It is believed that two Victoria Police detectives were briefed by the
AFP during its cocaine inquiries because the detectives were
separately investigating some of the suspects. Both Victorian
detectives have since left the force under serious corruption clouds.
One of them was named by Mr Fitzgerald as "an obvious suspect" in the
theft of the confidential file. Mr Fitzgerald was appointed by the
Office of Police Integrity to investigate the leak..

A spokesman for the federal police yesterday said the AFP was unable
to comment on the matter. Victoria Police declined to comment because
"the issues raised relate to matters that are the subject of ongoing
investigations". Since Mr Fitzgerald's investigation, Victoria Police
has improved the way it protects sensitive information.

The AFP has not charged the four Australians allegedly involved in the
conspiracy on the advice of the Commonwealth DPP. But Italian
anti-Mafia prosecutor Salvatore Curcio has confirmed that he is
seeking the men's extradition and that warrants for their arrest had
been issued in Calabria more than two years ago.

Revelations about the outstanding Italian warrants prompted Labor
justice spokesman Joe Ludwig to question whether the Federal
Government had done enough to ensure the matter was handled
expeditiously.

A spokesman for Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the Government
could not comment on extradition matters for operational reasons, but
it is believed the Italian Government is yet to send Australia the
information required to initiate an extradition.

Mr Ludwig seized on the comments of former National Crime Authority
chairman John Broome that some organised crime groups were being given
insufficient attention because of the high priority given to terrorism
investigations. But a spokesman for Senator Ellison said the AFP had
received significant increases in resources and continued to crack
down on organised crime.