Mohammed “Moe” Ayoubi: Sydney dad jailed over 55kg cocaine sting
The family of a suburban dad wept as he was taken down to the cells after being sentenced for his part in a plot to bring 190kg of cocaine into Australia.
Inner West
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The Sydney father snared in an international cocaine smuggling operation infiltrated by the AFP has been jailed for six years.
However, Mohammed “Moe” Ayouby could be a free man as early as August 2022.
Ayouby was enticed into the scheme by undercover federal agents who had intercepted a New Zealand-bound 190kg shipment of the drug labelled “bananas from Ecuador” originating from Panama in 2018.
The District Court heard at the time, Ayouby was in a downward spiral owing $10,000 in debts related to his own cocaine use.
His family gasped and wept in court as Judge Jennie Girdham sentenced him to six years and nine months in jail, with a non-parole period of three years and nine months.
However, he will be eligible for parole on August 14, 2022 as he initially pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug in the Local Court in 2019.
His business was going bust, the court was told, when he agreed with covert AFP operatives to drive 55kg of the drug when it arrived on Australian shores.
When federal police originally seized the massive haul, undercover agents began posing as the owners of the drug and looked for suitable buyers.
It was during this operation officers convinced Ayouby, from Alfords Point in Sydney’s south, to drive the cocaine stuffed in five black duffel bags in a van to Lakemba.
The seizure of the drug across the Tasman was the biggest haul of cocaine in New Zealand’s history.
The AFP had tipped off Kiwi customs officials about the importation after learning a local Australian gang was behind it.
The shipment had made its way into AFP hands after a three-month long international voyage, with the final destination being Sydney.
Officers had intercepted it and replaced the cocaine with a fake substance right on the final leg of the mammoth trip.
Ayouby – who was supported by family and lawyer Oussama Elfawal in court – had said he needed “a quick buck” at the time, according to a report read out in court.
Ayouby and wife Shianna’s social media were littered with glamorous pictures of the couple living the high-life at events like the Everest before his arrest.
Behind the scenes, the court heard, Ayouby was going through the emotional turmoil of watching his own son being sent to prison.
During his time on remand, the 42-year-old was allowed to dial in on speaker phone from jail while his wife gave birth not long after his arrest and was forced to remain behind bars when his mother passed away.
Ayouby will first be eligible for parole on August 14, 2022.
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