Alleged transnational drug smuggling mastermind, Jim Soukoulis, is believed to have escaped towards Darwin in the Northern Territory shortly after his last appearance for bail at a South Melbourne police station in 2019.
According to The Herald Sun, this has aroused police suspicion that he might have travelled to Southeast Asia.
At the time of his disappearance, Soukoulis, 57, was awaiting trial over allegations he led a drug syndicate which tried to fly a heavily modified Cessna plane with 255kg of methamphetamine across the Pacific from California to Australia.
Following the exposure of the scheme, he resided in South Melbourne until he broke bail.
Soukoulis was also awaiting proceedings over a 2013 matter in which he was charged over the seizure in Sydney of 300 grams of cocaine and 112 grams of methamphetamine. He has previously served 12 years jail for importing cocaine.
The Australian Federal Police have since released a picture of a man and a woman in a grey Subaru Forester taken at Marla, near the South Australia-Northern Territory border, a day after Soukoulis was last seen.
“The Australian Federal Police is appealing for information on the current whereabouts of Jim Soukoulis,” AFP Detective Leading Senior Constable Greg Hinds said.
“The AFP continues to investigate whether Soukoulis remains in Australia or has departed.”
Source: The Herald Sun.
