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A convicted drug trafficker has revealed he supplied the marijuana that Schapelle Corby was caught trying to smuggle through Bali airport.
Malcolm McCauley spent 15 months in jail for his role in a drug syndicate that transported 100 kilograms of cannabis from South Australia to Queensland between January 2004 and November 2005.
Since his release from prison last month for that crime, McCauley said he had grappled with his conscience over his explosive knowledge of the Corby case.
Breaking his silence to The Sun-Herald in Adelaide on Friday, he named Corby's late father, Mick, as the Queensland buyer of his marijuana and Bali as its final destination.
In further damning revelations, McCauley spoke of an "arrangement" involving Mick and corrupt Bali airport officials who would "pocket bribe money placed inside the bag" - usually $US1000 - in return for waving the drugs through.
And he claimed of Schapelle: "The truth is, she always knew her dad was a drug dealer."
Appearing pale and gaunt following his prison stint, McCauley said: "I'm tired and I'm exhausted. I've kept silent all this time about what I know ... it's eaten away at me. Enough is enough.
"I don't want to lie any more. It's time to wipe the slate clean. Tonight I want to sleep with a clear conscience. Once the drugs were delivered to Mick, I had nothing else to do with them whatsoever. But certainly I knew where they were heading, and how."
McCauley first appeared on the public radar when a police raid on his house in November 2005 unearthed photographs of him visiting Schapelle Corby in jail. When the pictures were leaked, they fuelled growing speculation that she was linked to the drug world.
Rosleigh Rose - Corby's mother and Mick Corby's former wife - responded to the hysteria by saying she met McCauley and his friend Dave McHugh in an Adelaide hotel after Corby's 2004 trial.
She said that during the conversation McCauley asked if he could meet Schapelle Corby when he was next in Bali.
McCauley lied to police in two states after making "a pact" with Mick Corby in which he agreed to "never reveal" his long-standing association with him. He said he had maintained that agreement until now.
Earlier this month, Mick Corby's cousin, Allan Trembath, told Lateline on ABC TV that Mick Corby had been involved in trafficking marijuana throughout Queensland for decades and had once offered him $80,000 to accompany him on a drug run to Cape York.
"I met Mick around 2000 through a mutual friend who was involved in shipping hooter [marijuana]," McCauley said.
"Originally, I grew the stuff myself, but I was never that successful. I was much better as a broker - buying and selling.
"I was always on the lookout for new business. Then this particular friend informed me one day he was about to pack it all in ... so I said: 'Please mate, can you put me in touch with the person you're selling to?' He was supplying to Queensland, to Mick Corby."
With numerous hydroponic grower contacts in Adelaide, McCauley soon became Mick Corby's new supplier. He recruited a regular, reliable team of couriers to complete the gruelling interstate road trip. McCauley said that over time he found Mick Corby to be a "top bloke".
"He was down to earth, rough as guts, your typical Aussie. He was a straight shooter, and while others might have bagged him, I never had any problems."
McCauley said the business arrangement involved selling marijuana to Mick Corby for $3000 a pound (454 grams), or $3500 on the rare occasions it was in short supply.
When the same cannabis later landed in Bali, it was "divvied up" and distributed among a network of surf and souvenir shops that sold it to local expats and tourists. Sold in ounces, the cannabis was worth up to four times what Mick Corby had paid. Sold in even smaller quantities, it was worth even more.
"This was no bush weed," McCauley said of the marijuana. "It was excellent South Australian hydro, and it had an excellent reputation in Bali."
McCauley said that to his knowledge Mick Corby never encountered problems getting the marijuana through Brisbane airport and onto a plane. He revealed that, thanks to crooked security contacts on the ground in Bali, smuggling it through Denpasar Airport had always been just as easy.
"I can't say that Mick knew the airport guys personally, but the system was certainly well orchestrated and in place when I started transporting the hooter to him."
Likening the bribe system to a "well-oiled machine", McCauley described in detail how Mick Corby's marijuana would breeze safely through the airport.
"Mick would want the hooter there with him at a specific time because he would be preparing a run. For me, that meant getting it to him on time," he said. "After that, he would pack it all in a bag and the bribe would go in, too. The arrangement was always $US1000 in cash. No more, no less."
McCauley said that, on occasions, the drug-filled bags would pass through the Bali airport security system with the bribe still nestled inside. "Either way, it was a system that had never failed until the day Schapelle was arrested," he said.
"And the simple reason why it broke down on the day was because the money was no longer in the bag when it arrived with security. It had been pocketed, beforehand, by someone. You can take that as fact."
Schapelle's Bali-based sister, Mercedes, has publicly admitted to making a frantic dash to Denpasar Airport with cash in hand as the nightmare was unfolding, but by the time she arrived, it was too late.
"She [Schapelle] couldn't believe what was happening," McCauley said. "In a very short space of time the situation had become irreversible, and she took the fall."
McCauley confirmed for the first time that, 16 days after Schapelle's arrest, he made a frantic trip to Bali to assess the "damage". "The purpose of that particular visit was 'information' and 'to protect my ass'," he said.
McCauley said he made four more trips to Bali after that, visiting Corby several times.
"The truth is, she always knew her dad was a drug dealer. She knew about the trips to Bali, she knew about the system, the bribes. She knew the lot." But, McCauley added: "I feel for the poor girl. If the money had stayed in the bag, as was intended, Schapelle Corby would be a free woman today."
Last week Ms Rose refuted claims that her late husband was a drug runner. Last night, when The Sun-Herald contacted her, she declined to comment.
News Hawk: PFlynn - 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Copyright: 2008 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia's leading newspaper.
Website: 'She knew her father was a drug dealer' - National - smh.com.au
Malcolm McCauley spent 15 months in jail for his role in a drug syndicate that transported 100 kilograms of cannabis from South Australia to Queensland between January 2004 and November 2005.
Since his release from prison last month for that crime, McCauley said he had grappled with his conscience over his explosive knowledge of the Corby case.
Breaking his silence to The Sun-Herald in Adelaide on Friday, he named Corby's late father, Mick, as the Queensland buyer of his marijuana and Bali as its final destination.
In further damning revelations, McCauley spoke of an "arrangement" involving Mick and corrupt Bali airport officials who would "pocket bribe money placed inside the bag" - usually $US1000 - in return for waving the drugs through.
And he claimed of Schapelle: "The truth is, she always knew her dad was a drug dealer."
Appearing pale and gaunt following his prison stint, McCauley said: "I'm tired and I'm exhausted. I've kept silent all this time about what I know ... it's eaten away at me. Enough is enough.
"I don't want to lie any more. It's time to wipe the slate clean. Tonight I want to sleep with a clear conscience. Once the drugs were delivered to Mick, I had nothing else to do with them whatsoever. But certainly I knew where they were heading, and how."
McCauley first appeared on the public radar when a police raid on his house in November 2005 unearthed photographs of him visiting Schapelle Corby in jail. When the pictures were leaked, they fuelled growing speculation that she was linked to the drug world.
Rosleigh Rose - Corby's mother and Mick Corby's former wife - responded to the hysteria by saying she met McCauley and his friend Dave McHugh in an Adelaide hotel after Corby's 2004 trial.
She said that during the conversation McCauley asked if he could meet Schapelle Corby when he was next in Bali.
McCauley lied to police in two states after making "a pact" with Mick Corby in which he agreed to "never reveal" his long-standing association with him. He said he had maintained that agreement until now.
Earlier this month, Mick Corby's cousin, Allan Trembath, told Lateline on ABC TV that Mick Corby had been involved in trafficking marijuana throughout Queensland for decades and had once offered him $80,000 to accompany him on a drug run to Cape York.
"I met Mick around 2000 through a mutual friend who was involved in shipping hooter [marijuana]," McCauley said.
"Originally, I grew the stuff myself, but I was never that successful. I was much better as a broker - buying and selling.
"I was always on the lookout for new business. Then this particular friend informed me one day he was about to pack it all in ... so I said: 'Please mate, can you put me in touch with the person you're selling to?' He was supplying to Queensland, to Mick Corby."
With numerous hydroponic grower contacts in Adelaide, McCauley soon became Mick Corby's new supplier. He recruited a regular, reliable team of couriers to complete the gruelling interstate road trip. McCauley said that over time he found Mick Corby to be a "top bloke".
"He was down to earth, rough as guts, your typical Aussie. He was a straight shooter, and while others might have bagged him, I never had any problems."
McCauley said the business arrangement involved selling marijuana to Mick Corby for $3000 a pound (454 grams), or $3500 on the rare occasions it was in short supply.
When the same cannabis later landed in Bali, it was "divvied up" and distributed among a network of surf and souvenir shops that sold it to local expats and tourists. Sold in ounces, the cannabis was worth up to four times what Mick Corby had paid. Sold in even smaller quantities, it was worth even more.
"This was no bush weed," McCauley said of the marijuana. "It was excellent South Australian hydro, and it had an excellent reputation in Bali."
McCauley said that to his knowledge Mick Corby never encountered problems getting the marijuana through Brisbane airport and onto a plane. He revealed that, thanks to crooked security contacts on the ground in Bali, smuggling it through Denpasar Airport had always been just as easy.
"I can't say that Mick knew the airport guys personally, but the system was certainly well orchestrated and in place when I started transporting the hooter to him."
Likening the bribe system to a "well-oiled machine", McCauley described in detail how Mick Corby's marijuana would breeze safely through the airport.
"Mick would want the hooter there with him at a specific time because he would be preparing a run. For me, that meant getting it to him on time," he said. "After that, he would pack it all in a bag and the bribe would go in, too. The arrangement was always $US1000 in cash. No more, no less."
McCauley said that, on occasions, the drug-filled bags would pass through the Bali airport security system with the bribe still nestled inside. "Either way, it was a system that had never failed until the day Schapelle was arrested," he said.
"And the simple reason why it broke down on the day was because the money was no longer in the bag when it arrived with security. It had been pocketed, beforehand, by someone. You can take that as fact."
Schapelle's Bali-based sister, Mercedes, has publicly admitted to making a frantic dash to Denpasar Airport with cash in hand as the nightmare was unfolding, but by the time she arrived, it was too late.
"She [Schapelle] couldn't believe what was happening," McCauley said. "In a very short space of time the situation had become irreversible, and she took the fall."
McCauley confirmed for the first time that, 16 days after Schapelle's arrest, he made a frantic trip to Bali to assess the "damage". "The purpose of that particular visit was 'information' and 'to protect my ass'," he said.
McCauley said he made four more trips to Bali after that, visiting Corby several times.
"The truth is, she always knew her dad was a drug dealer. She knew about the trips to Bali, she knew about the system, the bribes. She knew the lot." But, McCauley added: "I feel for the poor girl. If the money had stayed in the bag, as was intended, Schapelle Corby would be a free woman today."
Last week Ms Rose refuted claims that her late husband was a drug runner. Last night, when The Sun-Herald contacted her, she declined to comment.
News Hawk: PFlynn - 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Copyright: 2008 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact: The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia's leading newspaper.
Website: 'She knew her father was a drug dealer' - National - smh.com.au
