Calderwood man jailed for role in international drug importation ring
A Calderwood man has been sentenced to at least nine years in prison, after working as part of an organised criminal network responsible for the attempted importation of more than $1 million worth of illegal drugs.
A Calderwood man has been sentenced to at least nine years in prison after working as part of an organised criminal network responsible for the attempted importation of more than $1 million worth of illegal drugs.
Fadi El Jamal was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of nine years and eight months by Judge Andrew Haesler at Wollongong District Court on May 1, after pleading guilty to a charge that he attempted to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully controlled drug.
El Jamal was arrested more than two years ago at Sydney Airport on March 31, 2016, while trying to flee the country, just hours after he learnt there was a warrant out for his arrest.
The arrest followed a long investigation into a drug importation syndicate by both Australian and international police.
Over four days of evidence, the court heard about two attempts to import more than $1 million worth of methamphetamine and cocaine into Australia, which the Crown argued El Jamal had organised and facilitated.
In February 2016 the Australian Border Force intercepted a package from Abu Dhabi, addressed to a person by the name of ‘Christian Dallas’.
After opening the package, police found a clock with 643 grams of cocaine hidden inside it. The package was sent on to the Australian Federal Police, who used an undercover officer to deliver it to professional offices in Sydney at the direction of ‘Christian’, which the Crown argued was El Jamal.
However, El Jamal’s defence argued he pretended to be ‘Christian Dallas’ at the request of a man named “Tony”, who offered him drugs at a reduced cost if he did so.
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Later, in March 2016, Thai police intercepted a package bound for Australia, and seized over 3.7 kilograms of methamphetamine which was concealed inside shower heads.
The drugs were removed and the package forwarded to the Australian address with substituted contents. One of El Jamal’s co-accused, Nathan Stanford, picked up the boxes on March 31, and delivered them to El Jamal’s home, before taking them to the Novotel in North Wollongong where he was arrested by police.
The Crown argued El Jamal was the centre of the syndicate, involved in organising and facilitating the importation of the methamphetamine. However, El Jamal told the court he only got involved to help ‘Tony’ resolve matters with his “dangerous colleagues”. He said his only reward was the promise of discounted drugs, on which he was dependent, and that he did no more than facilitate delivery of the drugs.
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El Jamal told the court it was his drug use that caused him to “lose his moral compass” and that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
However, in handing down his sentence, Judge Haesler said while it wasn’t proven El Jamal ran the entire operation, he did take considerable steps to avoid detection.
“He sought to present himself as a person whose judgment was clouded by his PTSD and subsequent self medication with a cocktail of licit and illicit drugs,” Judge Haesler said.
“But El Jamal does not suggest he was so affected by drugs that his capacity to form an intention was reduced, or that drug use lessened his moral culpability.”
El Jamal bowed his head as Judge Haesler handed down his sentence on Wednesday.
Co-accused Nathan Stanford was sentenced earlier this year to seven-and-a-half years imprisonment with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half years.
Rhys Doherty, who was also involved in the syndicate will be sentenced in June.
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