Freedom feels “beautiful” for one of Australia’s most notorious crime figures after his only remaining drug charge was withdrawn by prosecutors.
Tony Mokbel, 60, spent almost two decades in custody after his famous escape to Greece on a yacht before he was arrested at an Athens cafe in 2007.
A smiling Mokbel walked out of Melbourne’s Supreme Court on Friday as a free man after a lengthy battle to overturn his drug convictions in the aftermath of the Lawyer X scandal.
He said he was most looking forward to “going overseas, of course”.
“That would be great, to get on a nice plane. I used to always dream of getting on a plane when I was in jail,” Mokbel said.
“That’s probably the biggest mistake of my life … being in jail. I don’t recommend it for no one.”
He was asked if he planned to visit Greece and said “we’ll see how things flow”.
Mokbel was also questioned about whether he regretted drug trafficking.
“I don’t regret anything,” he replied, before he was followed by a media pack over the road to his lawyer’s office.
Appeal judges last year ordered he face a retrial over the remaining charge, which related to alleged incitement to import MDMA in 2005.
He had argued his drug convictions were tainted as he was represented by barrister-turned-informer Nicola Gobbo, known as Lawyer X.
The Court of Appeal delivered a split decision in October 2025 on drug trafficking and importation convictions in three of his separate cases – known as Orbital, Magnum and Quills.
Mokbel was acquitted over Quills, ordered to face a retrial on Orbital but lost his appeal on the Magnum brief, the latter relating to his trafficking of 41kg methamphetamine between 2006 and 2007.
The appeal court in November sentenced him to time served – 13 years, seven months and 15 days – for the Magnum offending.
Prosecutor David Glynn announced the final Orbital charge had been discontinued in brief hearing on Friday morning.
“On behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, I filed a discontinuance in relation to the one remaining charge on the indictment against Antonios Sajih Mokbel,” he told the court.
Judicial Registrar Timothy Freeman discharged Mokbel’s bail undertaking and told him “you are welcome to leave the dock”.
A DPP spokeswoman said the director reached his decision after “careful consideration of all aspects of the matter relevant to the prospects of conviction and the public interest in a retrial”.
This included “the fact that there was no actual importation”, likely ongoing delays to any retrial and the age of the alleged offending.
She said the director also took into account the likely sentence that would be imposed on Mokbel, given his age, health and the lengthy term of imprisonment already served.
Mokbel declined to comment on whether he will be seeking compensation from the state of Victoria for his time in prison.
TONY MOKBEL’S EARLY LIFE
* Born Antonios Sajih Mokbel in Kuwait to Lebanese parents in 1965, his family migrated to Australia when he was eight
* Grew up in poverty in Melbourne’s northern suburbs
* Started out working at his brother’s pizza shop as a teenager but within six years became the head of a multimillion-dollar drug empire
EARLY CONVICTIONS
* Early 1980s: Mokbel is convicted of a variety of offences including assaults, threats to kill, resisting arrest, possessing a gun
* 1992: Sentenced to 12 months in jail for trying to bribe a County Court judge
* 1998: Convicted for amphetamine manufacturing
ESCAPE TO GREECE, DRUG TRAFFICKING AND MURDER CHARGES
* March 2006: Mokbel disappears while on bail during a trial over the importation of 2kg of cocaine and is sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison, with a minimum of nine
* December 24, 2006: Mokbel arrives in Greece after fleeing Australia on a yacht – he hid in rural in Victoria for eight months before driving to WA to make his escape
* February 2007: Mokbel is charged over the 2004 murder of gangland patriarch Lewis Moran
* June 2007: He is arrested at a cafe in Athens and police apply to extradite him to Australia, later that month charged with a second murder – of kickboxer Michael Marshall in 2003
* 2009: The Marshall murder charge against Mokbel is dropped by prosecutors and a trial over the Lewis Moran murder begins, however a jury finds him not guilty
* 2011: Mokbel pleads guilty to two counts of trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs, and incitement to import a prohibited import – known as Quills, Magnum and Orbital charges, relating to MDMA and methamphetamine trafficking – with details of his former murder charges revealed after a suppression order is lifted
* 2012: He is jailed for drug trafficking for 30 years with a minimum non-parole period of 22 years
MOKBEL’S APPEALS
* 2017: Mokbel files his first application to appeal his drug convictions
* 2019: He is stabbed in Barwon Prison and taken to hospital suffering a brain injury, the same year his former barrister Nicola Gobbo is publicly outed as a Victoria Police informer
* 2020: Appeal court quashes Mokbel’s cocaine conviction, known as the Plutonium charge, after prosecutors concede there had been a miscarriage of justice due to him being represented by Ms Gobbo, his sentence and conviction are set aside and a retrial is ordered
* 2021: Prosecutors file a notice of discontinuance for the cocaine trafficking retrial
* 2023: Mokbel’s total sentence is revised by the appeal court from 30 years, minimum of 22, to 26 years with a non-parole of 20, for the three remaining drug trafficking charges
* 2024: NSW Judge Elizabeth Fullerton issues judgment ahead of his appeal of remaining drug trafficking charges, saying police and Ms Gobbo perverted the course of justice in a joint criminal enterprise to take Mokbel down
* April 1, 2025: Mokbel applies for appeal bail due to delays in his long-awaited Lawyer X legal challenge being heard, the strength of his case and his poor physical health in custody
* April 4, 2025: Three judges grant Mokbel bail, his first taste of freedom since his arrest in Greece 18 years before, which is secured by a $1 million surety put up by his sister and that he must abide by 30 conditions
* September 2, 2025: Mokbel’s appeal on his remaining drug trafficking charges begins in Melbourne
* October 3, 2025: Victoria’s Court of Appeal delivers a split decision on his three remaining charges. He was acquitted over the Quills charges, ordered to face retrial on Orbital and lost his appeal of the Magnum brief. His bail was extended
* December 19, 2025: Prosecutors slammed by Mokbel’s lawyer after asking for more time to decide whether Mokbel will face a re-trial on his remaining drug trafficking charge
* February 6, 2026: Mokbel walks from Victoria’s Supreme Court a free man after the Director of Public Prosecutions announces the last charges hanging over him have been withdrawn and he will not face another trial over the Lawyer X offending
Proudly Australian owned and operated
