Alleged KTM syndicate leader Ayaaz Bhagoo unsuccessful in bail bid

The alleged ‘puppet master’ of the notorious KTM gang will remain in custody, as the seventh of his alleged ‘foot soldiers’ walks free.

The alleged ‘puppet master’ of the notorious KTM gang will remain in custody, as the seventh of his alleged ‘foot soldiers’ walks free.

Alleged syndicate leader Ayaaz Bhagoo, 23, made an unsuccessful application for bail in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

His application followed a mass police sweep of 25 southeast Queensland addresses on Friday, May 30, with 20 men arrested in the one day.

Police seized hauls of drugs including cocaine, meth and cannabis following a year-long operation as part of operation Whiskey Vogue.

Six of the gang’s alleged “foot soldiers” were granted bail on Tuesday, including Said Abdi Mohamud, Aydin Imran Celikovic, Exauce Osumaka Makiadi, Muhamad Mossi, Hamzah Motala, Jamal Abdirashid Shaarub.

On Friday, Acting Magistrate Nigel Rees said it was alleged Bhagoo and co-accused Shirwac Abdi Yusuf, 23, were both the “puppet masters” in charge of the gang.

Police had allegedly surveilled a syndicate vehicle, which had a hidden compartment for transporting “large quantities” of drugs and cash.

Bhagoo had allegedly engaged in conversations about sourcing drugs, customer base, negotiating tactics, standover tactics, police methodology, and “recruiting children to push drugs,” Mr Reed said.

It’s further alleged he had attended multiple safe houses where large quantities of drugs were allegedly found.

One of the safe houses was alleged to be the “family home” of an individual Bhagoo allegedly referred to as his “employee” and “driver”, the court heard.

Defence lawyer Daniel Hannay, who represents both men, said Bhagoo was a 23-year-old with no criminal history.

“A 23-year-old with no criminal history (allegedly) facilitating a major operation where we’ve just heard some of the drugs aren’t even drugs,” he said.

Earlier in proceedings, Mr Hannay had represented alleged “foot soldier” Mohammed Mosin Khan, 24, in a successful bail application.

KTM arrest

Police had initially alleged Khan had been found in possession of 700g of cocaine – but following initial testing, the court heard the substance allegedly only included 3.5g of cocaine and roughly 5g of MDMA.

“It’s a far cry from 700,” Magistrate Rees commented, before granting Khan bail under the same conditions as his co-accused – including a tracking device and daily reporting.

Regarding alleged drug boss Bhagoo, Mr Hannay said police had only presented one specific example of evidence despite alleged “continued surveillance for seven months”.

“If it was going to be this huge trafficking operation, surely you’d go through and say ‘on this date he did this, on this date he did this’,” Mr Hannay said.

“ … If it’s the case that there is this evidence that the police have been monitoring for seven or nine months, where is it?”

“If it was important for them to say that he is this heinous criminal that should be locked up and thrown away – with no criminal history … where is it?”

Mr Hannah said police had informed him that disclosure of that evidence could take months at this stage. He submitted there were “plenty” of bail conditions that would appropriately ameliorate any risks Bhagoo posed in the meantime.

Mr Rees said he was “sympathetic” to Mr Hannay’s position.

“One would have thought … there would be disclosure of tapes and videos and things like that,” he said.

However, he said he had to take the evidence at its highest when considering bail.

Mr Rees said he considered Bhagoo an unacceptable risk of committing further offences and denied his application for bail.

Bhagoo and Khan’s matters were both adjourned to July 7, on the same date as their co-accused.

Shirwac Yusuf’s matter was adjourned to the same date. He has not made any application for bail at this time.

Outside court, Mr Hannay said Yusuf intended to make an application at a later date.

He said it was difficult to determine the strength of the evidence when the brief of evidence was still months away.

“I don’t know what the evidence is, I don’t have it,” he said.

Originally published as Alleged KTM syndicate leader Ayaaz Bhagoo unsuccessful in bail bid