Life sentence on cards for drug trafficker
A VIOLENT drug dealer has led police to his stash when he dragged a kidnap victim to a Melbourne flower shop where he kept the drugs, which included massive quantities of ecstasy, the depressant 1,4-Butanediol, cannabis and ice.
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A VIOLENT drug dealer led police to his stash when he dragged a kidnap victim to the shop where he kept the drugs.
Khaled Moustafa, 28, is facing a life sentence after pleading guilty on Tuesday at the County Court to his role in a massive drug ring that imported and stored tonnes of drugs around Melbourne’s inner west and north.
Police found massive quantities of ecstasy, the depressant 1,4-Butanediol, cannabis and ice at the rear of a flower shop rented out by Moustafa in Lygon St.
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Although police were aware of the syndicate, they only attended the Lygon St shop on June 13, 2016, after responding to reports that a man had been kidnapped and taken there.
“(The police) did observe a substantial amount of drugs at the facility,” a prosecution summary said.
Other drugs — weighing tonnes — were found at various storage facilities across Melbourne.
Moustafa continued to orchestrate his drug trafficking through his girlfriend, Daniela Aceveda, after he was arrested.
But that offending was easily uncovered: Moustafa used monitored prison phones to deliver his orders.
On Tuesday he also pleaded guilty to assaulting the man who he leased part of the shop from, leaving him bloody and in need of 10 stitches.
Aceveda will be sentenced on Monday.
In 2013, Moustafa was sentenced to 8½ years’ jail with a 5½-year minimum over a deadly shootout at a Brunswick panel shop.
He and associate Ali Kassab were convicted of defensive homicide over the killing of Omar Taha. Moustafa’s conviction was later quashed on appeal.
Moustafa pleaded guilty to a host of drugs charges including trafficking a large commercial quantity, a crime which can attract a life sentence.
Moustafa will be sentenced by County Court judge Sandra Davis at a later date.