The Ibrahim family has -- almost inevitably it seems -- been connected with the execution of Kings Cross 'identity' Todd O'Connor in 2008. The SMH reports on the trial of Hugo Jacobs, in which prosecutors infer the murder is connected with a web of events around the shooting of Fadi Ibrahim and his girlfriend, who are out on bail, accused of plotting the revenge murder of John Macris.
The lawyers paint a colourful picture of nightclubs and drugs, with the accused claiming he was meeting the murdered man to buy $20,000 of cocaine, but heard the shots as he approached the rendezvous in Tempe and fled. Todd O'Connor's ex-flatmate turned up to testify, watched from the gallery, according to prosecutors, by a large tattooed man they said was John Ibrahim's bodyguard.
It's all very murky but drugs and guns seem to be involved, so the trial can be seen to be a window into the underbelly created by the prohibition of drugs. But as usual, the whole drama is reported with no mention of the underlying cause of the problem, the War on Drugs.
Just as prohibition spawned the Al Capone gangster phenomenon in the 1920s, the War on Drugs has created our own underbelly of violence. And, similarly, only the repeal of prohibition will end the ugliness, damage and expense.
I blogged the original report on the murder in October 08 under the headline "Prohibition takes another life". But you won't see big media joining the dots in this way, leaving the general public in the dangerous ignorance that enables prohibition myths to keep their hold.
And while Police spend barrowloads of our tax dollars locking up one or two of the big players, they will have already been replaced because the illicit trade, fuelled by massive prohibition profits, goes on and will not stop. One more or less life lost means nothing to this giant money machine.
PS 26 07 10: The Jury in the Jacobs trial was unable to reach an absolute or majority decision, reports the SMH today. There will be a retrial.
Drugs are dangerous in more ways than one. Their is a whole culture that revolves around drugs. Guns, money, violence and crime are rivers that feed into the ocean that is drugs. The only way to stop these corrosive elements is to put up barriers against them. This includes recovery and treatment centers for drugs and alcohol. Thank you for reminding us that drugs affect all of society.
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