Further trial delays for alleged Bandidos as Hobart judge issues warrants
Two arrest warrants were issued in Hobart’s Supreme Court for two alleged Bandidos members, more than four years after a gang squad raid in Dover.
Tasmania
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A Hobart judge has issued arrest warrants for two associates of an alleged Bandidos bikie boss after failing to appear for their Monday court date.
Fahed and Tracy Elniz, both 48, and Nicholas Samuel Jordan, 25, were ordered to appear before Justice Stephen Estcourt in the Supreme Court of Tasmania for another hearing prior to a trial relating to their 2020 arrest.
More than 60 officers from the Tasmanian Police, Australian Federal Police and the National Anti-Gang Squad swarmed a Dover property in June 2020 as part of a six-month investigation into the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle club.
All three have been charged with conspiracy to traffick.
Mr and Mrs Elniz were also initially charged with drug trafficking, and Mr Elniz charged with a number of other charges including supporting a criminal organisation and making misleading statements about his assets.
However, the Director of Public Prosecutions did not proceed with those charges.
Only Mr Jordan, who remains on bail, appeared at the rear of the court on Monday, despite both Mr and Ms Elniz being ordered to turn up to the court date.
Mr Elniz – an alleged high-ranking Bandidos member – had sent a medical certificate to the court for a “back injury” as an explanation for his absence, which Justice Estcourt soon dismissed as “not enough”.
Ms Elniz had asked to appear via phone, where it was discovered she had recently been arrested for trafficking in New South Wales and was under a strict corrections order that included a curfew and restriction on travel out of NSW.
Justice Estcourt ordered a warrant for both Mr and Ms Elniz’s arrest, stating that a trial needed to begin on the matters before the court.
Ms Elniz is expected to be appear before a NSW court before being extradited back to Tasmania.
The case has been subject to a number of delays, with two previous trial dates set for this year and in 2023 being adjourned.
The trio will appear in the Supreme Court of Tasmania at a later date.
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