While Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran face death by firing squad the alleged mastermine of the the ‘Bali Nine’ drug smuggling plot is living in the height of luxury according to a special Fairfax Investigation.

A man police suspect was a mastermind of the failed drug importation attempt is living a life of luxury in Sydney 

The man’s lavish lifestyle is funded by a multimillion-dollar lottery pay out, which he won about the time the two young Australians were being sentenced to death.

Former senior police sources said the man has previously been the subject of police drug trafficking investigations. He is believed to have halted his criminal activities after he quite literally won the lottery.

He is described in police intelligence reports as being suspected of high-level involvement in the syndicate that supplied the drugs carried by the Bali Nine mules. The syndicate is likely to have previously imported drugs into Australia.

The extraordinary luck of the man underlines the rarely spoken reality of drug busts: those arrested are usually mid- to low-level players. More senior syndicate members ensure they are not hands-on and continue to traffic drugs once a courier or shore-party is arrested.

You can read Michael Bachelard’s full article on the Sydney Morning Herald website