Elmir and Ahmad families: Cops claim warring tribes worked together behind scenes

IT’S the bloody gang war that’s left Sydney’s streets awash with blood, but arrests of leading members of both factions and claims they had been working ­together behind the scenes offers some hope of peace.

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IT’S the bloody gang war that has left Sydney’s streets awash with blood, but arrests of leading members of both factions and claims they had been working ­together behind the scenes offers some hope of peace across the city at last.

The Elmir and Ahmad families buried their dead after shootings across Sydney.

But yesterday Stephen Elmir was arrested by Australian Federal Police and local officers in Dubai and “Rock” Ahmad was arrested in a raid at his home in Bankstown.

The bloody body of Pasquale Barbaro lies in a Earlwood driveway after he was assassinated. Picture: Bill Hearne

“Money talks,” a senior police officer told The Daily Telegraph. “Clearly shooting at each other is not good for business.”

The war began when Elmir’s relative Safwan Charbaji was shot dead in a gunfight involving “Rock’s” brother, Wally Ahmad, outside a Sydney smash repair shop in April last year.

Fadi Ibrahim, brother of King’s Cross nightclub owner John Ibrahim, was among the mourners. Another three murders followed, including Wally Ahmad in a daylight hit at a cafe outside Bankstown Centro­.

Ahmad was gunned down on CCTV, with the gunman standing over him, pumping rounds into him.

Walid “Wally” Ahmad was a victim of Sydney’s bloody gangland war.

Fahdi Ibrahim at the funeral for gunned down gangster Wally Aahmad.

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His suspected killer Hamad Assaad was then executed, while a few weeks after that, in November last year, Mafia figure Pasquale Barbaro, who was believed to have escaped an earlier attempt on his life by Assaad, was shot dead in Earlwood.

Despite the Charbaji shooting, detectives working on Operation Veyda will allege the Elmir and Ahmad families were involved in the ­importation of drugs from the Netherlands.

Ahmad’s funeral at Lakemba Mosque.

John Ibrahim’s son Daniel, 26, was arrested in Sydney as was Ahmad “Rock” Ahmad, while in Dubai, John Ibrahim’s brothers Michael and Fadi were partying on board a luxury cruiser.

With them were supposed archrival Stephen Elmir and Mustapha Dib, released from jail last year after a murder conviction was quashed.

Safwan Charbaji was shot dead outside a smash repair business in Condell Park triggering a bloody gangland war.

After the boat docked in the opulent marina district, Fadi Ibrahim said his goodbyes and headed to the airport. His brother, Elmir and Dib began to make their way to an expensive celebratory dinner. None of them made it. Police swooped and all four were taken into custody.

Detectives from ­Operation Veyda also arrested a fifth man in Dubai, former ­Comanchero bikie Hayak “little Hux’’ Arif. “There is a perception in criminal circles in this country that people are untouchable once they go offshore,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan said. But Mr Gaughan warned the party was over. “Our international partners, one day, will come knocking on your door,” he said.

Dubai has become a favourite playground for Sydney’s partygoers because of its luxury hotels, open bars and abundance of Eastern European women. “This is a very clear message that places like Dubai and the UAE more broadly are working with law enforcement to bring these people to justice,” Mr Gaughan said.

Extradition proceedings from Dubai are set to be completed within 60 days.