A Middle Eastern accused black market gun dealer has been arrested in western Sydney after allegedly being caught in a police sting.
Issam Ajaj, 31, allegedly sold a loaded .45 calibre Colt 1911 semi-automatic pistol for $25,000 in broad daylight near his home in Lurnea on May 15, unaware that the buyer was a police witness.
Ajaj, who is a father, was arrested this week and refused bail in Liverpool Local Court after being charged with firearms, ammunition and drug offences, including exposing a child to drugs, The Saturday Telegraph reported.
Senior police signed off on the sting on May 8 after officers from Taskforce Falcon formed Strike Force Dameer in February to investigate Ajaj’s alleged black market firearms operation, court documents state.
The police witness communicated with Ajaj on encrypted app Threema, where he went by the nickname “The Juice”, and the pair negotiated the price before arranging to meet at Weir Crescent at 1.30pm on May 15, police allege.
Police then had Ajaj under surveillance as he left his home and walked to witness’s car via a laneway, and got in the front seat, according to court documents.
The police witness gave Ajaj the cash, which had been “pre-recorded, and Ajaj allegedly pointed to the laneway and said “do you see on that, see that bag, see that plastic bag … It’s right there. It’s right there cuz”, before getting out of the car and walking away.
The police witness retrieved the bag, which allegedly contained the pistol, and Ajaj allegedly sent him a message in the Threema chat 19 minutes later saying “first bullet is a dummy bullet”.
Police examined the gun and identified it as a prohibited firearm containing a 10-round magazine and one “training round”.
Ajaj was arrested after being pulled over by Raptor Squad Highway Patrol on Tuesday, and police allegedly seized two iPhones and $595 cash.
A search warrant was then executed at his home, where officers allegedly found a suspected encrypted Google Pixel phone, $5,000 cash in a handbag, 548g of cocaine worth an estimated $191,800, and 68 rounds of ammunition.
Header image: Left, right, Ajaj being arrested. Inset, the Threema chat where the alleged gun sale was arranged (NSW Police).
