Details of alleged drug lord Mostafa Baluch’s daring attempt to escape custody have been revealed in court after the truckie accused of slipping him over state lines applied to be released on bail.
Mr Baluch was arrested after he was discovered inside the boot of a Mercedes inside a shipping container at the NSW-Queensland border in November following a two-week nationwide manhunt.
It has been alleged that Mr Baluch cut off his ankle monitor and fled just days after being granted bail in a Sydney court and was attempting to flee.
The millionaire restaurateur was extradited back to Sydney and is facing serious drug charges, accused of financing a 900kg shipment of cocaine into Australia.
Jovanco Kitanovski, 46, has been charged over his alleged role in the escape and is accused of driving the truck in which Mr Baluch was found.
Mr Kitanovski on Wednesday appeared in the NSW Supreme Court where he applied to be released on bail.
If found guilty, he is facing up to 10 years in jail after being charged with attemptxjmtzywing to obstruct or pervert the course of justice.
Police allowed Mr Kitanovski to leave the border checkpoint after Mr Baluch was discovered, the court heard.
However, he was later stopped by NSW Police at Tucabia, near Grafton, where he was arrested and charged.
His Sydney-based trucking company Kit Bros was also raided by police.
The crown prosecution opposed his bail application, arguing that he had allegedly assisted Mr Baluch’s attempt to flee the jurisdiction and was himself a flight risk.
However, his defence pointed to the fact he had not attempted to flee or dispose of the truck after he was released by Queensland Police, instead driving down the Pacific Highway before he was arrested in northern NSW.
His lawyers also argued that any final sentence could exceed the time spent in custody given he could face another 18-month wait for his legal proceedings to be finalised.
They also raised questions about the admissibility of two electronic police interviews, including one conducted on the roadside at the border after his truck was stopped.
“You said to (a police officer) before though, you were just scared about what you think these people can do to you,” one of the officers said during an interview with Mr Kitanovski, the court heard.
Crown prosecutor Lester Fernandez alleged Mr Kitanovski was involved in “every step of the planning” of Mr Baluch’s attempted escape.
Mr Fernandez told the court that Mr Kitanovski’s alleged role stretched back to several days before Mr Baluch was arrested at the border.
He told Justice Michael Walton that police alleged he was involved in WhatsApp group discussions in which he and others planned for Mr Baluch to be taken across state lines as authorities closed in.
“The applicant was communicating with a WhatsApp group specifically about Mr Baluch and the police being close to finding Mr Baluch,” Mr Fernandez said.
“Thereafter every step in relation to the collections and the loading and the transportation of Mr Baluch was individually done by the applicant who was intricately involved in planning and he had an extremely high role in the enterprise to take Mr Baluch out of the jurisdiction.”
Justice Walton will hand down judgment on Mr Kitanovski’s bail application on Wednesday afternoon.
