Police expect to make more arrests after grabbing three people accused of helping Tony Mokbel make his daring escape to Greece by sea after he jumped bail.
On the anniversary of the arrest of Australia's most wanted man, detectives have arrested three suspects they believe helped him flee the country.
This morning police searched three addresses in Burnside and Reservoir around 6am as part of Operation Magnum and arrested three people in connection with assisting Mokbel's escape.
A man and two women are being questioned at St Kilda Road police complex. One of the trio is a close associate of Mokbel, police allege, while the remaining two are relatives of the associate.
The 14-month operation targeted associates of Mokbel who allegedly used the proceeds of crime to assist Mokbel flee Australia while on bail facing charges of drug importation, police said.
Detective Inspector Bernie Edwards said they expect to soon arrest more of the 10 people believed to have helped Mokbel in his daring escape.
In a plot worthy of a James Bond thriller, Purana ganglands detectives have pieced together the movements of Mokbel from the time he jumped bail in Melbourne in 2006 until his arrest in Athens one year ago today.
They know that he spent about six months hiding at an associate's modest country property at Bonnie Doon near Eildon while his associates helped organised his escape overseas.
Police allege that his team bought an ocean going 57-foot yacht, named Edwena, in Newcastle and then had it shipped to Perth and finally to Geraldton - a distance of more than 4000 kilometres.
The yacht was then refitted with giant fuel tanks and a self righting mast. Police allege Mokbel's associates secretly imported a crew of Greek seaman to sail the yacht from the WA coast to Greece - a distance of more than 12,000 kilometres.
Detective Inspector Edwards said Mokbel left Australia on November 11, 2006, and arrived in Greece on Christmas Eve 2006.
Mokbel was arrested in an Athens coffee shop on June 5 last year.
After a protracted legal battle he was extradited back to Melbourne - arriving on a government leased luxury jet on May 17.
By John Silvester, Matthew Burgess, TheAge