A MAN nabbed during a Wodonga drug raid has avoided jail despite police uncovering a large stash of ice, cocaine, marijuana, cash and a homemade gun.
Mahmoud El-Zayat also had a hand grenade inside his car, which was impounded in a police holding yard and discovered after the July raid.
The father-of-eight was arrested at the Sanctuary Park Motel in High Street with partner Claudette Tannous.
Their hire car and motel room had 119.4 grams of methamphetamine, scales, 40 unused deal bags and expensive watches and jewellery.
This is a serious case of drug trafficking involving a large number of transactions
- Magistrate John O'Callaghan
A search of their joint Facebook account – where they shared hundreds of photos of each other with love notes, along with pictures showing drugs and the grenade – led police to the holding yard in Melbourne, where they found the inactive explosive.
El-Zayat – who has a tattoo reading “Claudette for life – if you die, I die with you” – recently fronted Wodonga Magistrates Court.
He proposed to her outside the court in a video posted online, as someone asks “what the f--- is going on right now?”
El-Zayat was placed on a 12-month community corrections order, having previously spent 50 days on remand.
Tannous served a three-month stint in jail for her role.
The court had previously heard they had blamed each other for the drugs seized during the raids.
Police had said the pair had been making daily trips in hire cars between Melbourne and Wodonga from March to the time of their arrest.
The vehicles were searched several times, but the roof cavities where the drugs and guns were found were not checked.
Surveillance caught a large number of people attending the motel as part of their dealing.
El-Zayat didn’t have a job, but the duo had a $1000 a week drug and alcohol habit and regularly posted images online of new shoes and expensive clothes.
They can be seen holding wads of cash in other images.
Magistrate John O’Callaghan previous said the pair had made many drug deals.
“This is a serious case of drug trafficking involving a large number of transactions,” he said.
- This article first appeared on The Border Mail
