FORMER detective Roger Rogerson is playing a cat-and-mouse game with NSW detectives who have flown to Brisbane to question him about the disappearance and murder of Jamie Gao.

Two of the state’s most experienced detectives, Detective Inspector Mick Sheehy and Detective Inspector Russell Oxford, touched down in Queensland early this afternoon to begin the search for Rogerson, 73.

He is known to have an extensive network of friends and former NSW police in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast who he has stayed within the past.

It is believed that Rogerson has not personally contacted police but has been in touch with them through an intermediary.

Sheehy and Oxford have both recently moved from the homicide squad to the elite Robbery and Serious Crime squad.

They have been working on the case since just hours after Mr Gao, 20, was reported missing last Tuesday.

WARNING: Graphic images below

The body was wrapped in a blue tarpaulin and was scooped up by police about 9am.

Former Kings Cross detective Glen McNamara has been charged with the murder of Mr Gao, 20, from Hurstville.

Police believe Mr Gao was kidnapped and allegedly murdered after attending a mystery meeting on Arab Rd, Padstow last Tuesday.

Police also impounded the car McNamara was driving when he was arrested on Sunday afternoon.

Police this morning said they believed the meeting was a drug deal gone wrong and that Mr Gao had shown up with a quantity of drugs.

The UTS student was last seen getting into a white car after talking to two men.

Police confirmed today they were also investigating a body found floating off Cronulla’s Shelly Beach.

“We believe there was a drug transaction. Mr Gao had drugs with him when he went to the other car,” police said today.

Police said they had seized three kilograms of methamphetamine from a white car.

A known associate of Rogerson, McNamara was arrested at 6.30pm last night after a car stop in Kyeemagh.

The 55-year-old Cronulla man was charged at St George Police Station by the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad with murder and large commercial drug supply.

McNamara did not apply for bail during a short appearance in Kogarah Local Court.

His lawyer asked his client be placed in protective custody which was granted by magistrate Christine Haskett.

McNamara appeared in the dock in glasses, a black t-shirt, blue jeans and brown suede boots.

He smiled at a small group of supporters believed to be his family.

The case was adjourned to Central Local Court on July 22.

Police executed a search warrant at McNamara’s residence in Cronulla, seizing a blue Ford Falcon XR6 and a number of other items of interest to investigators.

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Officers also executed search warrants at Rogerson’s Padstow Heights home, seizing a silver Ford Falcon motor vehicle, and a storage unit in Caringbah, where they seized a boat.

A third car, a white Ford Falcon, has also been seized from a location in Cronulla.

Detectives believe this is the vehicle Mr Gao got into on Arab Rd last Tuesday.

Police are still trying to locate 73-year-old Rogerson, who is believed to be in Queensland.

Rogerson was not answering telephone calls last night.

2UE reported its news team had spoken to Rogerson’s wife Anne. She said Rogerson spoke to police about 8pm last night and denied any involvement in Mr Gao’s disappearance.

Robbery and Serious Crime Squad commander Det-Supt Luke Moore said the investigation by Strike Force Album would continue.

“Our inquiries to date have led us to conclude that Mr Gao has been murdered,” Det-Supt Moore said.

“While we have charged a man with murder, this investigation will continue and we may make further arrests.

“We still don’t know where Mr Gao’s body is and are strongly encouraging anyone who can help us locate his remains to contact police.”

Det-Supt Moore said police still wanted to talk to the two Asian males seen with Mr Gao.

Police believe they know where Mr Gao was murdered.

McNamara’s lawyer Charles Moschoudis said last night he was unable to comment on the matter.

“I would like to help but I really can’t,’’ he said.

“It might be better if you speak to the police.’’

University student Jamie Gao had been talking excitedly for days about the mystery meeting, which police now believe led to his kidnapping and murder.

Family and friends said the 20-year-old was vague about what the meeting was about except that it was of great significance­ to him. “Jamie told friends the meeting was really important, was excited about it but wouldn’t say much else,’’ Robbery­ and Serious Crime Squad head Detective Superintendent Luke Moore said yesterday. “And when he talked to friends he indicated he would be seeing them later in the day.’’

The Hurstville resident was last seen getting into a white car on Arab Rd, Padstow, near a McDonald’s about 1.40pm last Tuesday after chatting to two men.

“What that meeting was about, we don’t know,’’ Supt Moore said.

He has not been heard from since and his phone, keys and wallet were found near his white Nissan Silvia sedan, which was abandoned in Stuart­ St, Padstow, on the afternoon of that mysterious meeting.

There was nothing in Mr Gao’s background to suggest he was involved in drugs or any other criminal activity.

“But that is not to say he may not have gotten involved in something way above his head,’’ Supt Moore said.

At first police treated Mr Gao’s disappearance as a possible kidnapping for ransom but released details after the investigation led them to believe the motive was related to something else.

Police established there had not been any contact with family members and that Mr Gao’s family did not seem to have the sort of money normally­ associated with ransoms.

His mother, a Hurstville business owner who was on an overseas holidays at the time, has flown back from Hong Kong to Sydney. “Jamie is an only child and his mother is extremely distraught.”

Mr Gao was born in Sydney and was completing a business degree at the University of Technology, where he was a capable and good student.

Police investigations of friends, family and associates paint a picture of a fairly normal young man who didn’t have lots of money or a lavish lifestyle.

Friend Jessica Yun said on social media: “He hasn’t contacted us or anything, me and my friends are worried sick.”

At the same time the then cop Roger Rogerson was putting criminals behind bars, he was a willing participant in many of the crimes.

After chalking up 13 bravery awards in the ’80s, his world quickly fell apart and he was jailed for a number of offences in the 1990s. In 2005 he and his wife were convicted of lying in 2005 to the Police Integrity Commission in 1999. He served another year in jail.