Tobacco war at ‘turning point’ thanks to informers: Police
Victoria Police say a “turning point” has been reached in the two-year-old tobacco war as authorities have made a string of arrests and developed informers inside the syndicate of kingpin Kaz Hamad.
The claim comes after the Lunar Taskforce arrested 12 suspected members of Hamad’s syndicate last week and another seven suspected associates this week. All of them have been charged with offences relating to a string of extortions over tobacco shops and an allegedly unpaid debt dating back to last year.
“Pleasingly, we’re now starting to see members of the public, as well as members of the Hamad syndicate, start to co-operate with the police,” Inspector Graham Banks said at a press conference on Thursday.
“While that co-operation is not yet at the level we’d like to see, it is no doubt a significant turning point in this significant investigation into what is a very serious and organised crime group.”
Banks declined to comment on whether the collaborators were lower level or more senior members of the Hamad crew, which has been waging a campaign of intimidation and arson attacks in a turf war to control Australia’s multibillion-dollar illicit cigarette trade.
Hamad has become one of Melbourne’s most powerful underworld figures after being deported from Australia to Iraq in mid-2023, igniting the tobacco war that has been linked to at least three murders, numerous shootings and more than 130 firebombings.
From CCTV footage showing an attempted extortion of a tobacco shop in the City of Hume.Credit: Police Media
Hamad, and his business associate and cousin Ahmed Al Hamza, have been lavish in their rewards for loyal members of their crew, including first-class international trips, luxury cars and top-notch legal representation when they are arrested.
The syndicate has also been linked to a series of firebombings and threats against anyone who speaks out against the gang, which has led to the collapse of at least three prosecutions against gang members.
