Police manhunts for top wanted fugitives end in different ways, but not usually with a knock-knock
joke. This, though, is how a frantic 16-day dragnet ended for this accused international drug boss
who jumped bail and fled in the night — leaving behind the $4-million beachfront home
he used as bail collateral. Although perhaps to him that's a pittance, given he allegedly
financed a 900 kilo cocaine shipment worth an estimated $270 million on the street
The Mob Reporter here with the story of Mostafa Baluch
his rise and apparent fall in an ingenious police sting, how he became Australia's most
wanted, and how he was caught by a cop who simply knocked on his hiding spot
which was inside a Mercedes, inside a shipping container, being carried across a border on a truck
Let me tell you about it. The 33-year- old Baluch became Australia's most
wanted when he cut his ankle monitoring bracelet and fled on Oct. 25, 2021 —
just four days after his release on bail while awaiting trial on serious drug smuggling charges
Leading police on one of the country's largest and most publicized manhunts took Baluch from relative
obscurity to being one of Australia's best-known underworld figures. A government minister went so
far as to call him "Australia's Pablo Escobar." Baluch himself allegedly bragged he was a "real
gangster" — and if police allegations are right, then Baluch was telling the truth. He is accused of
being the mastermind and sole financier of a 900 kilo load of cocaine discovered by the U.S. military
off the coast of Ecuador, and part of a network conspiring to bring three tons of cocaine ashore
That's quite a leap from Baluch's past life — working in a pizzeria in suburban Sydney which
was owned by his parents, who emigrated from Afghanistan. He was arrested in this drug
smuggling caper in June. You might remember the case from my video then, which I'll link to below
that involved a guy doing wild gambling on video poker machines at the Star Casino in Sydney
Police said his casino account chewed through $100 million in a single week. A subsequent
police probe led the United States Coast Guard to track down a suspected drug smuggling vessel off
the coast of Ecuador. The targeted low-profile boat was spotted by a maritime patrol aircraft in the
Pacific Ocean, sending Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma to intercept and board it in international waters
This is footage of the American coasties unloading that haul. The Americans said 1,200
pounds of cocaine was on board that's about 544 kilos. police in Australia allege 900 kilos
of that were on order by Baluch, unless someone used a different set of scales to measure it
But actually what I think happened is that since Baluch allegedly referenced 900 kilos in private
chats with colleagues, this is just the amount the authorities seek to prove was his. But I could be
wrong. Sometimes I am. Please note the distinctive black wrapping with the thin red lines; we'll see
it again. You see, Australian police made a replica of this load of drugs, mimicking that packaging and
the fake load was sent on to the storage facility where the real drugs were supposed to arrive
This June, New South Wales police arrested a man who arrived to collect it
Another was picked off in a nearby parking lot and a third was arrested when search warrants
were executed at various homes. Two weeks later, police came for Baluch. During a search of his home
officers allegedly found a stash of Australian and American money, four mobile phones including two
encrypted handsets, an ounce of cocaine, steroids, and jewelry. He was charged initially only with
modest crimes; nothing worthy of a drug lord. If he thought he had escaped the worst, then his
appearance at a subsequent court hearing would come as a shock: investigators alleged he was the
sole financier of the 900 kilo load and hit him with charges of conspiracy to import a commercial
quantity of border control drugs. Investigators say Baluch and his network were plotting to land three
tons of the stuff in Australia, with an estimated street value of $900 million Australian dollars
Nonetheless, he managed to secure release on bail
putting his $4-million waterfront property in Sydney's Northern Beaches as collateral
and agreeing to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet Well, we already know how that went. His escape
became big news. It's often said Australian bandits love their Nikes and Baluch didn't disappoint. The
police alert said he was last seen wearing a white Nike t-shirt, black Nike shorts, and white
Nike sneakers. Investigators released photos of him to prompt the public's help in their search
They also released photos of a grey Mercedes SUV and a black Range Rover. As the search wore
on, investigators turned the old-fashioned dragnet method — they turned up the heat on the underworld
Cops sometimes start raiding and hassling other gangsters, making sure they all know it's because
they're searching for such-and-such a crook. When someone being on the run is bad for everyone's
business, it gives powerful incentive for someone to spill the beans. New South Wales police started
knocking down doors and raiding homes, scooping up cash, drugs, contraband, and cell phones as they went
Police also made sure his underworld colleagues knew what a liability he possibly was
They entered hundreds of pages of his supposedly secret text messages in open court
Baluch, police allege in court documents, was a chatty chap
Although, to be fair to him, he thought his text messages were completely private and secure
He didn't know he was one of the many underworld figures who fell into the net of one of the great
police stings of the decade — the AN0M encrypted phone sting. AN0M was an encrypted phone system
built specifically to allow elite criminals around the world to communicate privately with each other
The problem for them was, in reality, it was all an ambitious police operation. The entire AN0M system
from start to finish was secretly run by the FBI and Australian Federal Police. I reveal a lot
more about the AN0M operation in a previous video. I'll put a link to that in the description below
Suffice to say, if Baluch was using AN0M, he thought he was talking in private while
actually being monitored by a law enforcement task force. Police allege Baluch had numerous
AN0M accounts and was chatting away with almost two dozen elite criminals in Europe and Asia
Documents filed in court and revealed by local media allege Baluch was bragging while using AN0M
of having government pilots and custom agents on his payroll. He said courier company employees
secretly worked for him. And he complained his corrupted pilots were normally reliable but were
now too busy delivering COVID vaccines to fly in his cocaine. They were delivering doses not dope
In one chat with a business partner, the two marvelled over the sprawling home of their mentor
who was based in Montenegro. It looked like a castle, Baluch allegedly said
It was a "real gangster place." His partner in the Balkans replied it was "narco boss style"
But their day was coming, they assured each other. "We are now in high league, brother," his pal said
I think the pressure by police worked. There's evidence suggesting Baluch being on the run drew
too much heat for other crooks to handle. At one o'clock in the morning on Nov. 10, 2021
Queensland police stopped a truck as it crossed the state border from New South Wales
Police had been keeping an eye on trucks crossing
Officers said they were drawn to this particular truck because the shipping container it was
hauling wasn't properly locked. During the stop, police said an officer knocked on the container
and — incredibly — someone knocked back. This is body cam footage of the interception
Inside the shipping container that had been moved down off the back of the truck they
found a grey Mercedes SUV and hiding in the back of it was Baluch. It's hard to know who
was more shocked, Baluch or the cops. After a frantic 16 days, the huge manhunt was over
Now, despite some obvious slip-ups Baluch is not a stupid man. So the only real explanation as to
why he knocked back is he thought he was stopping at a drop-off point along his clandestine journey
and that the knock was a signal from a friend rather than a curious cop. Police added a new
charge of breaching his bail, moved to extradite him back to Sydney, as well as charging the truck driver
who they found owned a trucking firm. Baluch was flown back to Sydney in a police plane
In handcuffs and leg irons. Closely guarded, of course. Here's footage of the extradition
Investigators believe he planned to sail from Australia to Indonesia then Thailand before
flying to Europe to join colleagues in the Balkans. Even though the manhunt is over, police said they
don't intend to stop pulling on those threads that were revealed by their dragnet. Investigators said
they uncovered evidence of a wide criminal network which they now hope to pick apart
Supporting my theory on an underworld snitch ending Baluch's run, the lead
detective agreed that attention from the search had turned the criminal element against him
At a recent court appearance, Baluch didn't ask for bail. It's going to be difficult to
get a judge to agree to that one again. He might have blown his one big chance
Knock knock. Who's there? Thanks for watching