Moreed Noor: Police say alleged crime boss received millions in ‘dirty money’ to fund lavish lifestyle

A major WA crime syndicate has been “severely damaged” by the arrest of an accused crime boss in Colombia. Police made the declaration as it was revealed Moreed Noor was allegedly being sent millions of dirty dollars from Perth to fund his extravagant lifestyle abroad. Officials have released more details of a secret sting that captured Perth man Mr Noor in Colombia, including that his wife and family were among those arrested and charged as a result of a four-year investigation into alleged illicit enrichment. As revealed by The West Australian, the alleged kingpin was the target of a probe by WA Police, Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Attorney-General of Colombia which ended with officers and the Colombian Army descending on his Medellin compound on July 24. Mr Noor — who left WA in 2019 amid an investigation into a Perth-based transnational organised crime syndicate — and his relatives are charged with money laundering and proceeds of crime offences. If convicted they face many years in a Colombian jail. It is understood the 36-year-old has been, or will be, released from custody to await his fate on home detention. Colombian media has named the others arrested as Brisa Daniela Trejos, María del Pilar Velez Garcia, Paula Restrepo and Hernan Pulgarin Arcila. Police allege Mr Noor was being sent millions in ill-gotten gains from WA which he used to fund a life of luxury — including building a four-storey mansion in an exclusive area of Medellin with a purpose-built firing range. “It’s alleged that money was being sent from Perth and other parts of Australia over to this gentleman over in Colombia,” WA Police Det-Supt John Hutchison, of the serious organised crime division, said on Wednesday. “So effectively money was being laundered from Australia to Colombia for his benefit.” Det-Supt Hutchison said the takedown of Mr Noor meant “a significant transnational serious organised crime group has been severely damaged and disrupted and probably unable to operate in this State anymore”. At the exact same time as the raids in Colombia, WA Police were also kicking down doors at seven premises in Perth’s southern suburbs, but say local investigations in the probe, codenamed Operation Lante Parap, are ongoing. Police remain tight-lipped around the exact nature of the “unlawful activity” that was allegedly funding Mr Noor’s lavish lifestyle as to not jeopardise the judicial process in Colombia. However, Det-Supt Hutchison alleged the Mr Noor had “a lot of associates in Western Australia that we believe to be involved in transnational serious organised crime, which would include drug distribution and other offences”. Among the more than $1 million worth of assets seized from Mr Noor, was his four-storey mansion which he had almost finished building, an apartment, 10 cars — some of them bulletproof — a speedboat, Harley-Davidson, and Colombian-registered companies. Foot baths, spa chairs, Turkish baths, thousands of dollars’ worth of lamps and $260,000 cash in different currencies was also seized. “Colombia is a dangerous place and it’s a very different environment to what we operate here in Australia. We are very grateful to the Colombians for their support and assistance in generating this result,” AFP Commander Graeme Marshall said. Cdr Marshall alleged Mr Noor received “millions of dollars of illicit funds through manipulation of the financial systems in both Australia and Colombia”. “Australians and Colombians and who are struggling with the increased cost of living should be shocked when they see the vision and images of the assets seized in Colombia which this man has allegedly obtained illicitly,” he said. “While this man and his family put the finishing touches to a luxurious four-storey home, many other families in Australia and Colombia struggle simply to put food on the table to pay rent.” Cdr Marshall said money laundering was a “global threat”. “Australians who think they can move offshore to evade law enforcement should think again,” he said. “The AFP works closely with partners in Australia and across the world to ensure there is no safe haven for criminals whose behaviour causes harm in multiple countries.” Det-Supt Hutchison agreed. “In general, (this investigation) really shows that we’ve matured to an extent where borders are no longer our boundaries,” he said. “If somebody commits offences here and they travel offshore, to a country in South America that we would say is pretty remote from Australia, that we would have the ability, through using our partners, to hunt those people down.”