New photos allegedly reveal how man used payphones in alleged drug smuggling conspiracy with ABF worker

“Together we’ll conquer the world. You can be my queen.” These are the words police allege an organised crime figure spoke to an Australian Border Force employee as part of a plot to smuggle cocaine across the border. A week earlier he had allegedly told her: “This time next year you’re going to be f**king flying … you’ll have wings”. The bold proclamations paint a starkly different picture to images of the pair being led away in handcuffs just a month later, with new photos capturing the surprising way they allegedly communicated about the plot. Cosmo Commisso, 67, is accused of conspiring with ABF employee Rita Gargiulo, 51, to get a 6.9kg parcel of cocaine through an ABF examination and into the country. Mr Commisso, alleged to be an organised crime figure in court documents seen by NewsWire, gave Ms Gargiulo cash, jewellery and designer accessories, which police allege was in exchange for information on how to get drugs through the border. Police allege this information included advice on concealing items for an importation venture. The pair used burner phones for their “clandestine” communications over nine months, prosecutors previously told a court. The AFP alleges Mr Commisso would use payphones to instruct Ms Gargiulo to use her burner phone, with court documents revealing images of Mr Commisso standing at phone booths in Cabramatta and Mt Pritchard. It’s alleged he was speaking to Ms Gargiulo, whom he had professed his love for, according to transcripts of recordings from some of their calls. He told her she sounded “so f**king sexy on the phone”, and “I love you with all my heart”, the transcripts state. Mr Commisso also allegedly sent her photos of items he had bought her, including luxury bags and jewellery. According to the transcripts, tendered to the court, he asked her if she wore high heels, with Ms Gargiulo replying “only, you know for occasions”. “Sexy occasions. You put the lingerie on,” Mr Commisso replied. Ms Gargiulo at one stage allegedly messaged a third person, saying “this guy … wants to spend every cent he has got on me”. “He’s like you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” one text read, according to court documents, with the other person responding: “Well tell him to buy me a freaking BMW or something coz I don’t wanna drive the Volvo and I feel like buying a BMW.” “Look you know he literally would do almost anything for me if I asked him,” Ms Gargiulo wrote, according to court documents. She later wrote of how Mr Commisso had made a “huge difference” in her life and how she would be “struggling” without him. A month before their arrest Ms Gargiulo allegedly told Mr Commisso that meeting him would be her “downfall” and that she would start to be watched more carefully. “Don’t be f**king stupid … I won’t let it happen,” Mr Commisso allegedly said. He also allegedly joked about bringing her a cake with a file in it if she were to be jailed, assuring her “don’t worry baby nothing will happen to you” but that she needed to “watch it at work now”. They were both arrested weeks later on March 11. While Ms Gargiulo declined a digital record of interview with police, Mr Commisso agreed and told officers that he had met the woman through her brother and she “could get anything cleared”. Mr Commisso told police that he had met her about a dozen times and gave her gifts like face cream and gift cards, claiming his involvement was to be a “messenger” for information from Ms Gargiulo to people he did not know. Ms Gargiulo was last week granted strict conditional bail, with her written submissions for the application arguing prosecutors were pushing a “wholly circumstantial theory” that she knowingly assisted an organised crime figure to import drugs. Suggestions that gifts from Mr Commisso were for any corrupt purpose were also rejected. “They document a relationship in which Mr Commisso showers Ms Gargiulo and her household with gifts that speak more to courtship, flattery and family need than to any quid pro quo,” the document stated. Mr Commisso was also granted strict bail after prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that he could be killed if released and therefore may not show up at his next court appearance. “All bikie gangs has (sic) put a threat against me through my family,” his protective custody declaration from March stated. A court was told during his bail hearing that he suffered from several health conditions and had complained that he was not receiving access to all his medications in prison. An affidavit tendered in court described his wife’s stress about her husband’s medical needs. “I am petrified of something happening to him whilst he is in custody … I am watching my husband slip away each week I visit him,” she wrote. Both Ms Gargiulo and Mr Commisso have been ordered not to contact each other as per their bail conditions, nor two other alleged co-offenders Daniel Nuumaalii and Ali Riza Eren. All four are yet to enter pleas over their alleged roles in the drug importation.