Cocaine ‘runner’ led cops to alleged $1.8b syndicate

[Pelican Press 0]

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******** ‘runner’ led cops to alleged $1.8b syndicate

A man whose arrest led police to uncover a major group allegedly controlling Sydney’s lucrative ******** market was only the “bottom of the tree” in a larger syndicate, his lawyer says.

Khalid Hassan Mohamed is facing a string of charges including commercial ***** supply, dealing with the proceeds of ****** and participating in a ********* group after allegedly being caught with millions of dollars worth of ********.

But the 21-year-old’s lawyer told a NSW Supreme Court bail hearing on Friday the young man was only alleged to have been acting as a “runner” for a wider group, which investigators say has dominated the city’s supply of the *****.

“A runner and at the bottom of the tree, if I can put it that way,” barrister Ben Barrack said.

Following investigations that stemmed from Mohamed’s arrest in July, NSW Police say they uncovered the ********* network known as “The Commission”.

The group is allegedly to have supplied over $1.8 billion worth of ******** across Sydney in just four months, effectively dictating prices in the city by manipulating the market.

A further five people were arrested in raids across the city on Wednesday, during which officers seized 20kg of ******** found in a bag thrown over a fence.

With the number of co-accused involved and likely large body of evidence, Mr Barrack said he did not foresee the case going to trial for several years.

He asked the court to release Mohamed on bail so that during that time he can address his addiction to drugs.

“Drugs are readily available in jail, he’s a young man, his addiction will become entrenched,” Mr Barrack said.

But Justice Belinda Rigg said she could not accept Mohamed had an addiction based only on evidence from his sister.

“I don’t regard that as strong evidence,” she said.

“It’s a suspicion of ***** usage. The only direct evidence is some smelling of weed.”

The court was told Mohamed’s aunt was willing to offer a $100,000 surety for his release.

Mr Barrack asked for more time to prepare his submissions on the matter and withdrew the application for bail to a later date.

Earlier, the court was told there was a strong prosecution case in relation to the 12kg of ******** Mohamed was allegedly caught with.

But his lawyer argued other charges stemming from text messages on a phone seized during the arrest would be much ******* to prove.

If the phone had been seized in Mohamed’s possession, all that could be proven was that he had it on that day and possibly only for a number of hours, Mr Barrack said.

“Phones used within ********* networks are passed from hand to hand,” he said.

“The messages contained on that phone could relate to the applicant or could relate to other people using that phone at any given ******* of time.”

The matter will return to court later in September.

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