Moorabbin crook Azzam Ahmed in court on drug charges

A career crook from Moorabbin who got into the drug trade after being schooled by his father and brother has been busted — again — with a massive drug stash.

Azzam Ahmed has showed little regard for the law despite serving a number of sentences for drug offences throughout his adult life.

A career drug dealer who learnt the trade from his father and brother has been thrown back behind bars after he was busted with a stash of coke and meth.

Azzam Ahmed, 58, who was once handed a 17-year sentence for trafficking, was found guilty at trial on charges of possession and trafficking of cocaine and methylamphetamine and sentenced in the County Court on Wednesday to four and a half years’ jail.

This latest round of offending happened just six months after the completion of his parole following a 17-year sentence imposed in 2005 on charges including trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs.

Judge Sarah Dawes said police found 278.6 grams of cocaine which was more than 92 times the commercial quantity of the drug, and 46 grams of methylamphetamine from a Moorabbin factory after a search warrant in October 2021.

Ahmed’s business had entered into a contract to buy the premises at the time and he and several others were present when police arrived.

Druggie Azzam Ahmed is back behind bars for dealing in cocaine and methylamphetamine.

A plant room that housed an air conditioning unit was located at the rear of an upstairs area and the drugs and more than $38,000 cash were recovered.

Judge Dawes said although the case had been hanging over Ahmed’s head for almost two and a half years, the delay was primarily as a result of his intention to run a jury trial.

Ahmed was first convicted in 1989 on charges of cultivating and possession of cannabis and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond.

He first went to jail in 1995 for importing cannabis resin into Australia and has been in and out of prison since.

The largest sentence he received was in 2005 when he pleaded guilty to 10 charges including trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs and sentenced to 17 years in jail, with a minimum non parole of 13 years.

Judge Dawes quoted passages from a Court of Appeal judgment on Ahmed that said he had made a career dealing in drugs of dependence for more than 30 years with little regard for the law.

He learnt drug dealing from his father and brother who have also served custodial sentences for drug offences.

Ahmed will have to serve a minimum of three years.