Victoria
A Hillside woman with alleged connections to Albanian organised crime have been charged by police for her alleged involvement in a cannabis trafficking plot.
The Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (JOCTF) initially charged a Hillside man in September 2024, for his alleged involvement in the same plot to traffic $1.2 million worth of cannabis between Victoria and New South Wales and for allegedly dealing with suspected illicit cash.
The 38-year-old man was identified during AFP-led Operation Kraken as an alleged reseller of Ghost (encrypted) devices, which were allegedly being used to co-ordinate secret communications between criminals, including members of an Albanian organised criminal syndicate.
As a result of this intelligence, the man was allegedly linked to $395,000 in suspected illicit cash, a Porsche Cayenne, 28 kilograms of cannabis, a grow house containing 25kg of mature cannabis plants, a sawn-off shotgun, ammunition and other prohibited weapons.
The cash and drugs were found by police in vehicles during separate searches in 2024.
The JOCTF has now charged the man’s partner, a Hillside woman, 35, for her alleged involvement in the cannabis trafficking operation.
She is facing five counts of trafficking a marketable quantity of a controlled plant, namely cannabis. The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years’ jail.
She has also been charged with four counts of processing proceeds of crime and various other drugs and firearms charges.
\The JOCTF has also charged the Hillside man with seven additional offences, including possessing an unregistered firearm, possessing prohibited weapons and various drug offences.
He will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court on February 18.
A second woman, 31, from Pascoe Vale, who is also allegedly linked to the trafficking plot, was also charged with two counts of trafficking a marketable quantity of a controlled plant, namely cannabis and wo counts of possessing proceeds of crime.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Detective Inspector Chris Salmon said Operation Kraken showcased the skill, dedication and capability of the AFP.
“The resolution of Operation Kraken in September 2024 was the culmination of the AFP’s largest criminal investigation in 2024, but the work of investigators is continuing in 2025 to piece together the full scale of criminality that allegedly took place over the Ghost app,” Detective Inspector Salmon said.
