McManus arrested in connection with drug smuggling operation

Australian Promoter Andrew McManus, who has toured Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, KISS and Lenny Kravitz, has been arrested over an alleged link with a drug syndicate. The 54-year-old McManus was arrested at Melbourne airport following the arrests of Sydney solicitor Michael Croke, convicted drug trafficker Craig Haeusler, US businessman Owen Hanson Junior, and Zeki Atilgan, owner of the Gaziantep Sweets & Pastry shop in Auburn. Music Network report that  the five men were detained in Australia and the US in connection with an alleged importation of 300 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico, via America, and money laundering charges. According to Fairfax, the international investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the NSW Organised Crime Squad and the Australian Crime Commission stemmed from the discovery of a suitcase filled with $702,000 cash at Sydney's Hilton Hotel in 2011. Police were called to the hotel after an anonymous tip-off who claimed a person in one of the Hilton’s rooms had a gun. Sean Carolan, who ran Advanced Peptide Solutions (a company which produces custom peptides) with Owen Hanson Junior, was the occupant of the room. McManus then claimed the cash was his own and that it had been brought in from New Zealand by numerous crew members before a Lenny Kravitz’s tour. McManus, who placed McManus Entertainment in voluntary administration in September 2013, was reportedly using the cash to repay Hanson who had leant him money to fund ZZ Top’s 2013 tour.