Court agrees to relax bail conditions for accused drug trafficker Nedal Haouchar

Nedal Haouchar, brother of alleged drug kingpin Bilal, secured a win in court on Thursday as he sought to have his bail conditions relaxed.

Accused drug trafficker Nedal Haouchar (left) tries to avoid being photographed outside Downing Centre Local Court in January. Picture: Julian Andrews

Accused drug dealer Nedal Haouchar has notched up an early win in his criminal court case after a judge agreed to wind back strict house arrest style bail conditions.

The married father, who is the brother of alleged international crime boss Bilal Haouchar, was arrested at Sydney Airport last November – on a one-way ticket to Asia – over allegations he was one of the chief “onshore facilitators” in a booming international drug operation allegedly linked to his sibling.

Nedal was charged with nine offences including large commercial drug supply, dealing with the proceeds of crime and knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group.

Nedal sprints away from cameras outside court in January. Picture: Julian Andrews

His apprehension marked the beginning of a series of sweeping raids and arrests across the Sydney metropolitan area as part of Strike Force Tromperie, a 14-month investigation by NSW Police into the Haouchar organised crime network.

Nedal was remanded in custody at the time and spent a month behind bars before being granted strict conditional bail by the NSW Supreme Court in December.

As part of his bail, Nedal was required to report to police twice a day, live under house arrest with his wife at an undisclosed address in Sydney and wear an electronic ankle monitor.

His family also agreed to lodge a $3 million surety to ensure he complied with his bail.

However, Nadal returned to the Supreme Court on Thursday asking for his bail conditions to be scaled back, claiming they presented undue hardship to his family.

Some of the details Nedal relied upon to argue his case cannot be published for legal reasons, but defence lawyer Talal Krayem noted his client had been compliant with the stringent conditions since they were imposed.

Haouchar pictured outside Burwood Local Court. Picture: Nine

Justice Ian Harrison agreed to reduce Nedal’s reporting obligations to once a day, and removed the house arrest condition, which had previously allowed him only to leave the house for specified legal and medical reasons.

This was instead replaced with a curfew condition, meaning Nedal will be allowed to leave the property for any reason during the day, but must remain at the house between 8pm and 6am unless there is an emergency in the family.

The court previously heard the stringency of the bail conditions reflect the seriousness of the accusations against Nedal, who police allege used the encrypted communication app Threema to organise the sale of 12kgs of cocaine in October 2022.

He also stands accused of dealing in $4.4m in cash – the alleged proceeds of crime – over a period of five weeks about the same time.

Nadal is yet to enter pleas to the charges. The case will return to court later this year.

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