Waeil Rustom, 42, was the boss of a cocaine supply syndicate that serviced customers across Sydney. Credit:NSW Police "I thought I'd get rich but it was actually lose, lose, lose," he told a psychologist, according to documents tendered in the Downing Centre District Court. The market stall owner and five co-accused faced a sentencing hearing this week where details of the cocaine operation, which stretched from the south-west to the affluent city fringes, were revealed. The court heard that Rustom was the "boss" while former aged care nurse Robert Vernon, 42, was his "right-hand man". Rustom, 42, had a criminal record comprised largely of driving offences up until the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad arrested him for drug supply in 2015.

Robert Max Vernon, 42. Credit:NSW Police However, the former Punchbowl Boys High School student's life had been touched by crime before. His younger brother, Mohamed Rustom, was caught up in a police crackdown on the infamous Telopea St drug activity in Punchbowl in the late 90s. Rustom, a sibling of nine, said it was his brother's lengthy jail sentence for murdering Assad Barakat in Parklea jail in 2002 that contributed to his downward spiral into drug abuse. In an affidavit tendered in court, Rustom explained he started the cocaine run after a friend asked him to source two grams of cocaine.

Rustom tacked half a gram on top of the order and kept it for himself. Most of the drug money he earned was spent on gambling - "whatever was available" - more drugs and "at times" sex workers, Rustom told the court during cross-examination. As the "manager" in the syndicate, Vernon, a father-of-three, was given a car and a mobile phone to co-ordinate the deals. A statement of agreed facts outlined how customers would either call or text, often using code, their orders before the cocaine was dropped off. When the demand spiked, usually on a Friday or Saturday night, drivers were brought in to carry out deliveries and replenish stock.

One of those drivers was Cabdiqure Gure, who would use his Combined Services taxi to transport the cocaine, ranging from $300 for a bag to $1000 for a "ball". On July 16, 2015, Gure was directed to Surry Hills and Vaucluse before he dropped money to Rustom and collected 15 more bags of cocaine. "The big fella is organising more but I have to send the money back," Vernon told the cab driver. Over a single night in August, 2015, 26 bags of cocaine were delivered to various people in Manly and at spots around the city. On other occasions, deliveries, ranging from a single gram to 15 grams, were made to a pub in Cremorne, Waverley, Woollahra and Vaucluse.

Much of the clientele were city professionals, including an eastern suburbs businessman, talent agency employee and interior designer. However, higher-profile customers, including sporting identities, have not been detailed in court documents. Rustom's brother, Abdul Rustom, 26, was also charged for supplying 33 grams of cocaine as part of the syndicate. Gure took part in the supply of 42 grams of cocaine, Denial Sfeir supplied 14 grams and Ahmed Naaman was involved in delivering 21 grams of the drug. Rustom, who still had the support of his wife, said he was extremely sorry for the pain he put his family through.

"Most importantly I knew my brother Abdul was starting to get exposed to the drug scene and consume prohibited substances and I did nothing about it," he wrote in an affidavit. "Instead I brought him along to help me and dragged him into a situation that now has him also in trouble." Rustom's barrister, top silk Bret Walker SC, told the court on Monday his client was not a wholesale supplier and there was a lack of cold and calculated entrepreneurship. "We are not talking Mr Bigs," he said. Mr Walker said Rustom would have the support of his family and friends on release from jail and a job.

Judge Garry Neilson is expected to sentence Waeil Rustom and Vernon on Wednesday. Sfeir, Naaman, Gure and Abdul Rustom will be sentenced in October.