NSW drug offences: The men, women named and shamed in 2020
From international syndicate lords to crims trying to make a quick buck, these are the drug offenders named and shamed in 2020.
North Shore
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Drug dealers and suppliers of illicit drugs are continuing to up the ante in a bid to ply their trade in streets and suburbs across NSW.
In the past 12 months, the state’s courtrooms have heard details of the weird and woeful ways drug activities are operating in local neighbourhoods with cases ranging from elaborate street dealing operations to drugs smuggled into Australia stashed inside industrial meat mincers.
Latest Bureau of Crime statistics show 14,122 people were sentenced in NSW for drug offences in the 12 months to September 2020 with a further 10,312 people kept on remand ahead of further court proceedings.
News Local takes a look at some of those convicted for serious drug offences in 2020 and how the law finally caught up with them.
ROBERT MELHEM
A former high-profile businessman and one-time Manly Sea Eagles sponsor was sentenced last year for his role in a major drug operation.
Robert “Robbie” Melhem was convicted of supplying large commercial quantities of drugs including 2987.7g of cocaine, 4976g of ephedrine and 5kg of pseudoephedrine following his arrest in an undercover police operation in 2017.
In his prime, Melhem made millions as the co-founder of telco OneFone as well as sponsoring the Manly NRL team.
His fall from grace culminated in him being caught trying to strike a massive drug deal with an undercover cop including the supply of 2kg of cocaine, along with 5kg of pseudoephedrine.
Mr Melhem’s lawyer told the sentencing hearing his incarceration “represented a massive fall from grace” from his past position as a successful businessman and that his “cocaine use became a habit” which “led on to criminal conduct of a very serious degree.”
Melhem was jailed for 10 years with a non-parole period of six years and three months.
FULL STORY HERE
BENJAMIN GORDON ZAUBZER
A former male model who dealt more than 30 litres of the drug liquid fantasy to undercover police from his mum’s home was jailed for at least five years in 2020.
Benjamin Gordon Zaubzer was convicted of seven charges including commercial drug supply after police raided his western Sydney home after a month-long undercover police investigation in 2019.
The court heard Zaubzer dealt 33kg of the drug GBL, commonly known as liquid fantasy, to undercover cops from 2018 to 2019, along with MDMA.
Zaubzer’s lawyer said his client showed a degree of “naivety” in the offending and he acted as the frontman for a larger drug supply ring which he fell into after being injured in a car accident.
Zaubzer pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced in May to a maximum of nine years’ jail, with a non-parole period of five years and four months. He will be eligible for parole in September 2024.
FULL STORY HERE
MICHAEL IBRAHIM
Underworld kingpin Michael Ibrahim was sentenced to at least 18 years behind bars for his
role in a million-dollar international drug smuggling operation.
Ibrahim – the brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim – was convicted of eight charges in May 2020 including conspiring to import nearly two tonnes of MDMA, 136 kilograms of cocaine and 15kg of ice into Australia as part of an operation extending to the United Arab Emirates and Europe.
In court, Ibrahim said he was a victim of “entrapment”, claiming he was spurred on by an undercover cop who promised him of a way of illegally importing goods into Australia undetected.
But the judge in the case found Ibrahim embraced the opportunity and “was not a reluctant or unwilling participant … or naive.”
The court heard at one stage Ibrahim flew to the Netherlands to collect a sample of drugs, and later ran money laundering operations with black market tobacco imports before his arrest in August 2017.
Ibrahim was sentenced to a maximum 30 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years. He will be eligible for parole in August 2035.
FULL STORY HERE
DARREN MOHR
Former Bondi cafe owner Darren Mohr was sentenced to 32 years in prison for trying to smuggle half a tonne of cocaine on fishing boats into Australia from Chile.
Mohr was sentenced to a maximum 32 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 18 years in July after being convicted of conspiring to import a commercial quantity of drugs.
His foiled plot included organising a vessel to sail from the Sydney Fish Market into international waters to collect $150 million worth of drugs from a South American “mother ship” in October 2016.
Mohr stood to make $5 million from the importation until police moved in on the ship in waters off the Central Coast.
The judge in the case said Mohr was seeking a “faster and more glamorous road to riches” in his “desire for power, prestige and authority” and found his participation in the plot included travelling to Thailand and Chile.
Mohr – who broke down in tears during the sentencing hearing – will be eligible for parole in 2038.
FULL STORY HERE
FATIH ADALIS
A western Sydney man who pleaded guilty to importing more than 350kg of MDMA inside industrial meat mincers was sentenced to nine years in prison last year.
Fatih Adalis was convicted of importing a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs after police discovered 371.91kg of ecstasy stashed inside four mincers that arrived from Istanbul, Turkey in 2018.
The court heard the plot came undone when Australian Border Force officers observed an anomaly within the shipment with testing showing the mincers were hollow and did not contain an engine or mechanisms for powering them.
Police removed the drugs from the mincers, replaced the packages in two of the four mincers, and then tracked the shipment’s movements to a factory in Sydney’s west before arresting Adalis in October 2018.
The judge in the case found evidence of Adalis’ “debilitating” cocaine habit, particularly in the six months leading up to his arrest, had fuelled his choice to engage in importing the drugs.
Adalis was sentenced to nine years in prison with a non-parole period of four years and six months.
FULL STORY HERE
DAVID OGNENOVSKI
Illawarra man David Ognenovski supplied more than 600 grams of cocaine to street-level dealers before he was arrested as part of undercover police operation in 2019.
Ognenovski pleaded guilty to supplying commercial quantities of prohibited drugs including MDMA and cocaine following an investigation revealing he supplied drugs to two syndicates in the Illawarra region.
The court heard Ognenovski came under the notice of a police strike force and was captured on surveillance preparing drugs for supply, counting cash and discussing the sourcing and supply of the drugs for profit.
The court heard Ognenovski was recorded supplying a total of 637g of cocaine and the judge in the case described his actions as “unsophisticated” and fuelled by greed.
Ognenovski was sentenced to seven years and three months jail, with a non-parole period of four years and three months.
FULL STORY HERE
MATTHEW SHANE PEARCE
A notorious Newcastle drug kingpin who imported and sold cocaine and a substance called butanediol was jailed for at least five years in 2020.
Matthew Shane Pearce was sentenced in October after pleading guilty to supplying large commercial quantities of prohibited drugs, and importing border-controlled drugs.
The court heard Pearce was the “principal” of a drug syndicate which operated during 2018 and imported drugs including butanediol – which can be used as a party drug similar to GHB.
He also imported ketamine as well as cocaine from the UK and the butanediol from China. The drugs were smuggled into Australia via various post office boxes.
The judge in the case dismissed Pearce’s “ludicrous” claim he was unaware the butanediol substance could be used as a party drug.
Pearce, who was arrested in December 2018, was sentenced to eight years in prison with a non-parole of five years. He will be eligible for parole in December 2024.
FULL STORY HERE
KORAY KUROZ
A former motivational speaker who supplied large amounts of MDMA in Sydney will spend at least three years in prison.
Turramurra man Koray Kuroz was sentenced in September last year for supplying MDMA on multiple occasions during 2016 in weights including 280g, 280g, 140g and 13g.
Kuroz was found guilty of offences including conspiracy to supply large commercial quantities of prohibited drugs, and supplying commercial quantities of prohibited drugs.
The judge in the case slammed Kuroz’s involvement in large-scale drug supply labelling it “a pernicious activity” which harmed the community.
Kuroz – a former personal development coach – told the court he wanted to use his time behind bars to help improve the wellbeing of other inmates.
He was sentenced to six years in prison with a non-parole period of three years. He will be eligible for parole in 2023.
FULL STORY HERE
JORDAN FINLAYSON
Former reality TV star Jordan Finlayson was sentenced to more than four years in prison for peddling drugs including heroin and GBL.
Finlayson – who appeared on TV show Beauty and the Geek – was arrested in 2019 after dealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of drugs to an undercover police officer in Sydney while she was on parole for less serious drug offences.
During one deal, Finlayson assured a cop “the gear’s mad” before handing him more than $1000 worth of heroin wrapped in her bail reporting paper.
The judge in the case found Finlayson had been spending $5000 per week funding her own drug habit, saying she was “disgusted by her behaviour”.
Finlayson was sentenced in April last year to four years and three months in prison, with a non-parole period of two years and three months for the ongoing supply of heroin and ice and the commercial supply of GBL.
FULL STORY HERE
OMAR FAWAZ MAHFOUZ
A man who ran a drug supply ring out of his family home in Bankstown was sentenced to at least two and a half years in prison in 2020.
Mahfouz pleaded guilty to supplying drugs on an ongoing basis and taking part in supplying an indictable amount of a prohibited drug after he was arrested in March 2019.
The court heard Mahfouz supplied 236g of cocaine to a drug runner, while intercepted phone calls also revealed he made arrangements to deliver 80 bags of cocaine which would be sold on the street by a taxi driver as well as delivering money to a courier.
Mahfouz was sentenced to four years and two months jail, with a non-parole period of two and a half years. He will be eligible for parole in September this year.
FULL STORY HERE
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