Masood Zakaria, Adam Achrafi face court over alleged murders of Salim Hamze, Toufik Hamze

Police have gathered about 40,000 pages of evidence in relation to an alleged Sydney gangland double murder, a court has heard.

Police have already gathered about 40,000 pages of evidence in relation to an alleged Sydney gangland double murder, but the picture is still far from complete, a court has heard.

NSW Police charged two of the alleged killers on Wednesday, arresting Masood Zakaria, 29, at the Goulburn “Supermax” prison and swooping on Adam Achrafi, 28, at a home in Austral.

Both men were charged with two counts of murder over the fatal shootings of teenage gangster Salim Hamze, 18, and his innocent father, Toufik, 64, in Guildford in October 2021.

Zakaria is also alleged to have directed a criminal group and contravened a serious crime prevention order by using a device to transmit encrypted communications, while Achrafi is accused of directing and participating in a criminal group.

The Daily Telegraph revealed on Wednesday that police would allege the pair and three men, who live offshore, were all involved in a group chat about the alleged double murder.

Masood Zakaria, one of the men charged with two counts of murder. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

The other three men – Alameddine organised crime network boss Rafat Alameddine, 30, John Ray Bayssari, 33, and Zaid Abdelhafez, 24 – are all now the subject of arrest warrants.

Zakaria did not appear in Goulburn Local Court or apply for bail when his matter was mentioned briefly on Thursday.

Rafat Alameddine, who is wanted on two murder charges.

John Ray Bayssari, who is also wanted. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Duty lawyer Matt Adam, acting as an agent for Zakaria’s solicitor, Jessica Tohi, did not enter pleas and said the 29-year-old had already been returned to the nearby “Supermax” prison.

Police prosecutor Jason Ryan told the court the office of the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions would ultimately be seeking 12 months to serve a brief of evidence.

Sergeant Ryan said there was already about 40,000 pages of material available, but there was still more evidence to “come together”.

Zakaria’s case is set to return to court in July.

Toufik Hamze, 64, and his son, Salim Hamze, 18, who were killed in 2021. Picture: Facebook

Achrafi did not appear in Liverpool Local Court on Thursday as his lawyer made no application for bail and requested for the matter to be adjourned for eight weeks.

Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim granted the adjournment and listed Achrafi’s case for July 4 at Parramatta Local Court.

Salim Hamze had just arrived at his father’s Guildford home, on Osgood Street, to head off to work on the morning they were both killed in 2021.

CCTV previously released by police shows a balaclava-clad gunman running up to the red ute the father and son had just got into before slipping on the grass, and then regaining his footing and opening fire.

CCTV footage of the gunman, who remains outstanding. Picture: NSW Police

On Wednesday, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald called the alleged double murder “one of the worst organised crime assassinations we’ve seen in Australia”.

Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty, commander of the NSW Police homicide squad, described the killings as “callous”.

“We’ve spoken about this murder over many years and again we have an innocent man who’s been shot dead, because we believe that Salim Hamze was the target of this organised criminal network,” he said.

“The people that we’ve mentioned [as wanted] are not just low-level soldiers, we’re talking about upper-echelon of the organised crime network. So when you remove the aces from a house of cards, you watch it fall, and that’s what we’re seeing.”

Police sources have said Alameddine and Bayssari are alleged to have been architects of the hit, while it is believed Abdelhafez was in the getaway car on the morning of the incident.

Police do not allege Zakaria or Achrafi were the gunman but rather that they, like the men offshore, were crucial in the “planning, resourcing and execution” of the killings.