Michael Ibrahim gets 30 years’ jail for global drug ring
Michael Ibrahim, the brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a massive global drug ring.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Sydney homes raided over Dally M betting scandal
- Plan to pursue AVOs against Katoomba circus school quartet
Underworld kingpin Michael Ibrahim will spend at least 18 years behind bars for his role in a million-dollar international drug smuggling operation.
The brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim was nabbed in August 2017 for conspiring to import nearly two tonnes of MDMA, 136 kilograms of cocaine and 15kg of ice into Australia.
Ibrahim was sentenced to a maximum 30 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years at Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday.
The 41-year-old claimed to be the victim of entrapment from the officer who encouraged him to “go bigger” in the operation which spanned Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Europe.
But Judge Yehia said Ibrahim embraced the opportunity and “was not a reluctant or unwilling participant … or naive.”
At one stage Ibrahim flew to the Netherlands to collect a sample of drugs, and later he ran money laundering operations with black market tobacco imports.
“We’re not petty c***s, we’re gonna make millions, f***ing million a week, we’re talking about tens of millions, even making hundreds of millions of dollars,” Ibrahim told the undercover operative, unable to contain his excitement.
“F***ing 50 million dollars each.”
Ibrahim wielded power and stood to gain a large cut of the profits because he introduced two factions within the syndicate and ensured they wouldn’t cheat each other.
While offering to be the undercover operative’s right hand man, Ibrahim assured the cop “no one's going to rip me off”.
Judge Yehia said while Ibrahim was not the linchpin of the Sydney syndicate, “his role extended beyond merely making introductions.”
“The offender was a trusted and respected participant in the enterprise … expecting significant financial gain,” she said.
When Ibrahim found out two partners “skimmed” $65,000 from his smuggled tobacco fund, he shaved the middle of their heads as punishment and sent photos of their new looks to his associates, she said.
In 2018 Ibrahim pleaded guilty to a string of commercial drug importation and money laundering charges carrying maximum 25-year and life sentences.
The convicted killer, whose alias was ‘Errand Boy’, received a 25 per cent sentence discount for his early guilty plea.
The syndicate came undone in August 2017 when Ibrahim was arrested in the United Arab Emirates with Mostafa Dib, Koder Jomaa, and others also taken into custody.
More than $5.4 million dollars was seized as six Dutch nationals were arrested and a total of 21 Australians were charged, but Ibrahim’s businessman brother John has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Judge Yehia said Ibrahim’s ‘letter of apology’ to the court “does not contain an apology or any expression of remorse.”
Instead, he complains about being held in segregation at Long Bay prison, while claiming he was assaulted by cops in Dubai, tasered and forced to sign a document in Arabic.
Dib was also tortured by police, for which he got some time knocked off his maximum 18-year sentence earlier this month.
In November accomplice Jomaa was sentenced to at least 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to commercial drug importation.
The brother of murdered crime kingpin Wally Ahmad, Ahmad “Rock” Ahmad, and bikie boss Hassan Fakhreddine also await sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to import a commercial quantity of MDMA.
Ibrahim’s long criminal history includes the 2006 manslaughter of Robin Nassour, the brother of Fat Pizza comedian George Nassour.
“He is not entitled to the leniency that would be afforded to a first-time offender,” Judge Yehia said.
“I am satisfied that if not already institutionalised, he will certainly be so by the time he is released.”
The court heard Ibrahim’s mother migrated from Lebanon in 1972 as a refugee, and his gambling-addicted father was often absent, leaving his wife to care for their six children alone.
Judge Yehia said Ibrahim struggled at school where he was bullied and also suffered “beatings from his older brothers.”
But she stressed Ibrahim’s low intelligence doesn’t reduce his moral culpability for the drug plot.
Ibrahim’s wife Caitlan Hall wrote to the court about her “anguish” after he was shot during a drive-by attack outside his Sydney city home in 2015.
The court also heard Ibrahim abused MDMA and cannabis after his wife had a miscarriage.
Ibrahim’s 72-year-old mum Wahiba is now too sick to visit her son, which Judge Yehia said “will weigh heavily on the offender during his time in custody.”
Ibrahim will first be eligible for parole in August 2035.
THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF MICHAEL IBRAHIM
2006: Kills Robin Nassour and stabs his brother, Fat Pizza comedian George Nassour, in Sydney’s inner west.
2008: Sentenced to a maximum nine years and four months prison for Robin Nassour’s manslaughter and George Nassour’s malicious wounding.
2012: Acquitted of conspiring to murder nightclub owner John Macris, whom he erroneously believed had gunned down his brother Fadi Ibrahim in 2009.
2015: Shot in the shoulder during an attack outside his Sydney city apartment.
2017: Arrested in Dubai over a plot to import nearly two tonnes of MDMA, cocaine and ice from the Netherlands into Australia.
2020: Sentenced to 30 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years for conspiracy to commit commercial drug importation and money laundering offence.