Zouheir Bazzi: $300m Rockdale drugs, man, 70, faces court
A 70-year-old man has faced court after a massive Sydney drug bust in which police found $300m dollars worth of powder along with $10,000 in cash and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition.
Central Sydney
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A 70-year-old man has faced court after police uncovered more than a tonne of powders allegedly capable of making $300 million worth of meth.
Zouheir Bazzi was arrested at his Rockdale business on Thursday following a large scale police operation spanning several months.
Police will allege in court the elderly man supplied prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis from his business premises.
He faces seven charges including supplying a small amount of a prohibited drug, supplying drugs on an ongoing basis, drug possession and two counts of supplying more than a small amount but less than an indictable quantity of drugs.
Police have also laid a charge of possessing ammunition without a licence and dealing with the proceeds of crime, in relation to the cache of bullets and cash seized during the raid on Thursday.
A relaxed Bazzi appeared on screen in court on Friday where was formally refused bail and his matter was adjourned to the Downing Centre on June 22, when he is expected to apply for bail.
State Crime Commander Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said the 70-year-old man charged is known to police but did not elaborate.
He said he would also not rule out further arrests or further charges and said the drugs seized could have translated to more than 800,000 deals.
In January 2019, the State Crime Command’s Organised Crime Squad and the NSW Crime Commission established Strike Force Pirinari to investigate the importation, manufacture and supply of illicit drugs and precursors in NSW.
Acting on information from the NSW Police Force, Australian Border Force (ABF) officers targeted an air cargo consignment, which had arrived at a Sydney freight depot from South East Asia in February this year.
During a subsequent deconstruction of the consignment, it was found to contain about 400kg of methylamphetamine, which has an estimated potential street value of $300 million.
Strike force investigators seized the drugs and launched a joint investigation with the AFP with the assistance of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
Following extensive inquiries officers searched the Rockdale business at about 8.15am on Thursday (June 4).
They seized 1.1 tonnes of assorted powders, suspected to be precursors used in the manufacture of prohibited drugs.
The substances have the potential to yield 400kg of methylamphetamine.
Inside the roof cavity of the building, officers located and seized cocaine, cannabis, more than 1000 rounds of ammunition and in excess of $10,000 in cash.
State Crime Commander Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said the 70-year-old man charged is known to police but did not elaborate.
“The 70-year-old individual charged was previously known to police and obviously, the investigation is in its infancy,” Assistant Commissioner Smith said.
“I won’t rule out further arrests or further charges in the future.”
He said the air cargo consignment which allegedly contained the drugs had purported to be door handles.
“In terms of the precursors discovered, which were contained in a number of tubs, they were in various stages of preparation towards the manufacture of amphetamine,” he said.
“Whether or not that particular property was used to manufacture is one that the scientists will discover during a forensic analysis.”
He said the drug seizure could have translated to more than 800,000 deals, which was of significant concern to police.
“This further seizure of precursors is significant in nature, the size of which we haven’t seen in a long time,” he said
“In a very difficult time, in NSW following the bushfires and drought and the recent COVID-19 restrictions, it places a lot of stress on the state and some people will then attempt to make money from illicit gains.
“The damage (of illegal drugs) can’t be stated in terms of what it does to our community.”