‘Low profile’ Australian gangland figure spotted living his best gangster life overseas

A powerful young Australian underworld figure who usually goes to great lengths to stay anonymous has been spotted dancing the night away at a nightclub in Dubai.

Video has emerged of a powerful young Melbourne underworld figure living his best gangster life overseas.

The Herald Sun has obtained footage of Ahmed Al Hamza – known as a man who prefers to keep a low profile – partying with friends at a Dubai nightclub.

Al Hamza left Australia in 2022 and has spent much of his time in the United Arab Emirates city since then.

He had the previous year been acquitted by a Supreme Court jury of the 2017 shooting murder of drug dealer Anwar Teriaki in Roxburgh Park.

The 26-year-old is regarded as an intelligent and strategic operator who goes to great lengths to stay as anonymous as possible, unlike some of his more flamboyant counterparts in the crime world.

Ahmed Al Hamza dancing at a nightclub in Dubai. Picture: Supplied

The clip provides a brief glimpse into the apparently carefree lifestyle of Al Hamza, who is still viewed as an influential figure in Melbourne’s Middle-eastern organised crime world.

He can be seen dancing and singing along to a song playing in the background, smiling at the camera while holding what appears to be a vape.

Before his night out, Al Hamza was last publicly spotted wining and dining with Melbourne real estate figures at a Mexican restaurant in Dubai, where he was snapped smiling while donning a blue sombrero.

Al Hamza – who survived being shot outside the Al-Diwan Lebanese restaurant at Campbellfield in 2016 – is just one of a growing band of Melbourne organised crime figures who now base themselves in the Middle East.

Among them is crime boss Kazem Hamad, who is a major force in Melbourne’s underworld despite the obstacle of distance, and has remained a close ally of Al Hamza.

Kazem’s brother Maytham was a co-accused of Al Hamza in the Teriaki killing but a murder charge against him was withdrawn.

Kazem Hamad is another major force in Melbourne’s underworld. Picture: Supplied

The Hamads are suspected of being behind Melbourne’s fiery tobacco warfare of the past 18 months in what appears to be an attempt to take control of the lucrative outlaw sector.

Police suspect he has been able to use technology and the fear his name generates back here to remotely fight the Haddara syndicate from his Middle-east base.

Iraqi-born Hamad is believed to have been banished from Dubai after authorities were made aware of his extensive criminal background, which includes heroin trafficking and violence.

The Herald Sun understands Hamad’s initial intention after being deported was to live in the Dubai home of a wealthy former Melbourne-based organised crime player.

That expat, a powerful figure in the outlaw motorcycle gang world, has since been charged with high-level cocaine trafficking offences but spent many years operating his empire remotely from the desert city.

Another senior OMCG identity also shifted to Dubai last year with his return date unclear.

In June 2022, two young men suspected of involvement in the bungled cemetery hit on former Mongols bikie and prominent kickboxer Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim jetted out to Dubai days shortly after the ambush.

They have not returned.

Hasan Topal, a suspect in two Melbourne underworld killings, also

Many other Melbourne crime identities have set up in the Middle-east over the years.

Former Comanchero supremo Amad “Jay” Malkoun relocated to the UAE after leaving Australia in 2013.

He later moved to Greece where he was almost killed in a 2019 car-bombing in the affluent suburb of Glyfada, before heading back Down Under.

The movements of another senior Comanchero, Hasan Topal, have become murky in recent times.

Topal – a suspect in two Melbourne underworld killings – was arrested in Turkey in November last year and there are rumours he has been behind bars since then.

Another well-connected gangster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was able to do some prison time while operating his Melbourne operations from Lebanon.

An older criminal comfortably saw out the remainder of his life in the same country after fleeing Australia while on bail for serious drug trafficking matters.

Originally published as ‘Low profile’ Australian gangland figure spotted living his best gangster life overseas