James Bahmad, Ray Farah, Elias Boustani charged after cocaine bust
A suburban dad caught packing a pistol has admitted to his involvement in a scheme to import a commercial quantity of cocaine which was allegedly hidden in a generator before it was transported to an inner west address.
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An ill-fated scheme to import a commercial quantity of cocaine has left two men in jail and a suburban father staring down a potential prison term of his own.
Police sprung James Bahmad, 41, and his fellow conspirators after they imported cocaine allegedly hidden in a generator to a Croydon Park address in September 2018.
At Downing Centre District Court on October 16, the Maribyrnong man pleaded guilty to possessing a commercial quantity of cocaine and an unauthorised 9mm Beretta pistol.
However, Bahmad’s solicitor objects to the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions’ reliance on intercepted text messages which allegedly reveal Bahmad and his co-accused, Ray Farah and Elias Boustani, discussing the planned importation.
Senior federal prosecutor Sandra Lo told the court dozens of texts allegedly laid out the finer details of the trio’s failed plot.
“(We will allege) there were blocks of cocaine in photos being placed into the generator and discussions of how to transport it,” Ms Lo said.
Bahmad will face a sentencing hearing before Judge Dina Yehia at Downing Centre District Court at 2pm on March 24 next year.
Further details of the failed syndicate’s crimes will be revealed at Bahmad’s next court date, where issues about the alleged texts discussing the importation will also be resolved.
Farah and Boustani were previously convicted of possessing a commercial quantity of illegally imported cocaine and sentenced on May 7 by Judge Yehia at Downing Centre District Court.
Boustani was jailed for nine years and will serve a minimum non-parole period of five years, backdated to his initial arrest on October 11, 2018.
He will be eligible for parole on October 10, 2023.
Farah was sentenced to eight years and six months with a non-parole period of four years and nine months.
His sentence was also backdated to his arrest the same day, making him eligible for release on July 10, 2023.