A man from Sydney's eastern suburbs entered a guilty plea in the NSW District Court today (21 September) to a proceeds of crime charge stemming from the Operation Veyda investigation into a multi-national organised crime syndicate.

The Dover Heights man, 48, was arrested in Dubai in August 2017, and later extradited back to Australia. He pleaded guilty to dealing with property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime, contrary to section 400.9(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth).

He is the last of 19 Australians charged during the investigation currently before the courts and is scheduled to face a sentencing hearing on 23 February 2023.

Operation Veyda culminated in the AFP, with assistance from NSW Police, dismantling two interlinked crime syndicates operating across Australia, Dubai and the Netherlands involved in attempts to import large quantities of illegal narcotics and tobacco into Australia. A total of 19 Australians were charged as result of the investigation, and more than 1.9 tonnes of narcotics destined for Australian streets was seized.

Five Dutch nationals were arrested by the National Police of the Netherlands (NPN) for their roles in the syndicate.

Operation Veyda included assistance from the New South Wales Police Force, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Justice, the Dubai Public Prosecution Office, Dubai Police, the UAE Federal Customs Authority, Dubai Customs, the NPN, the National Public Prosecution Office of the Netherlands, Royal Thai Police and Hong Kong Customs and Excise, along with Australian Border Force, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney-General's Department.

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