Alleged KTM member refused bail for prison cash, drug ‘conference’ phone calls

An alleged foot soldier in the KTM drug syndicate has been refused bail after illegal conference calls with his jailed co-accused.

Twenty members of the KTM syndicate were arrested for alleged drug trafficking. Picture: QLD Police

An alleged foot soldier in the KTM drug syndicate has been refused bail after being caught talking about drugs and “cash owed’’ in illegal conference calls with his jailed co-accused, a court has heard.

Jamal Abdirashid Shaarub, 22, faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on July 22 on six charges including taking part in five prohibited calls from jailed members of the southside syndicate, alleged to have been part of a huge MDMA and cocaine trafficking network.

The court heard Shaarub was on bail at the time for charges including trafficking in a schedule 1 drug.

“He is on a lower level of the (syndicate) hierarchy,’’ Magistrate Shane Holbut said.

“About 20 people have been charged and he is alleged to have used cars belonging to the syndicate for dead drops of cash and drugs.

Mr Holbut said an alleged syndicate member called an allowed number from jail five times, from June 17 to June 23, on what were essentially “conference calls’’.

Recordings of the calls picked up the words “drugs’’ and “money owed’’.

Mr Holbut said, while not proven, the inference was that Shaarub was helping to continue the work of the syndicate while members were behind bars.

He said it had been made very clear to Shaarub that he was not to make contact or communicate with any witnesses or co-accused and that he must have known that by doing so he was breaching his bail conditions.

At the time he was fitted with a GPS tracker, was under strict reporting and residential conditions and a curfew.

A car allegedly used by the KTM syndicate is towed away. Picture: QLD Police

Director of Public Prosecutions senior legal officer, Kate Thamm, said those conditions could not be made any stricter.

While Shaarub was not in a show cause position, she said he had “flaunted’’ his bail conditions.

Shaarub’s lawyer, Lewis Hunter of Guest Lawyers, said his client had only a one-page criminal history.

After spending several weeks in custody, including a fortnight in the watch-house where he was let out for just one hour a day to exercise, he had had time to reflect on his actions and was now motivated to obey bail conditions.

Mr Hunter said Shaarub had a limited but good work history in warehousing, had completed high school and 18 months of a course at Griffith University.

Twenty members of the KTM syndicate were arrested for alleged trafficking in drugs. Picture: QLD Police

Jail would mean a criminal conviction, which would adversely affect his chances of future employment.

Mr Holbut said he took all that into account, as well as Shaarub’s young age and alleged low-level role in the syndicate.

But he nevertheless deemed him an unacceptable risk of breaching any bail conditions that could be imposed.

Shaarub was remanded in custody until a mention in Brisbane Magistrates Court on September 29.

He was also fined $2000 for a total of six bail breaches including one of failing to report. He pleaded guilty to all six charges.

Originally published as Alleged KTM member refused bail for prison cash, drug ‘conference’ phone calls