Pragmatically disable payment method if not in specific zone opencart - php

Question

How would i disable 'Cash On Delivery' payment method in opencart 2.x checkout if the selected address is from a zone_id that i don't want
I don't know the specific variable to do the logic; I have tried adding the logic below but it does not work
if (($this->config->get('cod_geo_zone_id')) == 1736) {
$status = true;
} else {
$status = false;
}
The complete code is as below in: catalog\model\payment\cod.php
<?php
class ModelPaymentCOD extends Model {
public function getMethod($address, $total) {
$this->load->language('payment/cod');
$query = $this->db->query("SELECT * FROM " . DB_PREFIX . "zone_to_geo_zone WHERE geo_zone_id = '" . (int)$this->config->get('cod_geo_zone_id') . "' AND country_id = '" . (int)$address['country_id'] . "' AND (zone_id = '" . (int)$address['zone_id'] . "' OR zone_id = '0')");
if ($this->config->get('cod_total') > 0 && $this->config->get('cod_total') > $total) {
$status = false;
} elseif (!$this->config->get('cod_geo_zone_id')) {
$status = true;
} elseif ($query->num_rows) {
$status = true;
}
else {
$status = false;
}
if (($this->config->get('cod_geo_zone_id')) == 1736) {
$status = true;
} else {
$status = false;
}
/*$zonex = $address['zone_id'];
if ($zonex == 1736) {
$status = false;
}*/
$method_data = array();
if ($status) {
$method_data = array(
'code' => 'cod',
'title' => $this->language->get('text_title'),
'terms' => '',
'sort_order' => $this->config->get('cod_sort_order')
);
}
return $method_data;
}
}
Any help will be appreciated