Australian Drug Kingpin Fugitive Anthony Sitar Has Been Hiding in Mexico

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Anthony Sitar is an Australian fugitive who is a global drug kingpin working with a Mexican cartel, as well as the Comanchero, and Lone Wolf bikies in Australia. The AFP has a warrant for his arrest on criminal charges relating to his involvement in a large 2011 meth and cocaine shipment. Interpol created a Red Notice for him in 2012.

Anthony Sitar, 43, left Australia in 2011, the day he was to be arrested, his passport was not used for him to leave the country. The Australian Federal Police recently released a photo, allegedly sent by Sitar, that shows a tourist area with a large mural in the background. This provided a lead on his current location over a decade later, Mexico.

The photo Anthony Sitar sent as a private message has provided details of his life in a coastal city in Mexico popular with tourists and ex-pats. Most notably, the picture includes a distinctive mural in the background. Australian authorities have requested help from the public to identify the mural and the location of the picture.

The photo is heavily censored and pixelated. This appears to be due to children being in the photo. If these kids belong to Sitar, it is likely they were born in Mexico or elsewhere as Sitar fled Australia over 12 years ago.

The AFP also released an aged-progressed image of Anthony Sitar, revealing how he might look today. He is believed to be living under an assumed name in Mexico. He is said to have brokered major cocaine and methamphetamine drug deals worth over A$1 billion, on behalf of Australian organized crime groups while living in Mexico.

Beer Bottle Bust

The outstanding arrest warrant in Australia for Anthony Sitar is for his alleged role in importing 134 kilos of methamphetamine and 14 kilos of cocaine into Melbourne from Mexico in 2011. The shipment was worth around A$300 million ($200,000,000 USD). 13 firearms were also seized during the operation. The drugs were concealed in beer bottles.

Authorities checked a shipment of 672 boxes of Cucapa beer imported from Mexico and found traces of cocaine and methamphetamine. Authorities filled 1,100 similar bottles with water before attaching fresh Mexican beer labels to them. Listening devices were then hidden in the boxes. Sitar and Franze then arranged for the boxes to be stored at a property in Sunshine leased by an employee of Sitar's.

Australian Federal Police had the property under surveillance, and the co-conspirators became suspicious. They dumped the van in which they transported the beer in Toorak Road, South Yarra, and checked into an apartment in Brighton.

By this time, the co-conspirators were becoming increasingly convinced they were under surveillance, and when police finally arrested Erol Ramazanoglu at the Yarraville property, he was caught on the listening devices trying to pour the beer down a drain.

Sitar’s alleged co-conspirators Adrian Franze, 31, a property developer and then co-owner of the Chapel Street Destino Latin Bar, and Erol Ramazanoglu were arrested in October 2011. Police say that Sitar and Franze were directors of the company nominated as consignees of the container that hid the drug shipment. 

Franze handed himself into the Australian Federal Police the next day, while Sitar fled. Sitar went on the run after police raided the Chapel Street bar he co-owned with Franze, which was allegedly used as a front for drug importation. An arrest was issued, and having fled Australia, Interpol issued a Red Notice for him the following year in 2012.

At a bail hearing for the co-conspirators in March 2012, police said that Ramazanoglu had tried to swallow a piece of paper with a handwritten ‘‘to do’’ list before Australian Federal Police members removed it from his mouth as they were arresting him.

It was alleged that the note was written by Franze and included instructions to Ramazanoglu about deconstructing the imported consignment, disposing of packaging arrangements...and for Franze’s wife and pet to be cared for in his possible absence. The note mentioned his dog, his wife's Mercedes Benz, and "passport ideas??" which police contended concerned an attempt to obtain false passports.

Adrian Franze was sentenced to 17 years in jail, with a minimum of 13 years, for his role in importing the bottles, Erol had pleaded guilty to similar charges.

Bikie Connections

Living under assumed names did not appear to stop Sitar from brokering more drug deals, in fact, he became a key link between Mexican Cartels and Australian outlaw bikies such as the Comanchero and Lone Wolf motorcycle clubs. 

The Comancheros are one of the oldest bikie clubs founded in Australia by William "Jock" Ross in 1968. The club has endured shootouts with rivals from the Bandidos and Hells Angels over the years, including the Milperra Massacre in 1984. This shootout was the climax of an internal split to form the first chapter of the Bandidos in Australia. One of the key reasons for this relationship was that P2P, a precursor chemical for producing methamphetamine, was still legal in Australia.

In the last several years have emerged as key players in importing large amounts of drugs into Australia, most notably under the direction of "Aussie Cartel" and Comanchero President Mark Buddle, who prior to his arrest and extradition from Dubai, was looking to fix prices of cocaine and charge importation taxes on other criminal groups.

The Lone Wolf motorcycle club was founded not long after, in 1971. Over the years, various arrests for drugs, weapons, and street brawls have occurred, most notably for altercations with their rival Rebels MC. In 2022, the head of Lone Wolf MC, Erkan “Eric the Wolf" Keskin, was found dead in Turkey. He had fled Australia two years earlier following a large indictment for drug trafficking. He had maintained control over the club from Turkey (many members had dual citizenship) and was said to have been worth over A$50 million. He was a former Turkish soldier, believed to be behind at least five murders in Sydney over the past several years.

Sources AFP, Crime Stoppers, News.com.au, Interpol, The Age, The Age, 1% Bikers, AH Val News