Ronaldo Zammit, Hekmat Zreika plead guilty to drug supply charges
Police phone intercepts have not only brought two dealers to their knees but also revealed the fascinating inner workings of their drug syndicate. From rotas and commission to squabbling over hours and submitting expenses, this is what life is like inside a Sydney drug gang.
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The infighting and menial annoyances of a job in an elaborate drug syndicate have been unveiled through the phone intercepts of two mid-level suppliers, who now face potential prison time.
Court documents reveal, Ronaldo Zammit, 28, who has pleaded guilty to commercial drug supply, managed the phone line people would call to place cocaine orders.
He would then direct drivers around, including colleague and co-accused Hekmat Zreika, 23, who was in the car delivering the orders.
In a sentence hearing this month, a crown prosecutor told the Sydney District Court that telephone intercepts, over one month of police surveillance in July to August 2019, picked up much more about the drug operation than they “usually” would.
At the beginning of one of his three regular weekday shifts, Zreika, from Guildford, would attend Zammit’s Yagoona apartment and collect 30 bags of cocaine.
If he sold all the drugs, he would meet Zammit for a resupply.
If not, they would meet again at the end of the day and Zammit would count the money and weigh the leftover drugs.
Zreika was paid $30 for each bag of cocaine he sold, returning the rest to Zammit and those higher up in the syndicate.
Zreika was responsible for organising a rental car and motel rooms to store excess bags of cocaine, both of which he would be reimbursed for by the syndicate.
The motel rooms would “minimise the amount he would have on him at any given time”, court documents state.
The syndicate ranked their clients – preferred clients would pay $250 for a bag while other customers would pay $300.
A man named “Victor” would sometimes take Zammit’s place, and Zreika disliked how he “was making changes to the business practices that worked against (his) interests”.
“Victor was the source of a great deal of Mr Zreika’s frustration,” police facts read.
In one call, Zreika complained to an unknown friend that “Victor” was making him work until 10pm for a single extra supply.
In intercepted phone calls, Zreika complained also that he was being given less cocaine to move, about 50 bags less, which meant he was making less money, and that “supervisors” calculating the amount of cash he paid them after each shift were taking more than they were “meant to”.
“Alex” was the man “sitting directly above” Zammit and “Victor” in the syndicate.
Zreika often considered whether he should complain to “Alex” directly about “Victor” and others.
In telephone calls, Zreika would use a code to let others know how much he sold in the day.
“16 dollars” meant he had sold 16 bags of cocaine that day.
Between July 2 and 25, Zreika sold at least 164.45 grams of cocaine – a charge he has pleaded guilty to.
On July 19, Zammit covered a shift Zreika refused to take and made 12 drug deals totalling 9.1 grams of cocaine.
A few times over the month of police surveillance, Zreika was pulled over by police after having met with Zammit, but nothing was found.
Zreika had told friends he was worried “how police knew to search him” and about a “suspicious car that he saw following him and his concern that it was the police”, according to police facts.
On July 18, police officers following Zreika “see him driving somewhat erratically in an effort to throw off any person attempting to follow him”, before leaving his vehicle on the side of the road.
Later that day, he threw a plastic bag full of 36 smaller bags (23.5 grams) of white powder on the road near the lights before police searched his car again and came up empty.
Police arrested Zreika on August 8, 2019, when they followed him into the St Peters Ibis Hotel car park, witnessed him kneel down and take something out from underneath his vehicle to place in his pocket.
When police searched him they found 41 resealable bags or 28.5 grams of cocaine in his left pocket.
He told police he had found the drugs under the rental car while filling it with petrol.
About an hour later, at 1.25pm, police searched Zammit’s home and found 449 resealable bags of cocaine and a total of 315.23 grams of cocaine, which he has now pleaded guilty to.
They also found scales and glucosamine, a substance used to “bulk out” cocaine.
On Zammit’s person they found $1600 cash and 6.73 grams of cocaine.
He claimed he had found the 10 bags of cocaine on him in the bushes outside his apartment and denied any knowledge of the cocaine found in the house.
Zammit, in custody, and Zreika, on bail, both pleaded guilty to supply drugs on an ongoing basis.
They return to court for sentence on September 18.