An overseas holiday was the first thing on Tony Mokbel's mind as he took his first few steps of freedom.
"That would be great, to get on a nice plane," the 60-year-old said on Friday morning, staring at the sky, after his last drug charge was withdrawn by prosecutors.
"I used to always dream of getting on a plane when I was in jail."
Mokbel faced a potential retrial until prosecutors decided it was not in the public interest to pursue him over the remaining incitement to import MDMA charge.
After nearly two decades in custody since his famous arrest in 2007 at an Athens cafe after he fled to Greece on a private yacht, and almost a year on bail, he said freedom was "beautiful".
"It feels really nice, and life goes on now," Mokbel told a media pack on the steps of the Supreme Court in Melbourne.
He admitted his "biggest mistake in life" was going to jail.
"I don't recommend it for no one," Mokbel said.
But asked whether he regretted drug trafficking, he replied: "I don't regret anything".
Mokbel was freed on bail in April 2025 with a $1 million surety by the Court of Appeal after the judges found he had a "very strong" appeal case.
He had to abide by 30 bail conditions including not leaving the Melbourne area, daily police reporting, a nightly curfew and at one point having to wear a GPS monitoring device.
That bail was discharged on Friday as prosecutor David Glynn announced the Director of Public Prosecution's decision not to order Mokbel face a fresh trial on his final charge.
The director reached his decision after "careful consideration" of Mokbel's conviction prospects, public interest in another trial, time spent behind bars, his age and health, the DPP said.
This included the fact there were no drugs imported in the case, likely ongoing delays to any retrial and the age of the alleged offending.
His remaining charge, known as the Orbital brief, related to alleged incitement to import 100kg of MDMA into Australia in 2005.
Mokbel fought a lengthy battle to overturn all of his drug trafficking convictions as he was represented by barrister-turned-informer Nicola Gobbo, also known as Lawyer X.
The Court of Appeal delivered a split decision in October on drug trafficking and importation convictions in three of his separate cases - Orbital, Magnum and Quills.
Mokbel was acquitted over Quills, ordered to face a retrial on Orbital but lost his appeal of the Magnum charges, the latter relating to his trafficking of 41kg methamphetamine between 2006 and 2007.
The appeal court in November sentenced him to time served - 13 years, seven months and 15 days - for the Magnum offending.
Mokbel declined to comment on whether he will seek compensation from the state of Victoria, as he left court a free man on Friday.
