Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad’s brother Youssef flees to Lebanon

Slain gangster Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad’s brother Youssef reportedly fled Australia around the time Tarek and Omar Zahed were shot, and is believed to be hiding out in Lebanon.

Slain gangster Mahmoud “Brownie” Ahmad’s brother Youssef reportedly fled the country around the same time a senior bikie was shot, in what sources believe was a retaliation for targeting the notorious crime family.

Youssef Ahmad has abandoned his Punchbowl home in the wake of the shootings which have rocked southwest Sydney in recent weeks, claiming the life of his brother and a nephew.

He is believed to have spent the past few weeks hiding out in Lebanon.

Police are now looking into whether last month’s shooting of Comanchero heavyweight Tarek Zahed and his brother Omar the week after Ahmad’s killing are linked.

Youssef, nicknamed “Gags”, and his brother Yasser had been leading the family in recent years, with many of their brothers in jail or dead.

Youssef Ahmad, pictured being arrested in June 2016, is believed to have fled to Lebanon in the wake of gangland shootings. Picture: NSW Police

One source said the Ahmads had “lost a lot of clout” in the underworld in recent years, with many family members out of ­action, and that “no one took Youssef that seriously”.

Youssef Ahmad hopped on a plane heading to the Middle East after the Zaheds were gunned down in Auburn, sources confirmed.

Speculation in the underworld is rife that he either left for his own safety after his brother’s death or because he would be blamed for the Zahed shooting.

Youssef was released on parole from jail in 2021 after spending five years inside over several attempts to import cocaine from the US.

He returned to the Punchbowl home he shared with wife Princess LaaLaa.

Mahmoud "Brownie" Ahmad.

And the scene of his shooting in Greenacre earlier this year.

His criminal history includes using an unauthorised firearm, and several drug and steroid possession offences, previously ­arguing in court that having several older brothers involved in crime shaped his path.

Youssef Ahmad joins his brother Mahmoud’s mate Ahmed Banat, who also fled for Lebanon after the shooting. Mahmoud was shot dead after leaving Banat’s Greenacre home, with underworld sources saying he fled out of fear people would assume he was involved in the hit.

One source said another theory was that Youssef left for his own safety after his brother was gunned down, fearing he would be next.

Rami Iskander, 23, instead was the next victim shot dead in Belmore this month with police believing he was likely targeted because he is the stepson of Yasser Ahmad.

Iskander was buried a fortnight ago.

He died after being shot outside his home in Belmore.

It was the 13th gang killing on Sydney’s streets in the past 18 months that has seen cops struggle to stop the bloodshed between multiple high profile crime families.

Iskander, a concreter by trade, also spent significant years of his life with gangster uncle Mahmoud Ahmad during his wave of violence that saw the family’s notoriety rise.

Yasser Ahmad was last weekend remanded in jail after police conducted sweeping raids on crime families allegedly located a pistol hidden in his garage.

One source said Yasser, being one of the last Ahmad brothers currently on the street, could have been locked up by police “for his own safety”.

He was charged after allegedly breaching a firearms prohibition order that prevented him from handling a gun.

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