Ice deal bugged by cops

AN expectant father will be in jail when his first child is born next month after police nabbed him trafficking ice by bugging a Hobart hotel room with a covert camera and listening device.

Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed, 28, was recorded carrying a black calico shopping bag into the hotel room during October 2018, meeting two men who had arrived in town that day, the Supreme Court of Tasmania heard yesterday.

Ahmed was in the hotel room for about 20 minutes, during which time he removed a cryovac package containing two ounces of ice and placing it on a table.

Justice Gregory Geason, while sentencing, said one of the other men then handed Ahmed a large freezer bag containing a number of separate packages of ice.

Ahmed then produced a large quantity of cash and offered them $20,000, placing the freezer bag inside the calico bag.

He then counted a further $13,000 and handed it over before telling them they’d have a further $25,000 that afternoon.

The men drove away from the hotel together before police stopped them shortly afterwards at Moonah.

Justice Geason said police found five freezer bags of ice in the car, which would have had a street value of about $273,900 if sold in 0.1 gram deals.

He said Ahmed, who had been an industrious hospitality and retail worker after completing Year 12 in Hobart, started using ice in 2016 after finding “it boosted your stamina and ability to work long hours”.

But he said Ahmed quickly began abusing the drug and he became erratic and unreliable, losing his job in 2017, rapidly depleting his savings and getting in debt to drug dealers.

“This episode was your attempt to extricate yourself from debt,” Justice Geason said.

Ahmed, who pleaded guilty to trafficking in a controlled substance, was jailed for two years and 10 months, with a non-parole period of 17 months.

He will also be required to serve a further six months after Justice Geason activated a previous suspended sentence for other offending.