Paroled drug chief captured fleeing Sydney with ice, cash in ute, police allege

Taha Eldarwich allegedly ran an extensive crime syndicate but, as cops closed in, stocked his ute with drugs, cash and fled Sydney, court documents allege.

An image from the Strikeforce Bogolong raid on a meth lab allegedly operated by the Eldarwich Organised Crime Network in October 2022. Picture: NSW Police

An alleged family crime network chief is accused of stocking his ute with kilograms of ice, thousands in cash and shooting down the highway out of Sydney while police pulled apart his Bunnings-built major drug lab.

But Taha Eldarwich, only recently released from prison for another major drug bust, didn‘t get far before he saw sirens in his rear-view mirror, a court has heard.

Strikeforce Bogolong was formed by NSW Police and tasked with investigating what has been dubbed the Eldarwich Organised Crime Network (OCN) in a court document obtained by The Daily Telegraph.

The document, tendered to the NSW Supreme Court this week, alleges the 39-year-old Eldarwich commanded multiple members of the OCN through encrypted phones as they assembled drug labs in Sydney.

Beginning in early May, the police document alleges, Eldarwich co-accused visited a lab supply business to purchase specialised equipment that cost thousands of dollars.

Substances uncovered in the raid on the drug lab. Picture: NSW Police

It is alleged an OCN member handed over his driver’s licence to authorise one purchase, for $18,000 worth of lab equipment, assuring the clerk it was for “diesel cleaning”.

The OCN allegedly purchased flasks, condensers and chemicals through the lab supply business, dropping more than $42,000 on one day alone.

Mahinery used in the meth lab. Picture: Supplied

Police arrested several men in the wake of the raid. Picture: NSW Police

Meanwhile, the police document alleges, Bogolong’s investigators were watching as Eldarwich and other co-accused loaded rental vans and cars to move equipment between two premises.

The men allegedly dressed in high-vis workwear and shifted boxes and equipment between Eastwood and the industrial suburb of Colbee.

The police document alleges the Eldarwich OCN was moving a large-scale drug lab in broad daylight.

Alleged OCN members were spotted making multiple trips, between June and September, apparently unaware of the police surveillance, the document alleges.

The alleged OCN members, according to police, were recorded on CCTV inside a Bunnings Warehouse buying 40kg of chemicals that can be used in the production of ice.

The OCN allegedly returned to Bunnings Marsden Park and Blacktown, in the weeks that followed, buying plastic tubing, hose fittings, gloves and massive amounts of industrial chemicals.

An officer in protective equipment with substances found in the meth lab raid. Picture: NSW Police

Police closed in on the Eastwood and Colbee homes on October 4, crime scene warrants in hand.

“A significant clandestine laboratory was identified to be in operation with almost the entire ground floor of the premises converted into stations for drug manufacture processes,” the police document alleges.

Huge amounts of lab equipment and three kilograms of finished ice were found along with massive stashes of chemicals used in the process.

Specialist police spent days picking through the lab while Eldarwich remained under surveillance.

Two days after the raid, on October 6, police suspected Eldarwich was preparing to leave Sydney, according to court documents.

He was spotted loading up his white HiLux and giving his brother a long embrace, the court document alleges.

Police allege Eldarwich drove to Cabramatta and swapped his licence plates before hitting the Hume Highway which runs south out of the city.

Campbelltown Police intercepted Eldarwich, the court document claims, and police began searching his car, recovering $6895 and cannabis.

This week Eldarwich’s lawyers told the NSW Supreme Court he had actually pointed out a hidden compartment to police himself.

Inside they found 15kg of ice, the court heard, and Eldarwich was charged with large commercial meth production and supply.

Eldarwich asked for bail saying he needed to help care for his family – but it was refused.

The court heard Eldarwich, in 2017, was locked up for commercial drug supply and directing a criminal group until 2023.

He had been released in mid-2020, and was on parole when he was arrested on the Hume Highway.

Eldarwich looked dejected on the prison video screen as his bail was refused.

His case will be heard later this year.