Inside the chaos leading up to first Sydney gangland war murder of Fares Abounader

Fares Abounader was the first casualty in Sydney’s bloody gangland wars. Now, for the first time, underworld sources lift the lid on the chaotic days before his brutal murder.

Fares Abounader “laughed off” warnings he was a marked man, was given a stern ultimatum if he was going to patch over from the Comanchero and just weeks later he was dead.

For the first time, underworld sources have lifted the lid on the chaotic days leading up to the first death in Sydney’s bloody gangland war, which has since seen 16 more follow him to the grave.

Police believe all of the 17 murders are linked in some way, either directly or indirectly.

In certain cases, police believe they are linked through warring families or bikie gangs battling for drug territory or both.

Others shootings have come seemingly from nowhere.

Fares Abounader was shot dead outside his Panania home almost exactly two years ago.

The gangland war that started between two rival families of Middle Eastern origin has now drawn in much of Sydney’s underworld.

In 2020 Abounader, a longtime Comanchero, was patching over to the Bandidos after a years-long association with the club.

Abounader, 39, in white singlet at the Sydney Airport domestic terminal just before the infamous brawl with the Hells Angels.

Abounader was entrenched in the club’s hierarchy, finding himself front and centre for its most infamous moment in the public eye – the 2009 Sydney Airport brawl.

One source said once he decided to leave the club Abounader was told to “come with empty suitcases … no baggage” if he was going to join the Bandidos. But, when even members of his new club warned they heard rumours of people out to get him, he laughed it off and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

In reality, when people stopped him on the street to tell him there was a bounty on his head, it rocked the veteran bikie.

Bikie busting Raptor cops stood guard over his funeral. Picture: John Grainger

Only weeks later, in August 2020, he died in a hail of bullets.

With tensions between the two clubs rising, the Sunday Telegraph has been told senior members of both the Comanchero and the Bandidos met face-to-face over the issue with Abounader.

With an underworld war bubbling below the surface, both clubs could do without making more enemies.

One source recalled the words, “He’s your problem,” from the meeting almost two years to the day he was gunned down.

“But people don’t shoot you dead at your home in front of your family because you switched clubs,” another said.

Police are still hunting his killer, but only have grainy CCTV footage of a car leaving the scene nearby to work with.

While the reason why Abounader patched over is still unclear, one crime figure pointed to the Bandidos being “old school bikies and the Comanchero are just gangsters”.

Another senior bikie said “sometimes it takes two or three clubs” before someone finds the one that fits them.

His close ally, Mick Hawi, died in a similar way.

But Abounader was understood to be well liked within the Comanchero and had a strong friendship with its former leader Mick Hawi.

It is believed to be rumours that Abounader was setting up a new chapter within the Bandidos, taking some Comanchero with him, that angered his former club.

The Bandidos themselves have recently recruited a number of Rebels from Western Sydney into their ranks and also have a good rapport with the Hells Angels.

The Hells Angels have formed an alliance with the Alameddine crime family after a senior member was pictured with a number of members from the clan.

Abounader’s tense gangland funeral set the stage for 16 more over the next two years. Picture: John Grainger

The last time Abounader appeared in court before he died, he told a judge that a police officer informed him there was a threat to his life. A source close to Abounader said he had felt his life was in danger since 2018, two years before he eventually died.

“They’re never okay. He was thinking something was going to happen to him for a while,” they said. “Most of the time these guys are thinking that someone is after them.”

A month later, the second domino to fall was crime figure Mejid Hamzy. Soon after he died, a series of crime figures then found themselves six feet under, including his relatives Bilal Hamze, Salim Hamze, Toufik Hamze and Ghassan Amoun.

Bilal Hamze, who followed Abounader into the grave.

Not long after that so too would his cousin and fellow Hamzy crime family member Ghassan Amoun.

Ibrahem Hamze was dubbed “the last man standing” in the family but survived two hits on his life as the gang war raged in 2021.

Innocent bystander Mustafa Naaman, who resembles Hamze, paid with his life for it when he was shot dead in a bungled hit meant for the crime family leader.

When asked if Sydney’s gang war could have been avoided if Abounader had not been killed, one senior police source was blunt in their assessment.

“No,” the cop said.

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