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The Daily Telegraph can reveal that police believe Mr Standen and his co-accused Bill Jalalaty lost the money they were allegedly given as a pre-payment to set up the Australian end of the deal to manufacture $120 million worth of the drug ice.

"It`s an amazing story," Mr Rogerson, a disgraced detective whose exploits on the force were dramatised in the TV series Blue Murder, said last night.

According to a police intelligence report, the money was lent by a 10-man, one-woman criminal syndicate in the Netherlands to establish "business opportunities", but instead was gambled and lost in speculative investments.

As AFP agents from Operation Octans tracked the alleged drug conspirators for more than a year, they indirectly tapped into Sydney`s underworld.

Telephone taps and surveillance recorded Mr Rogerson and his friend Frank Wheeler, a former employee of the late standover men Tim Bristow and Michael "No Thumbs" Pestano, being approached to help find the lost $1 million investment.

Mr Standen, 51, assistant director of the NSW Crime Commission, and Mr Jalalaty, 45, a Sydney food wholesaler, were this week charged with conspiracy to import and supply a large quantity of drugs.

It is alleged they conspired to import ephedrine to manufacture the drug ice in Australia. The conspiracy allegedly took place between 9am on June 1, 2006, and 2.45pm on June 2, 2008, the time of their arrests.

Mr Wheeler told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Standen, who he knew through debt recovery work he had done with the NSW Crime Commission, contacted him in late 2006.

"He said I have a friend who has come to me and he`s lost $1million and there`s nothing I can do to help him," he said. He said he agreed that Mr Standen could pass on his number.

Mr Wheeler said he was contacted by Mr Jalalaty and they met in Sydney`s Doncaster Hotel and agreed to help him track down the money Mr Jalalaty told him he had given to someone to invest, expecting an interest rate of 15 per cent per month.

"He had stars in his eyes. He kept repeating that he was going to get back $2.4 million. This guy absconded with his money," Mr Wheeler said.

He said he believed Mr Jalalaty had been ripped off by a ``bird dog", people who target rich businessmen. Mr Wheeler said he has a signed document from the Australian man acknowledging the debt.

He said he traced the money to a UK commodities dealer and then to the Bahamas but Mr Jalalaty could not afford to pay him the $50,000 to "take the boys" and go there and collect it.

"I know who the guy is. Mark Standen knew about the $1 million," Mr Wheeler alleged.

He said he contacted Mr Rogerson to ask his opinion on what to do. "I never had any suspicion that it may have been drug money. If I had thought that, I would have let the authorities know," Mr Wheeler said.

Mr Rogerson said he had no idea so much money was involved and had thought it was about $100,000.

"I have known Frank for years. Frank spoke to me about it and said he was trying to locate someone to speak to about getting the money back for this guy," Mr Rogerson said. "That`s it in a nutshell. I had nothing to do with it."

In 2004, Mr Wheeler was involved in the attempted eviction of the Nam family from a farm near Wellington in the state`s central west. He was then working for Mr Pestano. The Nams claimed they were threatened and Tim Nam shot Mr Pestano dead.

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