Dutton’s Secret Drug Cartel Connection: The William Betham Case

Dutton’s Secret Drug Cartel Connection: The William Betham Case

“..but if you come here and start selling drugs..I’m sorry you don’t stay here. It’s as simple as that.” (Peter Dutton Thursday, 13 December 2018 Interview with Ray Hadley, Radio 2GB-4BC)

“Ray, that’s the reality of the courts here; you and I have spoken many times about the AAT and some decisions that we just shake our head at.” (Thursday, 07 February 2019 Interview with Ray Hadley, Radio 2GB-4BC)

These are the recent statements Home Affairs Minister made to Ray Hadley, boasting about his visa cancellation regime. More importantly Peter Dutton has on various occasions on the floor of Parliment boosted about how he has cancelled hundreds of visas of drug dealers, and saved Australian lives.

His Twitter account is filled with such posts, as this latest one:

Which prompted me to:

Dutton’s deceitful tactics, lies & a lack of loyalty has already been established:

What further transpired from the #LibSpill was Dutton’s bullying & blackmailing of his own fellow LNP MPs to support him for the leadership position, which led to the resignations of many female MPs which is public knowledge.

Let’s go back to 2016 and examine a statement which Dutton provided which has context:

“It is my aim to use my experience both in small business and in law enforcement to provide perhaps a more practical view on some of the issues and problems experienced in these areas.”

Dutton’s public attacks on the AAT making decisions against him, shouldn’t be confused with the “protection of the Australian community” as he would like to have us believe, it’s Dutton’s aim to be the only person in a position to make decisions as to who stays in the country & who leaves.

Much like how a big Business CEO would like to kill it’s competitor out of the market, so he can solely reap the profits and have the Monoply.

It’s no hidden fact anymore that Peter Dutton’s wealth has significantly increased since he became the MIBP & subsequently the Minister of Home Affairs, his investment property portfolio has seen a significant increase too, so where is all this money coming from?

Being a pacifist in face of such wolves & tyrants only leads to endless tragedies, Corrupt Tyrants such as Dutton need to be exposed, and the truth needs to be told, even when it is dangerous to do so.

Which brings me to the topic of:

Drug Lord: William Betham

William Betham a Queensland resident, was sentenced by the Queensland Supreme Court to a term of imprisonment of 10 years & 6 months as being part of a Drug Cartel.

While sentencing one of the associate of Mr.Betham, Judge Atkinson J of Queensland Court of Appeal remarked:

“Betham was convicted of one count of trafficking in the dangerous drugs MDMA and cocaine. The trafficking period was 16 months. His level of involvement was significant and the quantities involved were large. Both Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 drugs were involved and the period of trafficking was very long. He was imprisoned for 10 and a half years and the learned sentencing judge in his sentencing remarks noted that other participants in this range of offending appear to have received sentences between nine and 15 years depending upon their level of involvement.” ([2009] QCA 105)

Mr. William Betham was one of a number of people charged with trafficking in dangerous drugs as a result of an extensive police and Australian Crime Commission investigation over many months involving the interception of telephone calls and covert surveillance.

His Honors of the Supreme Court while sentencing the Drug Cartel Members further remarked:

“The applicant together with Betham, Nabhan, Kostopoulos and others were involved in the large scale wholesale distribution of … ecstasy. The (applicant) was involved in … arranging for the purchase and distribution of quantities of ecstasy tablets in the order of 5 – 10,000 at a time worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. … surveillance and drug seizures … reveal that the (applicant) devoted extensive and time consuming efforts in arranging for the purchase and distribution of drugs. On occasions it is possible to discern that successful transactions were completed, on other occasions the investigators foiled the transactions. However it is also possible to discern that other transactions did not proceed for a variety of reasons, e.g. that the supplier was not able to supply the drugs … or there was a failure to reach agreement on price. On other occasions it is not possible to discern … whether the transaction was successfully completed or not. However it is possible to say that the (applicant) entered into extensive negotiations as a credible wholesale purchaser and distributor of (ecstasy).”[14] The applicant dealt, or agreed to deal, in ecstasy tablets used by different manufacturers and bearing different brand or maker’s marks. The quality (purity) of the drug in tablet form seems to have varied between makers.”

While commenting on the further role of Mr. William Betham His Honors remarked:

“Dealings with Betham

[15] On 25 June 2002 the applicant offered to sell Betham between 5,000 and 10,000 tablets at between $18 and $18.50 per tablet (I interpolate that the maximum value of the transaction was $180,000). Betham asked for and was given a sample for examination. The applicant had difficulty in obtaining the 10,000 tablets but was offered 3,000 by one Mayo. He agreed to buy them at $18 per tablet and Mayo arranged for their delivery from Sydney by a carrier whose name was King. Betham agreed to buy the 3,000 tablets. The total price was $72,000. The drugs were duly sold. The sale is the subject of count two in the indictment, the unlawful supply of MDMA. Having obtained the 3,000 tablets from King for delivery to Betham the applicant spoke to Betham about the sale of a further 10,000 tablets, a sample of which he had already given to Betham. On 6 July 2002 the applicant telephoned Betham and asked for 1,000 tablets. On 18 July Betham told the applicant he was expecting a delivery of MDMA and the applicant said he had a customer for 5,000 tablets. On 4 August the applicant offered to sell Betham tablets which Nabhan had obtained. Betham ordered 5,000.”

As evident by the sentencing remarks, the 10 and a half year term of imprisonment imposed on Mr. William Betham, the extensive involvement of Australian Crime Commission in the arrest and subsequent Conviction of Mr.Betham’s & his cartel, shows that this is a very high level, very organized & sophisticated Drug Cartel.

WILLIAMS JA of the Supreme Court of Queensland further commented on the Drug Cartel as following:

The statement of facts… put before the sentencing judge disclosed the following. A supply chain was set up in anticipation that five kilograms of cocaine would be transported from Cooktown. The cocaine was to be initially obtained by Porter and it was then to pass to Mustafa, to Varitimos, to Klasan, to Betham, then to Nabhan and finally to Elzeyat. In a phone call on 22 September 2002 Nabhan ordered five kilograms of cocaine from Betham and that was repeated in another telephone conversation of 23 September 2002. During the call on 22 September 2002 Betham referred to the difficulties in transporting the cocaine from Cooktown and Nabhan offered to drive there and collect it. In another conversation with Betham, Nabhan said that if the quality was good he would order 10 kilograms.” ([2007] QCA 266 (17 August 2007)

Mr. Betham served 8 years of his sentence and was released on parole and was immediately taken into immigration detention after having his visa cancelled on character grounds under Section 501 of the Migration Act.

He was transfered to Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre. (CIIDC)

On CIIDC a senior Serco Manager known as ‘Lewis’ was a very close associate of Mr.Betham, both of them had ties going all the way back to New Zealand where they both did the army course together. The Australian Border Force were well aware of the close relationship between the Serco Manager & Mr.Betham, but they always seemed to look the other way. The standard operating procedure being if a Serco guard or Manager knows a detainee prior to his detention, the conflict of interest would mean that both of them can’t remain in the same centre, and usually one of them have to be moved.

Mr.William Betham enjoyed a life of luxury on CIIDC, and was provided all kinds of privileges by Serco Manager Lewis, privileges & luxuries non of us had. Rules were bent for him to accommodate his desires, and it was common knowledge amongst the detainee community that what Mr.Betham says goes.

Mr.Betham was provided his own single room, and later he was moved from the Green 2 compound to the Privileges Compound called Gold 2.

I once ventured into his zone looking for a detainee for a gym session, that I incidently opened his door, I saw a heap of white powder on his table, while Mr.Betham was resting on his bed, I aplogized & said sorry wrong room. Mr.Betham asked me to come in and have a seat. Knowing what Mr.Betham was known for & given the current situation it made me a bit anxious as what was to follow, but nonetheless I obliged & sat with Mr.Betham.

I could see Mr.Betham’s pupils very dilated, & he seemed to have a happy vibe about him. After a little talk he asked me: “You seem like a very good bloke, how long have you been in detention for?” it wasn’t an unusual conversation to have in detention when you are trying to get to know someone, but what Mr.Betham told me after that made me a bit confused.

Mr.Betham said words to the effect of: “There is no point for you appealing in the Tribunals or Courts, and wasting money on lawyers, it won’t get you anywhere, if you want to get out, get back to your family, organize $80k and transfer it into an account (of a person in Brisbane), I have a good connection to the Minister’s office, and you will be out in a matter of months, my case is sitting with Minister Dutton’s office right now, I’ll be out in a matter of days, Minister Dutton will personally give me my visa back”.

There was such force & confidence in his voice and tone, but obviously I was skeptical, I thought this is Australia, bribes don’t work here, and in any event i found the suggestion laughable that Minister Dutton would give a Drug Kingpin his visa back, given what the Minister has been saying in Parliament & publicly.

Mr.Betham even showed me his Psych report which he stated was sent to the Minister, the Psych report amongst other things suggested that “Mr.Betham got involved in the Drug Cartel after he failed to have a successfull career in the rugby league, and he felt embarrassed about not being able to have career in Rugby..” It was a long report but it sounded more like a formality than actually making a case for the Minister that there were genuine compelling grounds for his visa to be reinstated.

Anyways I left his room a bit troubled as to what I was hearing, and I went back to my dorm which I shared with 8 other people including this English man named ‘Bill’ a middle aged white man resident of Frankston in Victoria, who had done time for some serious drugs trafficking & guns charges, I shared with Bill what Mr.Betham told me, I was expecting a laugh out of Bill, but instead I received the following response: “He is ripping you off, my contact told me to pay only $70k for the Minister’s Delegate to get my visa back”.

I left the conversation at that, assuming they were all cooked, bribes & connections don’t work in a Democratic country like Australia, it’s a country of Fair Go, it’s the justice system we must trust in.

But gawd does being idealistic has its drawbacks I was up for a big surprise.

This one day I had a computer appointment booked in on the computer room which was located in the same block as the interview room, while I was sitting waiting for the the Serco guard to let me in, Mr.William Betham showed up, hello/hi & all that, he told me he has been called in for a meeting with the immigration, I didn’t see any anxiety on his face, and anyone who is or has been in detention knows how anxious we get when we are called in for a meeting with Immigration. William said to me, “Today is the day, my contact told me that Minister Dutton has signed off to give me my visa back”.

And true was that on that day 22/08/2017, Mr.William Betham was given his visa back signed by Minister Dutton himself, and he was released from CIIDC back to his home state of Queensland.

 

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And not that long after Bill the English man, who had been slotted for threatening a Serco Guard got his visa back, by the Delegate of the Minister, I still remember his parting words to me: “if you have $70k, the offer is still open to you.”

Now anyone who has been in immigration detention, our relatives, legal practioners know that, if someone’s permanent residency is revoked on character grounds, the Minister invites you to make representations as to why should your visa be given back to you, that process alone can take almost 2 years, and if the delegate of the Minister refuses to reinstate the visa you can appeal to the AAT, but if the Minister himself refuses to reinstate the visa, you don’t have any appeal rights to the AAT, you can only appeal to the Federal Court on the basis of Jurisdictional Error, a process which takes years.

Meanwhile Mr.William Betham only spent a couple of months before he was released, by Minister Dutton himself, almost as unbelievable as the Sun rising from the west, people were left in shock as to what has just happened, but there is nothing you can do about it, we didn’t had access to our mobiles back then, who is gong to believe us, we will sound crazy so we all just kept quiet.

It was particularly distressing for us, as there were stateless people languishing in detention indefinitely for years, including Rohingyaa refugees, there were people who made a little mistake years ago & fell foul to s501 & had their visa cancelled, some had driving offences, petty things in the context, but people are facing permanent separation from their families, and a country where they had spent half if not all their lives, to be dumped to a country they have no connection to, away from their wives & kids, Dutton effectively creating another Stolen Generation.

Mr.William Betham wasn’t someone who fell on hard times and stole food or shoplifted to eat, he was the poster boy or the defination of why these draconian s501 laws were created, as evident by his convictions, the sentences imposed my courts, the remarks of the judges, shows he is part of a Major Drug Cartel.

And he didn’t got his visa back through the system, the long unjust procedure we have to go through, he used his connection, being a ‘Powerful Friend’ of Minister Dutton, which involved a big amount of money exchanging hands.

Now Mr. William Betham is back in the community back with his Drug Cartel, all thanks to Minister Dutton & the Minister’s god like powers. Further meaning that like was the case in the #AuPairGate, Minister Dutton can do as he pleases the legislation allows him to do so, and while powerful people & money was involved in the release of this Drug Kingpin, there is currently no agency which can investigate Minister Dutton in a so called democracy.

Meanwhile the people who don’t have such connections or money have died languishing in indefinite detention, people like Sarwan took his own life at Yongah Hill IDC in 2018:

He fled war torn Iraq to find a safe heaven in Australia, only to be re detained, & eventually dying far away from his family alone in a Yongah Hill Cell.

 

All Minister Dutton had to say after Sarwan’s death was that “There are mostly hardened criminals in Yongah Hill”. Not only a insensitive thing to say while Sarwan’s family mourned his death, but factually incorrect, and not to mention the “Hardened Criminals” have been given their visas back by Minister Dutton himself.

Peter Dutton has smashed the so called boat people smuggler’s market & business model, and like a True Businessman himself, he has established his Monoply in that market. By imprisoning long term Australian Residents, reaping the financial profits as is evident by the #AuPairGate & the William Betham Case, Dutton’s actions are protected by the law, and his godlike powers he enjoys as the Minister of Home Affairs.

Dutton routinely rejects the advise of Health Professionals, advise & recommendations of IHMS, & even the Advise, Recommendations & Referrals of his own Department (DIBP).

Dutton is effectively sentencing long term Australian Residents to Death Sentences, by indefinitely imprisoning them in detention centres to deport them to some country on the other side of the globe, and many have taken their own lives while in detention or after being deported.

Minister Dutton needs to be accountable, he needs to answer how much money he received to personally give Mr. William Betham a drug Kingpin a visa. We expect him to deny that he received any money, as he has lied many times in the past, then the next question should be, then how come you love this Drug Kingpin so much that you bypassed all the normal procedures & rushed to personally intervene to let this Drug Kingpin out.

Dutton has already appointed his mates in the AAT, & developed AAT in his own shape & form, Dutton has Kangarood the courts, his attacks on the judiciary are public knowledge.

2 years ago I used to say that “Better money buys you better justice in Australia”

Now i have come to the conclusion it’s who you pay that money that gets you freedom, and the Lawyers, Courts & Tribunals ain’t it. It’s how heavy your pocket is, and if you happen to know one of Peter Dutton’s powerful friends.

Australia used to be the land of Fair Go, now under Dutton & LNP, Fair Go is a privilege only bestowed upon the rich & powerfull with good connections to Dutton.