Ali Sadeghi-Iman faces court charged with trafficking, cultivation

A Point Cook man allegedly attempted to get more than 45kgs of cannabis to Sydney during lockdown by pretending to be a tradie.

An Irani national who allegedly tried to traffic cannabis over the border while Melbourne was in lockdown has successfully applied for his case to be heard in the lower court.

Ali Sadeghi-Iman, 39, faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court via video link from prison on Tuesday, where his lawyer applied for his case to remain in the jurisdiction.

Prosecutor, Barrister Simone Tatas, said Sadeghi-Iman was intercepted by Wodonga Highway Patrol near Barnawartha about 10.15pm on Monday, 16 August, 2021.

He was being questioned about a large industrial air compressor in the rear of his Pajero when an officer discovered a bag of cannabis in the rear footwell of the car.

Police conducted a more thorough search of the car back at the police station, where they found 46 vacuum sealed bags of cannabis hidden in the floor. They later weighed in at just over 20-kilograms.

The bags had been covered by a blanket and a large piece of paper smothered in a product similar to deep heat to disguise the odour, the court heard.

Upon further examination of the air compressor, that was surrounded by tools to make it appear as though he was a tradesman, police discovered its bottom had been cut open and resealed with screws.

The court heard that when they prised it open they found 44 more bags of cannabis, weighing more than 25-kilograms.

Along with the 45.7-kilograms of cannabis, police also found $1075 believed to be proceeds of crime.

The following day police executed a search warrant at his Point Cook address, where they allegedly found a hydroponic cannabis set-up in one of the bedrooms.

Police allege they found four large cannabis plants, heated with LED lights and managed with a watering system, which were at the harvest stage and weighed 27.3-kilograms.

The court heard Sadeghi-Iman had also allegedly installed an electrical bypass in the wall cavity near the front door.

Charge sheets, seen by Leader, show Sadeghi-Iman, who came to Australia as a refugee on a protection visa, is facing charges including cultivating and trafficking cannabis.

It has been alleged he was en route to deliver the cannabis to Sydney when he was intercepted.

Sadeghi-Iman is one of several co-accused facing charges brought by the Organised Crime Intelligence Unit in relation to the offending.

Sadeghi-Iman’s lawyer submitted his client was only “the driver” and was not targeted in the police operation that nabbed the co-offenders, but “fell into the picture at a later stage”.

He said his client had been working but lost his job due to the pandemic and became involved in the offending through ‘associates’.

But the magistrate disputed this assertion given the cultivation set-up at his house and said he had a “pretty important role”, adding that while it was not known how much the cannabis was worth, Sadeghi-Iman appeared to be involved in a “substantial commercial trafficking operation”.

While the prosecution submitted he should be dealt with in the same jurisdiction as the co-accused as the acts of all three were “inextricably intertwined”, the magistrate granted the application for summary jurisdiction.

Sadeghi-Iman indicated he would plead guilty to amended charges at his next court appearance in August.