Farshad Bahadori Esfehani was denied his bid at a lesser sentence by the Court of Appeal this week, however, his co-defendant Jalal Asmatullah Safi was successful. Photo / Sam Hurley
Farshad Bahadori Esfehani was denied his bid at a lesser sentence by the Court of Appeal this week, however, his co-defendant Jalal Asmatullah Safi was successful. Photo / Sam Hurley
A Comancheros gang member has had a year and a half shaved off his sentence for his part in a major methamphetamine operation based out of an Auckland car yard.
Jalal Asmatullah Safi’s sentence has dropped from 11 years’ imprisonment to nine and a half years, after the Court of Appeal agreed the start point was “stern” and should have been lower.
His appeal was heard alongside associate and fellow gang member Farshad Esfehani-Bahadori, but the court denied the other man’s bid for a lowered sentence, and he continues to serve five and a half years behind bars.
The decision released by the court this week outlined the men’s offending as part Operation Maddale, a police sting that netted 10 people in a methamphetamine supply chain in August 2019.
The “significant methamphetamine distribution syndicate” ran out of an Auckland car yard in 2018 and was subject to a 10-month police investigation that netted the seizure of 20 kilos of meth.
Both men were convicted of possessing the drug for supply, and Safi faced further charges, including money laundering.
The laundering charge came after he was intercepted at Dunedin Airport and found to be in possession of $230,000 in cash, which were proceeds of drug distribution.
During the 2018 investigation, police found significant quantities of methamphetamine were being distributed from commercial premises that were operating as car yards on Bentwick Street in New Lynn.
Both men were involved in multiple transactions of the drugs for cash.
At the appeal, Esfehani-Bahadori’s lawyer Tiffany Cooper, KC, said her client, who was already serving time for his part in a fatal drink-driving crash, played a lesser role and was simply “the muscle”.
A Harley-Davidson was seized in the raids executed after police organised crime investigators initiated Operation Maddale. Photo / NZME
Justice Christine French disagreed with Cooper’s submissions during the appeal hearing in March, and the pushback from the judges was reflected in the court’s decision, which declined his sentence appeal.
They said Esfehani-Bahadori’s culpability wasn’t reduced due to drug addiction or coercion, and although his role could be considered lesser, he was still aware of what he was doing.
“Rather, we are satisfied that Mr Esfehani-Bahadori was willing to play his part as a member of the Comancheros gang, noting, in his pre-sentence report, that he said he was ‘proud of his membership’, and he ended the interview stating, ‘Comanchero forever’,” the court said.
Esfehani-Bahadori joined the Comancheros when he was young and searching for a sense of belonging as an Iraqi refugee who had experienced racism in New Zealand.
Safi’s lawyer Marie Taylor-Cyphers also argued her client played a lesser role, and said his gambling and drug use, as well as his loyalty to the gang, played a major part in his involvement.
The court ruled the starting point of 14 years for Safi was too high but disagreed with Taylor-Cyphers submission the discounts from the sentencing judge weren’t sufficient.
Safi was said to have a stable upbringing but had turned to drugs when he was involved in the clubbing scene in Melbourne.
His illicit drug use was said to have stopped without difficulty in 2021 when he met his wife.
Operation Maddale was executed by police in Auckland, Canterbury, and Southland, with 17 addresses searched, 10 arrested, and 20kg of meth and $500,000 in cash seized, as well as high-end vehicles.
