Gabriel El-Cheikh: Sparky apprentice convicted of dealing cocaine, possessing weapons and dirty cash

A teenage dial-a-dealer has been busted with bags of cocaine hidden between his bum cheeks, as well as knives and piles of cash, when stopped by police in the eastern suburbs.

A teenage apprentice caught with drugs “concealed between the buttocks” looked in high spirits as he left court after being convicted of drug dealing, as well as possessing weapons and dirty cash.

In the words of Magistrate Ross Hudson, 19-year-old Gabriel El-Cheikh was “obviously intelligent”, but that intelligence didn’t follow him when he was caught with 4.8g of cocaine, thousands of dollars suspected to be from drug dealing and two knives in his car.

“A good kid with a bright future makes a foolish decision,” Mr Hudson said. “A story of yet another drug supply.”

According to facts tendered to Waverley Local Court, El-Cheikh was inside a Toyota Corolla near Bondi’s Hotel Ravesis about 5:40pm on June 6 when he was spotted by police officers targeting drug deals.

Police saw the car drive in a loop around Campbell Pde, to Hall St and back to the hotel, while another man went to an ATM and pulled out several hundred dollars in cash before entering and exiting the car.

Gabriel El-Cheikh was convicted of drug, crime money and drug possession charges

Two officers stopped the man at the hotel bathroom and found him in possession of two small clear resealable plastic bags of white powder. Other officers followed El-Cheikh — who was in the Corolla’s passenger seat — travel onto Hall St, before stopping the car.

“Police escorted the occupants from the vehicle and conducted a search of the accused, where a plastic bag was felt concealed in his pants between his buttocks,” the facts read. “Police asked the accused if he would remove the item, to which he agreed”.

Waverley Court heard El-Cheikh turned to drug dealing to ease a financial burden

El-Cheikh took out a small clear sandwich bag with the number ‘20’ written on it, which had five small clear resealable plastic bags containing white powder later confirmed to be cocaine.

Police searched the car and found a retractable sheaf knife in the driver’s side door, which El-Cheikh said he owned for self-defence, and a tactical boot knife in the centre console. They seized both weapons, along with $3650 in cash.

The court heard the electrical apprentice from Greenacre recently completed high school with an impressive Australian Tertiary Admissions rank of 87.2.

The magistrate said El-Cheikh’s mother was a primary school teacher and had a lot of responsibility with his family.

Magistrate Hudson told El-Cheikh to “wake up”

“He says he was providing for his family and his work became limited so to make up for the lack of shifts and downturn in employment he turned to drug supply. He said life became extremely stressful and he felt the burden to take care of his younger brother,” Mr Hudson said.

“He is now assisting his family with a second job that is legal. He says he has full remorse … and full accountability of his actions. He says he thought, immaturely, it was quick a way to get money”.

Addressing El-Cheikh, Magistrate Hudson said: “You are living off people’s misery by dealing drugs. It’s becoming normalised in the eastern suburbs. You just go to the vending machine to get your cocaine. You become involved based on financial stress. Wake up.”

El-Cheikh was convicted of supplying more than a small but less than an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug, dealing with proceeds of crime worth less than $100,000 and possessing or using a prohibited weapon without a permit.

He was sentenced to two community corrections orders with supervision — one for 12 months and one for 15 months — and was fined $550.