Ali Reza Bahrami caught with 107 bags of drugs was runner for citywide ‘coke’ syndicate

An Afghani war refugee sentenced to prison for being a “cocaine runner” with a Sydney-wide drug syndicate after his arrest on the lower north shore has appealed in the District Court.

UPDATE

An Auburn man sentenced to 18 months jail for running more than 100 bags of cocaine across Sydney has successfully appealed his jail sentence.

Ali Reza Bazrami, 20, received the sentence, which carried a non-parole period of nine months, in Manly Local Court after he was arrested for supplying drugs on the lower north shore.

Bahrami appealed the severity of his sentence in Sydney District Court on Wednesday (July 28) before Judge Peter Whitford.

A somber Bahrami appeared before the court via videolink standing alongside his lawyer with his head bowed and hands clasped.

For his charge of supplying a prohibited drug in a quantity greater than small but smaller than indictable, his conviction was confirmed and Bahrami will instead serve his sentence in the community by way of a 12 month intensive correction order.

Convictions were also upheld for a second supply charge and a charge of dealing with the proceeds of crime.

 “Mr Bahrami if you fail to comply with the conditions of the order, sanctions may be imposed by the state parole authority,” Judge Whitford said.

“If the order is revoked, you may be ordered to serve all or some of your sentence.”

Bahrami was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, abstain from drugs and alcohol and submit to supervision by the Parramatta Community Corrections District Office.

EARLIER

A man caught with more than 100 bags of drugs was a “cocaine runner” for a citywide syndicate, a Sydney court has heard.

Ali Reza Bahrami, 20, of Auburn, was jailed by Manly Local Court after he was arrested on the lower north shore for supplying drugs.

The court heard he used a blue Toyota Corolla, with a hidden storage compartment in the boot opened by the car’s rear window demister switch, to deliver ‘coke’ to customers across the city.

Ali Reza Bahrami, 20, of Auburn, enters Manly Courthouse on Wednesday to face sentencing on cocaine charges. Picture: Jim O'Rourke

It was also told that Bahrami would pick up the cocaine from a another (white) Toyota Corolla parked by the side of the road — used by the syndicate to store “large quantities” of drugs — before making his deliveries.Bahrami, who lives with his Afghan war refugee family, was arrested at Neutral Bay on December 3 last year after police pulled over the blue Toyota he was driving.

After both Toyotas were seized, police found a total of 107 clear resealable plastic bags of cocaine.

In Manly Local Court on Wednesday, Bahrami was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Magistrate Mark Richardson set a non-parole period of nine months.He had pleaded guilty to three counts of supply prohibited drug and one count of deal with the proceeds of crime. Police said he had $1000 cash in his possession.

The court has been told that the unemployed Bahrami, who suffers with war-related issues including post traumatic stress syndrome, fled to Australia from Afghanistan with his family, on a fishing boat.

Ali Reza Bahrami, 20, of Auburn, enters Manly Courthouse on Wednesday to face sentencing on cocaine charges. Picture: Jim O'Rourke

In an Agreed Facts Sheet tendered to court police stated that they saw Bahrami enter the white Toyota Corolla, parked in Myrtle St, Kensington, on December 3 last year.

He then entered the blue Toyota and drove to Neutral Bay where he parked at a block of units in Watson St.

Bahrami was arrested after he left the car and found with two bags of coke in his possession.Police then seized both Toyotas and found a total of 105 bags of the drug.

In the statement of facts police stated that Bahrami was a “cocaine runner” using the blue Toyota to deliver cocaine “to customers across Sydney”.

“(The) syndicate was using the (white Corolla) to store large quantities of drugs safely to avoid having drug runners carry large amounts of drugs with them to deliveries when the risk of being detected by police is greater.”

Police said when they searched the blue Corolla they discovered a hidden compartment in the boot opened by the demister button.

They also found bags of cocaine stored inside the car’s petrol cap.After Bahrami was sentenced, his solicitor David Borg, who had previously told the court that his client had no criminal record and was suffering from physical and mental health issues associated with the war in Afghanistan, lodged an appeal against the severity of the sentence.It will be heard by the Sydney District Court later this year.

Magistrate Richardson released Bahrami on strict conditional bail including orders he not enter the eastern suburbs or Neutral Bay and report to his local police station each day.

Ali Reza Bahrami (left), 20, of Auburn, leaving Manly Courthouse on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to four cocaine supply charges. Picture: Manly Daily

Drug dealer busted with more than 100 bags of cocaine

On March 31, 2021

A man who was found with 140 bags of cocaine pleaded guilty to a string of drug supply charges in Manly Local Court on Wednesday.

Police say Ali Reza Bahrami, 20, of Auburn, is “heavily involved in drug distribution in our community”.

Mr Bahrami, who lives with his war refugee family, was arrested at Neutral Bay on December 3 last year after police pulled over the car he was driving.

The court has been told that the unemployed Mr Bahrami fled to Australia from Afghanistan with his family, on a fishing boat.

Ali Reza Bahrami (centre), 20, of Auburn, leaving Manly Courthouse on Wednesday with his lawyer. Picture: Manly Daily

He has pleaded guilty to three counts of supply prohibited drug and one count of deal with the proceeds of crime. Police said he had $1000 cash in his possession.

Mr Bahrami also pleaded guilty to an earlier charge of possess prohibited drug after he was arrested by police at Centennial Park on September 26 last year.

At an earlier court appearance on December 4, when Mr Bahrami applied for bail, police prosecutor Chris O’Brien said the accused had 140 individual, clear resealable bags of cocaine in his possession when he was arrested at Neutral Bay.

“We say he is heavily involved in the distribution of drugs in our community,” Sgt O’Brien said.

Mr Bahrami’s solicitor said at that December 4 court appearance that his client had no criminal record and was suffering from physical and mental health issues associated with the war in Afghanistan.

In a police facts sheet tendered to court in relation to the September 26 arrest at Centennial Park, police stated that when his car was pulled over by officers in Darley Rd they found “numerous different sized sandwich bags; scissors (and) empty SIM card packs” as well as $1300 in cash and messages on Mr Bahrami’s mobile phone from “WhatsApp”.

Police also found a clear resealable bag containing cocaine in the car’s “petrol hub”.

The facts sheet stated that Mr Bahrami said the drug was for his personal use.

Ali Reza Bahrami will be sentenced in Manly Local Court on May 19. Picture: Manly Daily

“I have had a hard life with my dad gone for 10 years, I suffer from depression and anxiety and I have been using cocaine for a while now,” he told police.

On Wednesday Mr Bahrami’s solicitor told Manly court that an agreed sets of facts in relation to the four drug supply charges still had to be “settled” prior to his client being sentenced.

Magistrate Bruce Williams adjourned all the matters for sentence in Manly Local Court on May 19.