Jail for drug squad cop for falsifying DNA evidence in trafficking case

He later pleaded guilty to drug trafficking after his DNA was found on the gloves. He was jailed for at least seven years for selling drugs via the dark web and sending them to customers in the post, concealed inside items such as children’s toys.

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Cahill said at the time of the search warrant that Thai, Elkadi’s girlfriend, was registered as a tenant of the same property but was not home when police executed their search warrant.

The court heard that a month after Elkadi agreed to plead guilty, police arrested Thai in June 2020.

Following her police interview, Thai voluntarily gave detectives a sample of her DNA before being released without charge.

The court heard that Symes had been a detective senior constable working in Victoria Police’s major drug squad unit and became the investigation’s lead informant.

In the months after the drug bust, Symes was directed to submit Thai’s DNA sample to the forensics department and the envelopes for handwriting comparison.

“You told your sergeant that the analysis was in progress; however, you never submitted [them],” Cahill said.

Sometime between late 2021 and mid-2022, Symes then forged an electronic copy of Thai’s DNA results to state that her DNA matched the gloves.

The detective also doctored a handwriting analysis, which he’d been provided during an earlier investigation, to say the express-post samples matched Thai.

In July 2022, Thai was rearrested. During the police interview, Symes told the single mother that police had forensic material that implicated her in the drug trafficking operation.

Thai was later charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in jail, and remanded in custody ahead of a court hearing later that day.

There, Cahill said, Symes lied and said DNA and handwriting analyses linked Thai to the crime scene. He later included the false forensic statements in the brief of evidence, which was sent to the Office of Public Prosecutions and Thai’s lawyer.

“In the cover email to the OPP you wrote that [the forensic officer] had examined 10 envelopes for handwriting comparison. That was untrue,” Cahill said.

When Thai’s legal team applied to cross-examine the forensic experts in court, Cahill said Symes then lied to Thai’s solicitor, telling them he could not locate the DNA expert and offered to proceed with lesser charges against Thai.

Soon after, the handwriting expert identified the document as a forgery.

Symes was arrested at his home on the same day and the charges against Thai were withdrawn.

“[During the search warrant] police seized your Victoria Police work laptop that contained the metadata of the two statements that you had fabricated,” Cahill said.

“By your guilty plea, you admit by fabricating two expert witness statements, including references to them in a remand summary, including them in the brief of evidence and making false representations to an OPP solicitor.

“The consequences of your offending is very serious. You charged [Thai] with drug offences which exposed her to a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.“

Cahill said that it was only through the actions of Thai’s legal representatives and the OPP that Symes’ misconduct was uncovered.

“Police officers exercise considerable power over members of the public. By acting contrary to your sworn duty to uphold the law, you seriously abused that power,” Cahill said.

Symes was charged with misconduct in public office in December 2023.

The court heard Symes joined Victoria Police in 2009 and spent the first five years working on the frontline before being promoted into investigative positions.

Cahill noted this frontline work saw Symes confronted with distressing deaths, suicides, bushfire victims and SIDS cases, the effects of which he did not seek treatment for until after his arrest.

In April 2023, The Age exclusively revealed details of the case to the public for the first time.

At the time, Victoria Police was scrutinising the potential for wider fallout and faces a financial hit in the tens of thousands of dollars after notifying defence lawyers it would pay legal costs for Thai, who had been accused of being a major player in an international dark-web drug syndicate.

Thai has since taken civil actions against Victoria Police.

Symes was sentenced to three years’ jail with a non-parole period of 18 months. He was supported in court by his wife who has returned to work to support their two young children.