A senior Australian Border Force (ABF) officer used insider access to hand over confidential border security information to a person with ties to the illegal tobacco trade, the anti-corruption watchdog has found.
Former ABF Special Operations Unit officer George Andreopoulos resigned in late 2020 after a police raid uncovered he had copied a classified report onto a USB and uploaded it to his personal iCloud account.
The investigation, known as Operation Young, began in May 2020 in response to allegations ABF staff were assisting criminal syndicates involved in the importation of illegal tobacco.
In a report released this month, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) detailed how Mr Andreopoulos accessed a classified intelligence brief, known as the Rattletrap report, which contained information about an illicit smuggling technique known as "swapsies".
Investigators found the file copied alongside two other classified law enforcement briefs.
The report went on to detail evidence of a series of coffee meetings during that time, including one where a witness alleged Mr Andreopoulos' "close family friend" discussed a new business venture involving illicit tobacco importation with a business associate.
The plan involved setting up "clean" corporate profiles to import items such as "plastic chairs" to gain the trust of customs officials, before using the "swapsies" method to smuggle in contraband, according to evidence cited by the NACC.
When confronted by investigators, Mr Andreopoulos failed to properly explain why the classified report was on his iCloud account and suggested it was for "learning purposes".
The NACC flatly rejected this defence, concluding that a "sinister explanation" was the most probable explanation of the circumstances.
After an extensive probe involving the NSW Police Force, Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, investigators did not find evidence that three border force officers directly assisted organised crime networks or facilitated imports.
The NACC instead found that Mr Andreopoulos had engaged in "abuse of office" by accessing prohibited information made available only through his position and improperly sharing it.
The watchdog was also highly critical of Mr Andreopoulos and two of his former ABF colleagues who failed to declare conflicts of interest in their proposed business start-ups in the technology and security sectors.
Reports detailing the former officers' alleged activities were first reported by the Nine newspapers in 2024.
In his findings, Commissioner Paul Brereton said he would refer evidence to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to consider potential criminal prosecution.
On Monday, AFP officials told a federal inquiry into the rapidly growing illicit tobacco trade that the destruction of illicit cigarettes and vapes was placing major pressure on security agencies.
Also appearing at the public hearing, the Illicit Tobacco and E-cigarette Commissioner said about $2.6 billion worth of illegal cigarettes have been seized since 2016.
Meanwhile, the ACT government claimed last month it seized nearly half a million cigarettes and about 26 kilograms of loose tobacco after planned raids of six shops around Canberra.
It came after this masthead reported tobacconists and "gift shops" across the city were openly selling black market cigarettes and vaping devices.
