Attention Journalists & Law Students – Tribulations of Mayhem

While I was on bail for 3½ years (with strict daily sign-in and heavy AFP monitoring), I saw first-hand how the Australian Federal Police and Customs (now Border Force) operated. This page is a direct call to serious journalists and law students who want to investigate the real story behind Operation Collage/Bergonia and the 400kg cocaine bust on the yacht Mayhem of Eden at Scarborough Marina in 2010.

What Happened While I Was on Bail

AFP followed me constantly. They sat at the table next to me and my family the day I got bail. They had undercover officers trying to befriend me in prison and on the outside. They put people in my house asking questions about the case. They even had a guy on a BMX bike (“Cool Guy”) harass me at the beach while I was water-skiing.

All this while I was on strict bail conditions and never breached them. Why the extreme surveillance? Because they were terrified I would speak to the media about what really happened at the marina — the early search, the 20+ undisclosed Customs officers, the bags being removed in broad daylight, the missing cocaine, and the Sydney nightclub arrests just days later.

How You Can Investigate – Practical Steps

• Start with the Simon Golding Federal Court Application – This is the single most important starting document. It includes the full application, affidavits, and exhibits detailing the hidden early warrant, the 24 Customs officers, crime scene logs, and evidence of non-disclosure.
  Download the full application and exhibits (PDF)
• FOI the 24 Customs Officers – Submit a Freedom of Information request for the complete, unredacted list of all ACBPS/Border Force personnel who were at Scarborough Marina on 12 October 2010. Cross-reference this against the AFP crime scene log that was never fully disclosed in court.
• Track the Sydney Nightclub Arrests – Four days after the yacht bust, Customs officers were caught distributing free cocaine outside the Vinyl Room nightclub. One officer pleaded guilty and resigned. Locate the NSW Police statements and court records from mid-October 2010.
• Compare the Cocaine Stamps & Quantities – Original reports stated 464kg seized, but the court only charged 400kg. One bag disappeared from the car and was allegedly replaced three days later with bricks from a different seizure (different stamps). Request the forensic analysis reports and full seizure records.
• Check the Annual Report – Page 52 of the 2010-11 ACBPS Annual Report states Customs and AFP executed the search warrant “on the morning” of 12 October. This directly contradicts the AFP’s claim of 7:30pm. This is the hidden early warrant.
• Interview Ex-Officers – Many officers involved in the operation have since left the AFP or Border Force. Some may now be willing to speak off the record about what they witnessed regarding the early search, bag removals, and internal handling of evidence.
• Look at ACLEI Files – ACLEI described this as their “largest ever investigation” when it began in 2012. Request details on the outcome, why no charges were laid despite evidence of perjury and evidence tampering, and what happened to the findings.

This is not ancient history. The same culture of non-disclosure, evidence tampering, and protecting their own continues today. Real investigative journalism can still expose it. Law students can turn this into powerful research on prosecutorial misconduct, abuse of process, and failures of oversight bodies like ACLEI.

People Fall Off Yachts All the Time – Here’s the Proof

Evidence Already Public on This Site

Transcripts, photos of AFP officers with bulging shirts leaving the yacht, annotated CCTV stills showing bags being removed, redacted Customs lists, ministerial letters, FOI responses that lied about Customs presence, and the mistrial over missing CCTV footage are all available in the Evidence Archive.