Shootings, drugs and extortion: Bloody underworld of Sydney’s Ahmad family

Sydney is just learning the name of Mahmoud “Brownie” Ahmad but his family’s reputation in the Sydney underworld is a lengthy and bloody one. Here’s what we know of the Ahmads.

Slain underworld figure Mahmoud “Brownie” Ahmad was gunned down on Wednesday night, but the Ahmad family are no small frys in Sydney’s crime scene.

The Ahmad family, were once a powerful and feared family in the Sydney criminal milieu, involved in drug running, extortion, car rebirthing and any other criminal activities they could make money out of.

It all came crashing down when Walhid “Wally” Ahmad, his brother Brownie and other associates were confronted by members of a rival crime family outside their smash repair business in Condell Park in 2016.

In the ensuing fight guns were drawn, and during the ensuing shootout Safwan Charbaji, 32, was shot dead by Wally, the leader of the Ahmad family crime gang.

Three weeks later, Wally himself was gunned down while sipping coffee at a rooftop cafe in Bankstown in broad daylight.

Soon after, Brownie left Australia for Lebanon after it was revealed he was wanted for his part in the shooting of Charbaji, a relative of the Elmir crime family.

He was arrested at Sydney Airport in 2017 by police after flying home from Qatar, and went on to plead guilty to manslaughter, serving five years in prison.

Mahmoud "Brownie" Ahmad.

The family empire was crumbling but still being kept together by Ahmad “Rock” Ahmad when both Ahmad and Elmir associates were murdered the tit for tat war claimed the life of close associate Kemel “Blackie” Barakat, shot to death while he was in bed with a female friend.

Its believed Blackie was killed because he was suspected of shooting hitman Hamad Assaad, who the family wrongly believed killed Wally.

The Ahmad family presence in southwest Sydney as a crime force all but disappeared when Rock himself was arrested and later jailed for 13 years for his role in a conspiracy to import cocaine along with Steve Elmir and Michael Ibrahim.

Grainger

But last week, the Brownie and his brother Yousef “Gags” Ahmad were warned by police they each had a contract out on their lives.

Police warned younger brother Gags at the same time they told Brownie there was a contract on his life.

The 33-year-old, like his brother Brownie who was gunned down last night, was also only released from jail last year after spending five years in prison for drug importation and other related charges.

Officers from Strike force Raptor issued the brothers with Firearm Prohibition Orders last Tuesday at addresses in Punchbowl and the city area.

At the same time, they told the pair they should keep a low profile as there was credible information in the underworld and in police circles the pair could be targeted for execution.

Now with Wally and Brownie dead and Rock in jail, younger sibling Gags will be feeling very isolated and vulnerable without his big brothers around to protect him.

Originally published as Shootings, drugs and extortion: Bloody underworld of Sydney’s Ahmad family