AFL legend Mark 'Bomber' Thompson has reportedly been spotted boarding an overseas flight to the United States, days after he was arrested as part of a Victoria Police drug trafficking investigation.
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Photographs taken at Auckland Airport and obtained by Fox Sports, reportedly show the premiership coach, with an Essendon backpack, as he boards a flight to Los Angeles on Monday evening after a brief stop in the city.
Mark Thompson heads overseas: https://t.co/oeImDOpZJb??? Tom Morris (@tommorris32) January 15, 2018
Thompson's Port Melbourne renovated warehouse was raided at 9.30am on January 5.
Police confirmed the 54-year-old from Port Melbourne was arrested and released last Tuesday "pending further enquiries".
Thompson is believed to have taken an Air New Zealand flight from Tullamarine on Monday afternoon before he boarded another flight due to arrive in Los Angeles about 8am on Tuesday, Fox Sports reported.
It is not known why or for how long Thompson is visiting the US.
It is also not clear how Thompson is allegedly connected to the police investigation.
The police involved in the search at Thompson's home were from the Southern Metro and Geelong divisional response units, who are broadly tasked to investigate property crime and illegal drug activity.
It was later revealed that two men allegeded to be involved in the drug trafficking operation that prompted the police raid at Thompson's home, have links to outlaw bikie gangs.
Karl "Bang Bang" Holt and Thomas Windsor were charged with trafficking a drug of dependence, after raids in Geelong and Port Melbourne.
Both have links to bikies in the Geelong region, sources say.
The pair are heavily tattooed. Mr Holt has tatoos of a gun and the words "bang bang", his nickname, on his hands.
Mr Holt, 31, from Lara, and Mr Windsor, 28, from Port Melbourne, were both remanded in custody.
A 22-year-old woman from Mill Park was also charged with trafficking a drug of dependence.
It is understood the charges related to various substances. They have been remanded to face Geelong Magistrates' Court at later dates.
Thompson led the Cats to premierships in 2007 and 2009 but quit the club in 2010 to join Essendon, the club he had once captained, as a senior assistant to James Hird.
He became embroiled in the supplements saga that led to 34 past and present Essendon players being suspended for the 2016 season.
Thompson was fined $30,000 for his role in the scandal, one which had seen him replace a suspended Hird as coach in 2014 but later lose any interest in the sport.
He revealed last year the saga had made him "bitter and twisted" and contributed to the breakdown of his marriage.
-With Tammy Mills, Nino Bucci and Patrick Bartley
