How Bilal Haouchar allegedly made millions in the drug trade

Sources allege Bilal Haouchar had suppliers and contacts all over the world, including a corrupt cruise ship captain and a cocaine-smuggling soccer superstar.

One of the most in-demand drug cooks in Australia’s underworld is a man named “Spaghetti”.

Very little is known about his actual identity and he is said to be named after the stringy pasta because the best guess on his ethnicity is that he is Italian.

According to sources, Spaghetti is better at manufacturing drugs than most other Australian cooks. Given his reputation, Spaghetti was allegedly recruited for Bilal Haouchar’s operation.

The drug cooking operations allegedly functioned like a travelling circus in a series of rental and Airbnb properties.

Move into a property. Set up the drug extraction lab equipment. Cook. Get out and leave no trace.

“There was one group that was sitting on a balcony cooking ice in woks at night,” a source said.

“They had fans pointing outwards blowing the fumes away.”

Police allege the setups were elaborate and expertly constructed. They allegedly included evaporators, glassware, hoses, chillers and cookers – mostly stolen.

The set-up worked similarly to a subcontracting business arrangement. Sources alleged that Haouchar would arrange for drug precursors to be smuggled to Australia.

Other times, it is alleged Haouchar would invest in another group’s drug cook.

“If there was an opportunity to make money, he’d take it,” a source said.

Haouchar would allegedly call the shots from Lebanon via chat groups on an encrypted phone. There was allegedly one chat group for drugs and another for the money. Both were erased at the end of a job.

When it came to cocaine distribution, Haouchar allegedly kept his buyers on a tight leash.

“Getting it on tick was rare – it was usually cash on delivery,” a source said.

Those trusted enough to allegedly receive the drug on credit would be given about a week to close the tab. Dead drops were allegedly the preferred method of exchange.

“The buyer would be told a street to go to,” a source said. “But they wouldn’t be told exactly where the coke was.”

After they got to the street, the buyer would be sent a follow up message with directions to the drug stockpile.

It was a similar story with dropping off the money, which usually occurred first. The buyers would be told where to drop the cash. A driver would be waiting at the location to take the cash and a picture would be sent to confirm the deal had been a success.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

The fact that Haouchar was not based in Australia was allegedly no impediment to him allegedly smuggling an eye-watering amount of drugs into the country.

Modern technology, combined with A-list criminal contacts, meant he could do it from almost anywhere.

Sources allege he had suppliers and contacts all over the world.

There were claims of a corrupt cruise ship captain who would allegedly retrieve cocaine that had been buried on a tropical island.

The excavator police seized which had almost 400kg of cocaine crammed into its arm. Picture: AFP

Another of Haouchar’s alleged suppliers was a European football star.

The footballer was accused of smuggling almost 20kg of cocaine to Australia in packages hidden in books.

One of the common methods was to hide drugs in shipments of legitimate goods. This included ovens, overalls, wiring or similar goods addressed to warehouses that would normally receive them.

The hope was to not arouse the suspicions of police and border authorities.

Sources said Haouchar was allegedly linked to one of the most notorious cocaine shipments ever smuggled into Australia.

An excavator shipped to Australia from South Africa in 2019 made front page news when an X-ray revealed the entire arm was packed with almost 400kg of cocaine.

GANGSTERS FEARED PARTY BOY BILAL’S BIG BENDERS

Bilal Haouchar likes to party.

His exploits with sex workers, drugs and booze are feared and legendary.

Even some of Sydney’s heaviest underworld figures knew to stay out of Haouchar’s way when he was recruiting wingmen for a bender.

Bilal Haouchar said he tore apart Misty’s brothel while on a two-week bender. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Haouchar famously tore apart well-known Surry Hills brothel Misty’s in the early 2010s in a drug-fuelled incident where he allegedly took a sex worker hostage.

He was secretly recorded in March 2013 inside Lithgow jail telling a feared criminal that the incident occurred in the midst of a “bender” that lasted “two weeks”. Haouchar explained he was “snorting coke” during that period of his life, but nothing too heavy – just “once” or “twice a week”.

Haouchar said the evening took a turn when he put one of the sex workers in the back of his car and tore the brothel apart.

This happened after one of the girls gave a dangerous amount of drugs to one of his wingmen.

“(The associate) drank a bottle of water, thinking it was bottled water and it was that (liquid party drug) GHB,” Haouchar was recorded saying.

“Bro, he was almost dying. He couldn’t speak to me. I’m saying ‘Bro what happened to ya?’ Eyes are rolling back …”

Haouchar said he turned on the woman who gave the drugs to his associate.

“I was trying to choke her and the nurse would come, and I said, f... this. I went and broke up the whole of Misty’s bro. Smashed everyone. Started knocking out girls.”

Haouchar closed off the topic by telling the feared criminal, “I love the dirty whores, bro. I love them.

“I’m gonna marry a dirty whore … I got no shame. I’ve always said I’m gonna marry a prostitute, or something.”