Sydney gangster Youssef ‘Gags’ Ahmad has parole revoked to protect himself after bounty talk

Talk of a bounty on the head of Youssef “Gags” Ahmad has been around for months, and now police have locked him up for his own protection.

One of the Sydney underworld’s marked men has had his parole revoked in a move that seems aimed at ensuring his own safety.

Talk of a bounty on the head of Youssef “Gags” Ahmad has never stopped since the alleged assassination of his brother Mahmoud “Brownie” Ahmad in Greenacre in late April.

“Brownie’s” death was the catalyst for a chaotic fortnight in which Comanchero bikie boss Tarek Zahed was shot but survived, his brother Omar killed, and the Ahmads’ step-nephew Rami Iskander gunned down.

NSW Police have been at pains to stop the ongoing bloodshed and so on Friday arrested Youssef Ahmad as he drove through the CBD and put him back behind bars, with source saying the move was solely aimed at preserving his life.

Ahmad faced Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday charged over a breach of his parole, with The Daily Telegraph understanding the alleged breach relates to him failing to abide by the condition which requires him to be of good behaviour.

Youssef (centre) poses for a photo with his brothers Yasser and Mahmoud “Brownie” Ahmad. Picture: Supplied

“They think he may be at risk of retribution for being part of the Ahmad crime family,” the source said.

“There has been talk he (Ahmad) had been laying low hoping things would calm down, so why police have said he has not been of good behaviour, who knows?”

Ahmad was released on parole last year after serving five years behind bars for attempting to import a large amount of cocaine in 2016, before he was released in 2021.

In a statement, NSW Police would not officially detail the alleged reason he breached his parole.

“As part of ongoing Task Force Erebus operations a 33-year-old male was arrested following a vehicle stop on Sussex St in Sydney on Friday, August 5,” the statement read.

“He was taken to Day St Police Station where an outstanding revocation of parole warrant was executed.”

Youssef “Gags” Ahmad was arrested in Sydney’s CBD on Friday and had his parole revoked. Picture: NSW Police

The Ahmads have long been one of Sydney’s heavyweight underworld clans, renowned for extortions and a number of significant violent incidents.

The arrest of Youssef – who is understood to have had the nickname “Gags” since childhood – means five of the family’s brothers are either dead or in jail.

Mahmoud "Brownie" Ahmad was gunned down in Greeancre in April. Picture: Supplied

Older brother Walid “Wally” Ahmad was gunned down outside Bankstown Centro shopping centre in 2016.

His death is widely believed to have been in retaliation for the killing of Safwan Charbaji outside a Condell Park panel beaters a few weeks earlier.

Mahmoud “Brownie” Ahmad was jailed for his role in that same killing, before his release last year and gunning down in April.

Another brother Ahmad “Rock” Ahmad is currently behind bars serving a sentence for importing a border controlled drug, while Yasser Ahmad is currently in custody on remand charged with breaching a firearms prohibition order (FPO). Yasser is yet to enter a plea.

Ahmad’s parole being revoked would not be the first time police have acted in such a manner in an effort to protect an underworld figure.

Ghassan Amoun (formerly Hamzy) was jailed for a breach of a serious crime prevention order (SCPO) last year at a time when threats on his life were widely known.

Within just days of his release from prison in January this year he was shot dead at South Wentworthville.