A man accused of masterminding an alleged drug-smuggling operation worth almost $50 million was travelling across Australia in a black Hummer when police say a motorhome carrying methamphetamine was stopped in Western Australia.
Mohammed Charif Oueida, 50, is on trial in Perth District Court, charged with trafficking methamphetamine with the intention of selling it. He denies the allegations.
The motorhome had crossed into Western Australia from Melbourne in April 2021. Police allege almost $50 million worth of drugs was concealed beneath its bed after it was pulled over during an apparent routine traffic stop in a rural town.
The man and woman inside were so distressed after being stopped that they had to be taken to hospital for treatment, the court was told.
Prosecutors allege Oueida was travelling towards Perth in the Hummer, maintaining a distance of about 30 minutes from the motorhome and communicating with its driver, Khaled El-Moustafa, through an encrypted app.
El-Moustafa allegedly used the code name “Trouble”, while Oueida was identified as “Air Force”. Prosecutors said El-Moustafa later admitted his role in the operation and is now serving a prison sentence.
Another communicator, known as “Infinite”, was alleged to be Oueida’s brother. Prosecutors said he owned storage units and a panelbeating business in Campbellfield, about 13 kilometres north of Melbourne, where CCTV allegedly showed drugs being loaded into a van before the journey west.
Hummer tracked across Australia
The court was shown footage of Oueida’s cross-country journey, including stops at service stations and roadhouses. Police had placed a tracker on his vehicle about a month before his arrest, although the reason for doing so has not been explained to the jury.
Staff at several stops recalled the Hummer, which carried the number plate “HUMR2”. A worker at a Ceduna roadhouse described it as “really impressive”, while another witness said seeing it arrive was like “something out of a Hollywood movie”.
The roadhouse manager told the court the driver was “a big bloke” who “looked like a Hollywood star – tough”. She said he was pleasant but “very standoffish”.
Prosecutors alleged messages exchanged between “Air Force”, “Infinite” and “Trouble” showed an effort to avoid detection. One message read: “I’m at Norseman … at the back of the BP, hotel room 26. See you soon.”
Investigators checked the motel records and found that Oueida had booked room 26 in Norseman on the date mentioned in the message, the jury was told.
Other messages included instructions to “Pick up motorhome find the best hiding spot”, “Leave normal phone here with me turned off” and “Highway patrol is out ’n about be careful”. A later message referred to meeting at an Airbnb in Coolbellup, in Perth’s south, where police subsequently arrested Oueida.
During a recorded police interview played in court, officers questioned Oueida about his possession of multiple mobile phones. He said he sold encrypted phones for about $1,800.
Asked why someone would want an encrypted phone rather than a normal one, Oueida replied: “Privacy.” He said some users wanted to protect their information from “corrupt governments”.
His lawyer told the jury that police had spent “considerable time and expense” attempting to link Oueida to a crime he did not commit. The trial continues.
