Adam Sakr denied bail for alleged 73kg drug supply

Police allege a man ran across a six-lane motorway after being pulled over by cops with 27kg of drugs in a box in the back seat and 280g of cocaine in his pants.

Police allege a man ran across the six-lane M5 when cops pulled him over with $9.2m worth of drugs in the back seat.

Adam Sakr, 24, applied for bail at Burwood Local Court this week charged with the supply of 73kg of illegal drugs in the NSW southwest and southwest Sydney.

M5 at River Rd intersection. Picture: Google Maps

On July 9, police allege co-accused Jesse Robson, 23, drove Sakr in a Toyota Camry along River Rd at Milperra.

A court previously heard Robson, who is from the Central Coast along with Sakr, was a former Australian soldier who was medically discharged after serving seven months overseas in 2019.

Images from the arrest of the men. Picture: NSW Police

The Camry was followed in convoy by a white Mercedes, which police say was manoeuvring in a way to stop the Highway Patrol pulling them over, a court previously heard.

When police eventually stopped the car, they were told the men they were heading to a waterproofing job.

During the arrest, Sakr is alleged to have sprinted from the car and crossed six lanes of traffic in an attempt to evade police.

In a box in the back seat, police allege there was 17kg of cocaine and 8kg of methamphetamine.

Some of the drugs seized. Picture: NSW Police

Hidden in Sakr’s pants was 280g of cocaine, the court heard.

Sakr’s lawyer AJ Karim said with no surveillance footage, text messages or forensic evidence that his client had touched the drugs in the box, the prosecution could not prove he knew how much the package weighed.

In these matters, the prosecution must prove Sakr knew the quantity of the drugs was a large commercial quantity, the court heard.

Mr Karim also said, despite the drugs in the back seat, a “rational explanation” for why Sakr ran across the motorway was that he had 280g of cocaine on him, which is still considered a commercial quantity.

The court heard the car itself did not belong to Sakr, which Mr Karim said was “critical … evidence”.

Drugs seized as part of Organised Crime Squad Strike Force Garlow investigation. Picture: NSW Police

Yet the prosecution called their case “overwhelming” and said there were fingerprints on some drug packaging and some encrypted messages linked to another man, which appeared to implicate Sakr in some organised activity.

The prosecution called him a “key player and organiser of this syndicate”.

For the July 9 arrest, Sakr was charged with two counts of supplying a large commercial quantity of a drug, one count of supplying a large quantity of a drug, knowingly dealing with $4720 and escaping police custody.

Drugs seized in the operation. Picture: NSW Police

Sakr is also charged with four counts of supplying a large commercial quantity of prohibited drugs on June 1 in the town of Hay, relating to 30kg of methylamphetamine, 11kg of MDMA, 4kg of cocaine and 2kg of heroin.

Magistrate Rebecca Hosking denied him bail saying he had not shown why his detention was unjustified.

Robson is charged with two counts of supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.

Both men will return to court on October 2.