Adrian Moussa: Alleged Merrylands drug dealer granted bail
The parents of an alleged western Sydney drug dealer have put up their $800k home to get their son out on bail from a Covid-infested prison.
Parramatta
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A western Sydney man accused of running a dial-a-dealer cocaine ring during lockdown has been released on bail after his parents put up the family home to secure his freedom.
Adrian Moussa, 28, is alleged to have been the mastermind of an operation that saw more than $185,000 of MDMA taken off the streets and luxury watches seized by police after investigators swarmed on the group.
Merrylands man Moussa, his barrister told the Supreme Court last week, could not be identified as the main man behind an alleged “runner phone” used by the group because multiple people had access to it.
The Crown prosecutor argued police were also able to identify Moussa through telephone intercepts and physical surveillance of him and three others charged as part of the drug bust.
Moussa has been stuck inside the Covid-plagued Bathurst Correctional Centre since his arrest in July and had to remain in isolation while his lawyer argued for his release on bail in the Supreme Court.
The group are alleged by police to have run their dial-a-dealer syndicate from the Sutherland Shire in the face of a growing Covid outbreak and flouted the greater Sydney lockdown to ferry drugs to customers.
They have all been charged with a string of serious drug offences as well as breaching the public health order.
As part of sweeping police raids that netted Moussa and his co-accused, officers say they seized more than $100,000 in cash, four Rolex watches and two extendible batons.
His defence team argued keeping Moussa on remand in prison put him more at risk of mental health issues and that his diagnosed sleep apnoea could not be treated from within the walls of a correctional centre.
Justice Richard Beech-Jones last week granted him bail after he agreed to strict conditions and to have his family home worth $800,000 put up as a surety.
Moussa cannot access WhatsApp, Confide, Snapchat, Wickr or Hushmail as well as any other encrypted messaging services.
His case was adjourned and will be heard again in the Local Court later this year.
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