The War: NSW Police boss Karen Webb lifts lid on Sydney underworld’s 20 gang ‘masters’

Twenty suspected underworld figures have been identified by police as the “masters” of Sydney’s gang war which has claimed more than a dozen lives in 18 months.

Twenty suspected underworld figures have been identified by police as the “masters” of Sydney’s gang war which has claimed more than a dozen lives in 18 months.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has also revealed in an exclusive interview for The War crime series, that some underworld figures have more than one contract on their heads.

That makes it hard to ascertain exactly who in the underworld wants them dead the most.

“There are more than 20 masters and then others that are not as important in the hierarchy but still involved,” Ms Webb said.

“Some individuals have more than one contract on them and that makes it difficult to investigate, because there are many lines of inquiry.’’

The Commissioner did not name her top-20 gang targets but The Daily Telegraph understands they are members of the Hamzy crime network and their allied opponents the Alameddines and the Comanchero bikies.

It’s understood exiled Comanchero boss Mark Buddle along with alleged leading Alameddine figure, Rafat, and his relative Mohamad Alameddine are among them.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has vowed to continue the fight against Sydney’s undeworld blood feuds. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“Certainly the Comanchero bikie gang is a major player nationally and internationally,” Ms Webb said.

“Mark Buddle is the leader and certainly a person of interest to us and we continue to work with our federal partners to investigate him.

“We are investigating him. There are briefs of evidence against him and we certainly want him back.

“We have a pretty good handle on who they are. There have been strike forces commenced after each crime which gives us a pretty good insight into who the players are.

“Now we have joined some of those strike forces into one (Strike Force Erebus) which has had immediate success.”

Mohamad Alameddine is on NSW Police’s list of 20 underworld leaders.

Rafat Alameddine is believed to be the leader of the powerful crime family.

Ms Webb said major arrests had already been made and more sweeping operations were on the way.

This week she will travel to Switzerland to attend the Pearls in Policing Conference with top law enforcement bosses from around the world. The major theme will be organised crime.

Webb said police are aware of contracts on the lives of a number of people currently in Sydney but would not name them or say how many. At least four of those recently killed had been warned by police that they were targets for execution.

She said police would continue the grim work of warning crooks who they believed were being targeted by other crooks.

“If we become aware that someone’s life is in danger we will talk to those people and see what assistance police can provide, because it’s our job and it’s a public safety concern. And it doesn’t matter who they are, victims of crime, whether it’s domestic violence or organised crime people … we treat them the same when there is a danger to people’s lives,’’ she said.

The Telegraph has been told there are more than six groups of people willing to take up these contracts.

“Which is hard to believe … some people are guns and for the right sort of money will do that,” Ms Webb said.

She said the increasing public nature of the shootings was something that concerned her and her officers deeply.

“They have little regard for life, to carry them out so publicly,” she said.

Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle continues to evade NSW Police overseas.

Webb became commissioner in the middle of the war and since taking the reins has gone out of her way to involve herself in the operations and investigations into the bloody conflict.

Last month she addressed more than 450 police involved in Operation Sugarcane as they prepared for dawn raids across Sydney on an alleged major drug ring connected to the Alameddine family.

“It was great to be part of it,” she said.

“It affects the way the public feels, how safe they feel and we have invested a lot and will continue to invest to make sure we are doing as much as we can.”

Webb is being briefed at least once a week on progress of the investigations, sometimes more if there has been a breakthrough or another crime.

She also said police were currently seeking more powers in their fight against the crime lords and their lavish lifestyles.

“We’ve currently got some submissions before cabinet to consider additional powers, particularly around unexplained wealth,” she said.

“They display it so publicly, that’s the way that they show their success to their competitors which can cause other conflicts.

“What concerns me is that young kids see this as attractive. It’s not. It’s very ugly and it’s dirty money and makes you a target. You are not only looking over your shoulder that the police are coming but that other criminals will come after you.

“And making possession of an encrypted device illegal, which is part of our submissions, would certainly help our efforts.’’

The Hamzys, Alameddines and other families involved in the gang conflict are no stranger to the commissioner. She was involved in the investigations of an Alameddine shot over a decade ago.

“This isn’t necessarily a new conflict, the current situation has escalated but the conflict has been going on and off for years.

“When I was commander at Holroyd I certainly saw it first-hand. We had 13 drive-by shootings in my first 18 months, some weeks more than 135 people reporting for bail … which would have involved some of these names we hear now,’’ she said.

“We might now be talking about the next generation.”

Originally published as The War: NSW Police boss Karen Webb lifts lid on Sydney underworld’s 20 gang ‘masters’