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Police pulled over a motorhome in a rural West Australian town five years ago during an apparent routine traffic stop that allegedly uncovered almost $50 million worth of drugs stashed under the vehicle’s bed.
However, they claim there was more to the story.
The rental van had crossed the border into the state from Melbourne in April 2021 and was being driven by a man and woman who were so overcome with anxiety after being pulled over by police, they had to be taken to hospital for treatment.
But police allege a third person masterminded the smuggling attempt – and at that point he was halfway down the highway, bound for Perth in a big, black Hummer.
That man, 50-year-old Mohammed Charif Oueida, is on trial in Perth’s District Court after he was charged with trafficking meth with the intention of selling it.
Oueida denies the allegations. Last week, his lawyer told the jury that police spent “considerable time and expense” trying to pin a crime on the Victorian man, having placed a tracker on his car a month before his arrest, and were now tenuously trying to connect him to a crime he did not commit.
Why the tracker was on Oueida’s car has not been made clear to the jury, but last week they were shown footage of his cross-country trip, which involved stops at various service stations and roadhouses.
One employee gave evidence that seeing the Hummer pull in, number plates reading “HUMR2”, was like “something out of a Hollywood movie”.
Others testified that there were three people staying in accommodation that was paid for in cash where the Hummer was parked outside.
It had travelled through before, they told the court.
The manager of a remote Ceduna roadhouse told the court she had no trouble remembering the Hummer pulling in for fuel because it was “really impressive”.
“[The driver], he was a big bloke,” she said. “He looked like a Hollywood star – tough. He was nice, but very standoffish.”
Prosecutors allege Oueida was travelling “in convoy” with the motorhome, maintaining a 30-minute distance and communicating with the motorhome’s driver – Khaled El-Moustafa – through an encrypted app using the code name “Air Force”.
After his arrest, El-Moustafa admitted his role in the drug smuggling plot and identified himself on the Ghost app as code-name “Trouble”. He’s now a serving prisoner, prosecutors told the jury.
Police allege a third communicator, code name “Infinite”, was Oueida’s brother who allegedly owned a set of storage units and a panelbeating business on Somerset Road in Campbellfield, about 13 kilometres north of Melbourne, where CCTV allegedly captured the drugs being loaded into a van before the big trip west.
Text messages between Air Force, Infinite and Trouble showed an intention to avoid detection on the trip, the court was told, but one read: “I’m at Norseman … at the back of the BP, hotel room 26. See you soon.”
Prosecutors told the court they checked the hotel’s records, and Oueida checked into room 26 at the motel in the remote West Australian town on that date.
Further messages shown to the jury include, “Pick up motorhome find the best hiding spot”, “I have a back up female if needed”, “Leave normal phone here with me turned off”, and, “Highway patrol is out ’n about be careful”.
The messages then read, “Meet at Airbnb – Coolbellup”, referencing the suburb in Perth’s south where police later found Oueida and arrested him.
An interview was played to the jury that was recorded by the organised crime squad as they were searching the property.
In the interview, officers ask Oueida about his multiple mobile phones, and he tells them he sold encrypted phones for around $1800.
“Why would someone want an encrypted phone like this instead of a normal one?” he was asked.
“Privacy,” was his response, before going on to explain that, “a lady who wears a scarf, sends me photos – to protect her privacy”.
He then adds that a lot of people who buy the phones “have a problem with corrupt governments … using their information”.
The trial continues.
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