True Crime: Gangsters

By Nicky Bianco

True Crime: Gangsters
For half a century, the American Mafia outwitted, outmaneuvered, and outgunned the FBI and other police agencies, wreaking unparalleled damages to America's social fabric and business enterprises while emerging as the nation's most formidable crime empire. This book amazes you with all the thrilling details. All the stories, incidents described are 100% real.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312000643

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True Crime: Gangsters

True Crime:

Gangsters

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Nicky Bianco

Copyrights 2014 Author

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-1-312-00064-3

Lulu edition, License notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The Rise and Fall of Australian Drug Lord Robert Trimbole

Junk is the ideal product... the ultimate merchandise. No sales talk necessary. The client will crawl through a sewer and beg to buy. - William S. Burroughs

How does a poor panel beater rise from the ashes of apparent bankruptcy to become one of the wealthiest and most notorious drug lords in Australias criminal history? By all accounts, fairly rapidly.

Robert Trimbole was born in Australia to Italian parents on March 19, 1931. He married Joan Quested in Sydney in 1952 and later moved to his parents house in Griffith, New South Wales.

Griffith is a thriving regional centre 342 miles southwest of Sydney and 270 miles north of Melbourne in an area known as the Riverina. Described by an early explorer as uninhabitable and useless to civilized man, it is now one of the most productive farming areas of Australia.

Once a semi-arid grazing area, the Riverina district was transformed into lush farmland when irrigation was introduced in the 19th century. In 1906, the area was further transformed when the government approved the construction of the Burrinjuck Dam and water catchment area.

The scope of the project attracted large numbers of construction workers, many of whom were of Italian descent. Several stayed on after the dam was completed to farm their own piece of newly irrigated land.

Many more Italian migrants were drawn to the area because the type of farming was very similar to that of their homeland. As they settled and prospered, they encouraged relatives and friends to join them. Soon a thriving, largely ethnic, community took shape.

With the advent of irrigation, two main types of farms became popular. Small horticultural farms of 10 to 20 acres producing citrus grapes, prunes, peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums, sprang up in profusion while larger mixed farms of 300 to 400 acres produced rice, winter cereals and vegetables, as well as providing rich grazing land for sheep and beef cattle production.

Trimbole and his new wife lived with his parents for seven months, before moving into a rented property where they raised their own family of four children. Trimbole later leased a garage next to his home and earned his living as a panel beater and spray painter.

The family moved to a Housing Commission home in 1959. Trimbole was always short of money, and even though the rent on the property was subsidized by the government, he was often struggling to pay it.

In 1968, he was declared bankrupt owing debts of $11,000. Shortly after, the repair shop mysteriously burned down destroying all his files and tax records.

Thereafter Trimbole allegedly earned his living repairing pinball machines and traveled the country extensively in this capacity.

By 1972, he had earned enough money to open a restaurant. With the license in his wifes name, The Texan Tavern opened for business with Trimbole as principal cook while his family handled everything else. Trimbole also opened a butcher shop, which, along with the restaurant, appeared to do well although some believe that they were both merely a front for drug dealing. Unlawful activities or not, Trimbole and family ran both businesses until 1973 when they were sold to Trimboles associate, Giuseppe Sergi.

From early 1973, Trimbole seemed to be doing very well for himself. He set up various companies in the names of friends and family members and was rumored to be making his money by growing and distributing marijuana.

His riches grew to the point where he was able to completely discharge his bankruptcy and build a large, conspicuous house, complete with swimming pool, in a good part of town. His alleged reputation as a drug baron had many locals referring to his house as the grass castle. Within months he had amassed an empire valued at over $2 million.

He quickly invested in farms, cars, speedboats, several clothing stores, a liquor store and a wholesale wine business. He later added a trucking company and a supermarket to his portfolio, and began to amass additional acreage allegedly used to grow even more marijuana.

He started transporting his illegal goods to Sydney where he forged alliances with known criminal organizations who were more than happy to distribute his product in exchange for a generous cut of the profits.

Before long he was the principal of the Griffith marijuana trade and was often called the Godfather. He was also known to have several local police officers on his payroll to notify him of any official interest in his activities and to warn him about any impending raids.

He was also a big gambler and often placed $20,000 bets at a time. He would later attempt to explain away his conspicuous drug-related income as race winnings.

Not content to bet fairly, he instigated a race-fixing scheme and enlisted the aid of race trainers and jockeys to help him pull off his scam.

This consisted of paying jockeys to pull their mounts just enough to give the Trimbole favored horse a winning edge. This edge was often provided by performance-enhancing drugs that were administered by trainers loyal to Trimbole.

The racing game not only gave Trimbole additional income, it also provided a much-needed method of legally laundering a percentage of his drug-related income. A racecourse is one of the few places where it is possible to move large amounts of money without attracting too much attention.

According to David Hickies book The Prince and the Premier, Trimboles betting accounts showed that he had come out about even after betting over $200,000 between 1976 and 1977. Hickies book also refers to a royal commission into drug trafficking, chaired by Justice Woodward, which later found that Trimbole had adopted a practice of favorite betting, coupled with each-way bets on comparatively short-priced horses. This would increase turnover, increase the number of dividend checks and aid in the representation that those dividends represented race winnings. Such a pattern of betting suggests that the objective was to turn over large sums of money.

While Trimbole went about his daily business virtually unchallenged, one local politician launched a campaign of his own against him.

Donald Bruce MacKay was born and raised in Griffith and managed the family furniture business. He had also been the districts Liberal Party candidate from 1973 to 1976, but failed to win a seat in parliament.

Very community-minded, Mackay became alarmed about the towns growing drug trade and set out to do something about it. He kept his eyes and ears open for any snippet of information.

Finally, in November 1975, he received word of a large marijuana crop near the town of Coleambally, 35 miles outside of Griffith.

Knowing that some of the local police were connected to Trimbole, Mackay took his information to the drug squad in Sydney. A raid was planned and carried out successfully, producing several arrests. Eventually five people of Italian descent were charged; four were convicted.

Unfortunately, during the trial a police notebook was sworn as evidence. While the information it contained wasnt that startling, it had serious consequences when its contents were read out in open court. The notes named Donald Mackay as the police informant responsible for the raid. Another raid had also been carried out in Euston near Griffith, which Mackay had no prior knowledge of, but police feared that he would be blamed for that as well.

The word filtered back to the Griffith drug gang. Several months later, an unidentified man tried to lure Mackay to the town of Jerilderie supposedly to order a large amount of furniture from him. That plan failed when Mackay was detained on another matter and sent an employee to the proposed meeting in his place. The mystery man did not materialize, but just weeks later on the evening of July 15, 1977, Donald Mackay disappeared from a hotel car park after having drinks with friends. He was never seen again.

An investigation of the scene where Mackays locked van was parked revealed blood stains, car keys and three spent .22 shell casings.

His disappearance sparked a public investigation that eventually led to a royal commission into the Griffith drug trade. Many believed that Robert Trimbole was responsible for ordering the hit.

The Woodward Royal Commission, named after its chairman, Justice Woodward, was formed and began the unenviable task of trying to unravel the truth about Mackays death, the Griffith illegal drug trade, and the men behind it.

After months of tough investigative work, the suspect list was whittled down to seven names, including Robert Trimbole, James Frederick Bazley (a known Melbourne underworld figure), and George Joseph and Gianfranco Tizzone, two associates of Trimbole.

In the official transcript Justice Woodward says, I have named Trimbole as being associated with the production of marijuana in Griffith as well as being the director of an operation in Euston he is, if not the top man in relation to the production of marijuana in the Griffith area, then one of them and closely associated with Antonio Sergi in the same enterprise. Sergi was one of Trimboles closest associates and business partners.

Regarding the disappearance of Mackay, Woodward found that the disposal of Mackay was the result of an organized plan He was disposed of by the organization which I find existed in Griffith I am satisfied that the appointment to meet Mackay at Jerilderie was part of a plan to ambush and dispose of him. A year later the New South Wales Supreme Court officially declared Donald Mackay as presumed deceased.

Despite the best efforts of the Royal commission, no further action was taken regarding the alleged murder of Donald Mackay. Trimbole and company returned to business as usual.

Following the findings of the Woodward royal commission, it took seven more years of political and media pressure before an official inquest into Donald Mackays death was held.

Opening the inquest before coroner Bruce Brown, David Shillington QC, acting on behalf of the crown, told the inquest that Gianfranco Tizzone had been interviewed by Detective Inspector Joseph Parrington in June 1983. During the record of interview, Tizzone allegedly told police that Trimbole had decided Mackay presented a threat to their operation and had to go. He also told Parrington that James Bazley had been hired to do the job for $10,000.

According to Tizzone, he had been approached by Trimbole in 1971, and asked to distribute marijuana in Victoria. He also told police that Tony Sergi and Tony Barbaro were responsible for cultivation and supply, while Trimbole looked after distribution. Tizzone agreed to work with the Griffith-based organization and became responsible for distribution throughout Victoria turning more than $1.5 million in sales per year.

Tizzone, nicknamed the songbird by police, told Parrington that Trimbole asked