Rachid Rizki: Drugs seized at grandpa’s Mayne St, Cheltenham home
A grandpa has been found running a “highly organised” and large-scale drug operation out of his Cheltenham family home.
South East
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A Cheltenham grandfather has been exposed as a drug dealer after police found drug stashes around his family home.
Rachid Rizki, 50, was sentenced to 18 months’ jail and a two-year community corrections order in the County Court, having pleaded guilty to charges including six counts of drug trafficking.
The disability support pensioner, who previously worked as a professional dancer, had seven different drugs on his property when police raided his home at 18 Mayne St on August 11 last year.
Investigators found numerous containers and bags of drugs around the home, which he shared with his wife and children, seizing 44 items in total.
Rizki had 240.7g of meth, 127.3g of dihydromorphine, 64.7g of MDMA, 48.9 g of MDA, 48.2g of cocaine and 16.4g of ketamine.
He also had 778g of cannabis, which was stored in garbage bags.
Rizki was found sitting at a table with a ziplock bag of white powder when police pounced on the home.
He admitted to police he was a long-term drug addict but denied dealing drugs.
However, a search of his phone and look at his bank account revealed he had been using encrypted app Signal to arrange drug deals.
The court heard some of the amounts of drugs Rizki possessed equated to a commercial quantity, but he had not charged with dealing a commercial quantity because he had been acting “at a street level”.
Judge Trevor Wraight said while Rizki’s offending was heavily influenced by his substance addiction, his crimes were a serious example of drug trafficking.
“You were running a business from your home, trafficking multiple types of drugs, with an organised system,” the Judge said.
The court heard the Moroccan-born man had suffered a traumatic childhood, which had left him with PTSD.
Rizki’s lawyer had submitted that his client, who was a father of eight and the grandfather of two, should have his sentence mitigated due to exceptional hardship in his background and family situation.
But Judge Wraight ruled Rizki’s hardship was not exceptional, saying he would however take into account some level of hardship.
Numerous references from family and friends attesting to Rizki’s good character were tendered to the court.
Rizki was also fined $200 and it was noted that he had already served 337 days’ of his jail term while on remand.
