George Chambour denied bail in alleged AN0M drug case

An alleged AN0M drug dealer, who is accused of plotting an escape from Australia, has been denied bail despite his lawyer assuring the court he wouldn’t cut off his ankle monitor like Mostafa Baluch.

Police arrested George Chambour as part of Operation Ironside. Picture: AFP

An accused drug dealer who offered up $6 million and an electronic ankle monitor has been denied bail after a judge was told he allegedly made efforts to escape Australia.

He may now spend more than a year in prison awaiting trial despite his barrister saying the accused man would not cut off his ankle monitor and flee like “high profile” alleged drug lord Mostafa Baluch.

George Chambour, of Roselands, is alleged to have been involved in the trafficking of a commercial quantity of methylamphetamine throughout NSW, after drugs were seized in a tow truck on the Central Coast and in a Seven Hills warehouse.

Police arrested George Chambour as part of Operation Ironside.

The 36-year-old was one of many Operation Ironside arrests where authorities were secretly monitoring a fake encrypted app, called AN0M, used by the underworld to co-ordinate nefarious deals.

Chambour’s top barrister, Phillip Boulten SC, asked the NSW Supreme Court to grant the alleged drug trafficker bail on Thursday.

There is no DNA or other direct evidence linking Chambour to the truck, the barrister said, and it could be “contested” in a trial whether Chambour was the one using the intercepted phone.

Crown prosecutors told the court, however, that the user was identified as “George” in one text message conversation with another person who had the same name as Chambour‘s wife.

Police also claim they have data linking Chambour to the same location as the phones - hotels and homes - which he allegedly visited after the Australian Federal Police launched their raids.

But Chambour should be bailed, Mr Boulten argued, because he is likely to languish in a maximum-security prison at least until 2023 awaiting a trial and it could undermine his attempts to prepare for the case with his legal team.

He had also been one of the many prisoners inside Parklea prison to contract Covid-19 during his time in custody.

The courts, in September this year, heard Chambour allegedly discussed fleeing Australia by escaping to Indonesia through Queensland.

He was allegedly considering paying a criminal called “Coconut” to help him reach the Middle East for the hefty price of $500,000, prosecutors told the court on Thursday.

It‘s “unusual” to have such a detailed escape plan in writing, prosecutors told the court, and they claim Chambour was found with $38,000 when he was arrested.

Mr Boulten, on Thursday, told the court the person police intercepted planning to escape was “agonising” over whether they should go through with the plan and instead decided to report to police.

Friends and family had come together to offer up $6m, secured against their homes and bank accounts, and Chambour offered to wear an ankle monitor.

Mr Boulten acknowledged the high profile case of Baluch, another accused AN0M drug importer, would make things harder when it came to electronic monitoring on bail.

Baluch made headlines when he allegedly cut off his ankle monitor and tried to escape to Queensland earlier this month.

“That’s always been a potential issue (with electronic monitoring) but because one person does it, it does not follow that anyone else will do it,” Mr Boulten said.

“(Chambour) is unlikely to leave his parents, relatives and friend exposed should he do what the now high profile accused (Baluch) did in the other AN0M case.”

But the court’s newest judge, Hament Dhanji SC, said there appeared to be strong parts to the case against Chambour and he was facing very serious charges.

Despite the long delay and assurances, the judge refused Chambour bail.