Alleged Mariam crime clan to be targeted by police, with Hamzys and Alameddines in ‘disarray’

With the Alameddines and Hamzys in “disarray”, there are new alleged crime clans in the sights of NSW Police – including the Mariams.

While most attention has been on well-known Sydney crime clans the Alameddines and Hamzys in recent years, NSW Police are now working to prevent other alleged organised crime groups from stepping up – among them is a familiar name around Bankstown and Punchbowl.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the alleged Mariam crime clan is among those in their sights.

Multiple senior police sources have confirmed in recent weeks they believe the Mariams are an “emerging” group and the intent is to stop them, long before they can reach the levels of the Alameddines or Hamzys.

“They’re an emerging issue for us and they need to be squashed,” one police source said.

“They’re based in Punchbowl and the allegation is they’re pretty much another crime clan, operating in that area and into Bankstown and Campsie.

Mahmoud Mariam, who has done jail time for manslaughter, is one of the men NSW Police is understood to be targeting.

His brother Moustafa Mariam was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in 2016 for possessing a pistol and is another man in the sights of NSW Police.

“We actively targeted them in Strike Force Hawk (set up in late-2021 to stop the Alameddine and Hamzy feud) because like the others it’s all over drugs and drug run phones that each syndicate has.”

Police sources also said the group is nowhere near as big as the Alameddines or Hamzys, but appears to be ruthless and have access to guns.

It was guns that put the Mariam family name on the map in 2009, when Mahmoud Mariam shot dead truck driver Bob Knight.

Mr Knight was driving past KFC at Milperra when Mahmoud opened fire on a rival group, with one of the stray bullets freakishly hitting him.

Mahmoud laughed and smiled as he was led away after being jailed for six years for manslaughter.

His brother Moustafa, better known as “Moose”, was then sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in 2016 for possessing a pistol.

Truck driver Bob Knight was driving past KFC Milperra when a stray bullet fired by Mahmoud Mariam hit and killed him.

Both Moustafa and Mahmoud were at the Milperra KFC when the shootout occurred that saw Mr Knight killed.

“Now … they’ve got cash and a decent crew with them, people are starting to talk about them.”

One of the incidents people are talking about occurred in the lead up to Yusuf Nazlioglu’s death, when the now slain Lone Wolf bikie attempted to stand over several people including members of the Mariam clan.

Rumours also swirled about their links to wealthy underworld figure Omar Elomar, who was the victim of a daylight kidnapping and several drive-by shootings.

There is no suggestion the Mariams were in any way involved in Nazlioglu’s death or the Elomar incidents.

Supreme Court Judge Megan Latham said in sentencing that Mariam had “at no stage expressed the slightest remorse for the death of Mr Knight”.

The new focus on the Mariams comes as police sources said they were confident they had broken the back of the Alameddine and Hamzy families.

In May police arrested dozens of alleged members and associates of R4W (Ready 4 War), which they allege was the drug running arm of the Alameddine clan.

“The Alameddines are all over the shop and those arrests have left them without their network, and in total disarray,” one senior investigator said.

“There are still a number of murder investigations going on but we believe we’ve curtailed them for now, so we are turning our attention to other organised crime networks – like the Mariams.”

The Hamzys meanwhile have suffered mass casualties in the gangland war over the past two years.

Mejid Hamzy and his brother Ghassan Amoun (formerly Hamzy), their cousin Bilal Hamze and young drug runner Salim Hamze have all been killed.

Several other high-ranking members and associates are currently behind bars on remand.

The targeting of the Mariams comes amid the feud between the Alameddine and Hamzy clans that has seen more than a dozen men, including Bilal Hamze (pictured), killed.

Teenage gangster Salim Hamze and his innocent father Toufik were also victims of the gang war. Picture: Facebook

Underworld sources also predicted the future fortunes of the Hamzys centre around a relative due to soon get out of prison – Mohammed “Little Crazy” Hamzy.

“The Hamzys won’t be nothing until Little Crazy gets out, he’s on another level,” one gang source said.

“Some think he will try and flee overseas to get away, but I reckon he’ll have seen everything going on in the last few years and want revenge.”

A convicted killer, Hamzy has been behind bars since 2013 and is due for release next year.