A feared gangster known as ‘Cross’ has been running a multi-million dollar crime empire from behind bars.
Despite being caged in one of Australia’s toughest jails, George Marrogi was still able to mastermind a $50 million drug trafficking operation.
He was aided in his drug business by ‘cleanskin’ girlfriend Antonietta Mannella , who pretended to be his lawyer to help him move a massive drug shipment.
Marrogi has been a thorn in the side of Melbourne detectives for much of his 33 years of life, most of which he has spent behind bars.
Last year, he was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria to a total of 32 years in jail over the cold blooded public execution of a drug rival.
But jail has not seemed to have stop Marrogi from taunting police from within.
George Marrogi, 33, was the mastermind of a $50 million drug deal from behind bars
Charity worker Antonietta Mannella has pleaded guilty to helping Marrogi run his business from jail
It can be revealed Marrogi hosted rapper BBG Smokey at his family compound while caged within Victoria’s Barwon Prison.
The Melbourne rapper is seen performing while surrounded by the gangster’s fleet of luxury vehicles, including a $300,000 Lamborghini Huracan.
Marrogi’s brother Jesse also features in the video and can be identified by the words ‘f**k the law’ tattooed across his torso.
Most of the cars featured in the video, including two Jeeps, a gold-plated Harley-Davidson and the Lamborghini, have either been confiscated by the authorities under proceeds of crime laws or sold off as police tightened their grip on Marrogi’s gang, the Herald Sun reported.
Rapper BBG Smokey (left) parties with wads of digital cash with a fleet of vehicles believed to be owned by George Marrogi before they were confiscated by police
George Marrogi’s brother Jesse (pictured) features in a music video with Melbourne rapper BBG Smokey
On Tuesday, Marrogi was back before a judge after being caught in a hairbrain scheme to traffic massive quantities of drugs.
The latest venture by the Notorious Crime Family syndicate has resulted in the jailing of a once law abiding charity worker, who now faces life in jail.
Mannella, 28, of Mickleham, has pleaded guilty to helping Marrogi run his business from Barwon.
The County Court of Victoria heard Mannella had been the best friend of his dead sister when she inexplicably hooked-up with the jailbird.
Until then, Mannella had lived a faultless life and had previously handed out food to the homeless on Melbourne’s streets for a charity established in memory of Marrogi’s sister Meshilin, who died from complications related to Covid-19.
George Marrogi’s brother Jesse has been linked to Nabil ‘Mad Lebo’ Maghnie’s daughter Sabrine (pictured).
George Marrogi in happier times. He will spend most of his life behind bars
The court heard Mannella and some of Marrogi’s cohorts attempted to move 800 litres of the drug Butanediol from South Australia to Victoria.
Marrogi and Mannella have pleaded guilty to attempting to traffic a large commercial quantity of illicit drugs.
The $50 million plan had hinged on a brazen scheme that saw Mannella pose as Marrogi’s lawyer.
While all prisoner phone calls are monitored and recorded by Corrections Victoria, the pair banked on a well known exemption that allows unmonitored calls with legal personal, which are regarded as privileged.
In circumstances that were not explained, the court heard a phone used by a real lawyer representing Marrogi diverted to Mannella whenever the crook rang it.
Mannella would answer the phone by impersonating ‘Cassidy’ in a poor attempt to throw off prison snoops.
The pair would then speak in code as they went about organising the movement of four 200-litre drums of Butanediol – the key ingredient in gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.
The court heard Marrogi was able to convince a man who owed him cash to organise the shipment, which revolved around a 71-year old truck driver driving the drums across the border into Melbourne.
The elderly driver was picked-up by police as he drove into Horsham in Victoria’s west.
The mission had been doomed from the start.
The court heard Australian Federal Police had Mannella’s phone tapped and had listened to every conversation she had with the crime boss.
Antonietta Mannella after her arrest by federal police last year
Antonietta Mannella helps out a charity operated by the Marrogi clan
Antonietta Mannella pretended to be a lawyer to help George Marrogi attempt to deal drugs
The court heard Mannella would use code words such as ‘kittens’ to describe drugs, ‘kalbeh’ – a Maltese word for dog – to describe police and ‘Touttz’ to describe herself.
‘Melasecca, Kelly & Zayler, this is Cassidy speaking,’ Mannella would answer, the court heard, in an attempt to impersonate the law firm’s then receptionist.
News of the shipment’s seizure was delivered to Marrogi by former Melbourne drug lord Tony Mokbel, who had been caged in the same area as him.
Mannella later described the bust as ‘just bad luck’.
On April 22 last year, Mannella’s run of bad luck continued as federal police arrested her at her home.
She was later paraded for the cameras by federal police as they escorted her into the police station.
Mannella refused to talk, with Marrogi later attempting to take the blame for his girlfriend’s role in the bungled drug deal.
Marrogi, who was born in Iraq and migrated to Australia in 1996, has already spent most of his life behind bars, having been sentenced to a minimum of six years for manslaughter as a youth.
He had been charged with murder after he got involved in a wild brawl in 2005 in which he stabbed and killed a man.
The Marrogi clan: Jesse, Meshlin, mum Madlin and George
On release he continued to offend and was later jailed for arson.
Five months later he would be charged with murder for a second time – this time it would stick.
In total, Marrogi has spent 15 of last the 16 years behind bars, missing his own sister’s funeral during the pandemic.
Ors, 24, had been lured to a meeting with Marrogi unaware that his number was about to be punched.
CCTV captured from a carpark in Campbellfield, 13km north of Melbourne, showed Marrogi stalking his prey, who was accompanied by two mates.
The court heard Marrogi chased down Ors, ignoring his friends altogether, before catching up with him outside an Officeworks.
Marrogi shot his terrified victim seven times, hitting him in the back, leg, hip and buttocks.
After blasting Ors, Marrogi made a wild escape from the scene as two of the dead man’s mates pursued him in another vehicle.
While Marrogi escaped the chaos, police found the empty box of the bullets in the abandoned Commodore which Marrogi had sprayed all over Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
The gunman had also left his DNA on the box and the car was quickly linked directly back to a childhood mate of Marrogi.
A third jury, who sat through a 16-day trial, would have no doubt it was Marrogi behind Ors’ murder.
Judge Peter Rozen will sentence Marrogi and Mannella next month.
DailyMail
