Anmar Hermiz, Chris Zahariadis, Hung Quoc Nguyen, Van Vinh Tang face court

Four Sydney men wrapped up in a major drug empire pushing heroin, coke and MDMA across Sydney’s suburbs are facing the prospect of life behind bars after an AFP bust.

A multimillion-dollar drug empire that saw huge amounts of heroin, MDMA and cocaine ferried around Sydney came crashing down when one of the men was convinced by a mate to deal drugs after beers at the pub.

The four Sydney men involved in the syndicate lured into the city’s drug trade are facing the possibility of life behind bars after the AFP infiltrated their operation last year.

One of the men, Hung Quoc Nguyen, giving evidence in the District Court on Tuesday, said he delivered drugs to a hotel after having a drink with a mate at “the bistro” in Canley Vale.

It was there, the court heard, he was introduced by his friend to a man who offered him $1000 for the delivery.

“When I sat down (in the hotel room) the male unpacked the drugs onto the bed and took a photo of it,” Nguyen said.

“One minute later I got arrested.”

All four have entered guilty pleas. Picture: NSW Police

Nguyen, who admitted on the stand he had a drug problem himself, described his actions as a “moment of weakness” due to him owing debts to his friends and family.

Crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale suggested to Nguyen either he, or his mates, were using an encrypted Cipha phone with the handle “chasing bread” in the days before his arrest.

However, his barrister Greg Goold told the court the agreed facts did not sufficiently prove he was “chasing bread”, who had been talking with an undercover police officer in a group chat prior to the crime’s commission.

Anmar Hermiz’s barrister Avni Djemal argued the Kearns man, who in one instance threw a bag full of drugs into the car of a buyer, was just a courier and did not use the Cipha network to communicate with the group.

The court heard Hermiz, 28, arrived in Australia as a refugee and his drug problems stemmed from trauma he suffered as a child.

Both men have pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs, with Hermiz also pleading guilty to making a false declaration for material benefit.

The 4kg MDMA haul linked to Hermiz was worth close to $1 million on the street and was nearly nine times the amount classified as a “large commercial quantity”.

He was one of six people arrested last June when a joint undercover operation by the AFP, the NSW Crime Commission and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission came crashing down on the group.

Police made the arrests under Strike Force Alverton. Picture: NSW Police

Christopher Zahariadis, now 23, was arrested some five months from the day his barrister Daniel McMahon told the court he became involved in the plot.

Zahariadis stood to gain a measly $2000 for his role in the drug plot as a delivery driver.

The court heard the Bexley man was a cleanskin from a good family before this fateful misstep landed him behind bars on remand, where he has remained since the day of his arrest in July 2020.

“When you look at his lack of record, the development of executive function in males of his age, in the absence of any ongoing offending from the delivery up to his arrest, one could categorise the decision to become involved for a relatively modest sum of money as an impulsive one,” Mr McMahon told the court.

“These are factors that might explain why a young man with no record and a good family might have made the utterly foolish decision to become involved in the supply of a large commercial quantity of drugs for $2000.”

The judgement will take place on December 14. Picture: NSW Police

Zahariadis has also pleaded guilty to large commercial drug supply and the court will consider additional offences, including drug possession, weapon possession and having suspected stolen goods in custody on sentence.

“He felt sick at the time he agreed to it, and at the time of the offence he wanted to pull out immediately,” Mr McMahon told the court.

“He did not because he was scared and felt trapped by the potential ramifications of doing so.”

The court will hear submissions on the involvement of co-offender Vang Vinh Tang, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of large commercial drug supply, greater than indictable drug supply and drug possession, at Sydney District Court later this week.

Judge Nicole Noman will give her judgment and sentence for all four offenders on December 14 at the same court.