Cocaine worth $170k left in middle of Sydney street amid police pursuit of dealer

Close to $170,000 worth of cocaine was left ripe for the taking in an unattended car in an area notorious for drug deals when a man fled from police in Sydney’s west.

Close to $170,000 worth of cocaine was left ripe for the taking in an unattended car in an area notorious for drug deals when a man ran away from police in Sydney’s west.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal two police officers pulled over 23-year-old Ahmed Kassem and found plastic bags containing white powder in his vehicle when he suddenly bolted from them along Old Kent Rd in Greenacre.

The two officers ran after Kassem but could not find him.

They returned to his car to discover 563g of cocaine, worth about $168,900 on the streets, which had been left sitting there for four minutes in an area known among police for drug purchasing.

The drugs were quickly seized by the officers.

Ahmed Kassem avoided jail over the cocaine.

Kassem, of Greenacre, handed himself in the following day at Bankstown police station after managing to give the officers the slip while on foot during the incident in September 2021, an agreed fact sheet tendered to Downing Centre District Court states.

The fact sheet, signed by Kassem’s legal team and prosecutors, asserts that nobody had been near the vehicle while the massive cache of cocaine was left sitting there.

“(One of the police officers) returned to the vehicle after approximately four minutes of the vehicle being unattended. The car appeared to be in the same state as police had left it and there were no persons in the vicinity of the vehicle when (the officer) returned,” the fact sheet states.

The document also stated: “The area is known to police as an area in which drug transactions occur”.

The officers also found $11,050 in cash in Kassem’s car.

He declined to be interviewed by officers when he handed himself in at Bankstown police station.

He was later charged with commercial drug supply and dealing with the property proceeds of crime over the cash.

Kassem pleaded guilty to the drug supply charge and his lesser charge was taken into account.

He faced court this month and Judge Gina O’Rourke sentenced him to a two-year intensive correction order, which is a prison sentence that can be served in the community.

As part of the order, Kassem must complete 400 hours of community work and obey a night-time curfew.

He must also not commit any other offences or he risks being put into jail.