Sydney’s most dangerous suburbs: Hamzy-Alameddine feud sparks murder hotspot

One Sydney area has been cemented as the state’s murder capital with assaults and robberies also skyrocketing. See if you live in one of the city’s most dangerous suburbs.

The bloody Hamzy-Alameddine feud has cemented Canterbury-Bankstown’s title as the state’s murder capital with fears more blood could be spilt as underworld tensions boil over.

The latest data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics reveals Blacktown, Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland as the state’s most dangerous localities, with a disproportionately higher number of assaults, robberies and murders.

The suburbs of Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland are turf for the notorious Hamzy-Alameddine families and bikie gangs like the Nomads and Comanchero, with at least five murders over the past year linked to underworld disputes.

The brutal assassination of gangster Mejid Hamzy and ex-Comanchero Fares Abounader has led to Canterbury-Bankstown having the highest number of homicides in NSW with 10, followed closely by Sydney, where Bilal Hamze was gunned down in June, with eight.

Cumberland, where Salim Hamze and his father were killed in October and Rifat Alameddine and Maha Hamze were both targeted in separate shootings, has the third-highest number of homicides in the state with eight in the past year.

Bilal Hamze, 25, who is facing two counts of shoot with intent to murder, is granted bail for a second time despite an appeal by the DPP and police to keep him off the streets

Mejid Hamze was gunned down

outside his Condell Park home in Canterbury-Bankstown.

Blacktown and Sydney also have the highest number of assaults, robbery and theft in the state, with similarly high rates of drug-related crime.

Criminologist Mark Lauchs said the suburbs of Sydney’s southwest and inner city are known hotbeds for gangland activity and have long been frequented by crime families and the Comanchero, Bandidos, Nomads and Hells Angels bikie gangs.

“A lot of the crime in these areas comes from drug-related turf wars and also vendetta, which really applies to motorcycle clubs and crime families,” he said.

“There are core families in some of these communities that still participate in these sorts of revenge attacks.”

Fares Abounader was shot and killed outside his Panania home by a waiting gunman. Picture: John Grainger

Police say they are working to quell crime in the Sydney hot spots. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Associate Professor Lauchs said vendetta attacks mostly related to drug-related turf wars and other disputes.

Detectives believe a suspected drug theft triggered the escalating gangland disputes between the Hamzy-Alameddine crime clans.

Police are on high alert for more retaliation attacks with Serious Crime Prevention Orders (SCPO) in place to restrict the movement of key players in a bid to quell tensions and stop the bloodshed.

While crime rates have remained stable in many suburbs and lowered in others as Covid forced people to stay home, Associate Professor Lauchs has warned of more crime as life returns to normal.

“Covid meant a lot of the public attacks that would have happened couldn’t because people couldn’t get out and mix,” he said.

“The chance of more attacks and collateral damage in some of these suburbs is very high. There have been a number of people killed because they were accidentally shot,” he said.

A spokesperson for NSW Police said police were committed to reducing violence in communities.

“Each Police Area Command and Police District assess data, trends and commentary provided by both the State Intelligence Command and the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) to develop priority strategies to prevent, disrupt and respond to crime across NSW,” they said.

“These strategies include high-visibility deployments, compliance operations, community engagement and education, as well as covert activity.”

Associate Professor Lauchs said local neighbourhood watch groups were an effective way to combat petty crime like burglary.

“Police can do patrol work but what’s really effective is the good work happening in local communities.”