Inside the world of enigmatic Melbourne underworld figure

He’s been kidnapped, shot twice, and amassed enormous wealth – now this gangland figure is the suspect in a major international crime.

Melbourne’s underworld is full of household names from Mick Murray, to Toby Mitchell to Tony Mokbel.

Then there are people like Mohammed Oueida, an enigmatic figure who has been shot twice, kidnapped and built prodigious wealth.

But the 45-year-old’s influence is enormous, particularly in the northern suburbs where he has, at times, exercised considerable clout for the past two decades.

The wealthy entrepreneur had a dose of unwanted exposure this week when it was revealed 20 properties had been raided and three people arrested as part of a sprawling transnational drug trafficking investigation.

The inquiry, by a joint Victoria and federal organised crime taskforce, first hit the mark in January when 300kg of heroin was seized in Melbourne after arriving in air cargo from Malaysia.

Three months later, a Winnebago motorhome was intercepted in remote West Australia and 33kg of methamphetamine and 50,000 pills seized.

Two Victorians, a man aged 35 and a woman aged 42, were arrested by police in the wheatbelt town of Kellerberrin.

Oueida, who was allegedly travelling in convoy with the pair in a Hummer, was arrested and charged and has remained in custody since.

He is suspected of being the principal figure in the alleged cross-continent shipment.

Oueida has a well-stamped passport and has previously lived in Dubai, Lebanon and Bali.

Those who have met him say he is smooth, smart and ruthless.

With a few exceptions, it takes brains and cunning to navigate danger and policing to reach gangland A-grade and plenty fall by the wayside trying.

“He’s smooth, confident, cocky,” said one detective.

“He’s cool and calm … switched-on. One of those people who sees himself as the smartest bloke in the room.”

That’s not to say Lebanese-born Oueida – once described by a judge as the “new Mokbel’’ – hasn’t seen his share of troubles over the years.

In 2018, properties linked to him were firebombed in a wave of violence suspected of being connected to a feared family from the northern suburbs.

Prestige cars were destroyed and houses damaged in late-night raids, which happened in the period after a grenade was lobbed into a house at Lalor.

A year earlier, Oueida was shot by crime figure Omar Tiba outside a mosque.

Bad blood between the Tiba clan and Oueida had been such that a sheik had earlier been called in to hold a meeting in an attempt to broker peace.

Oueida was outside the (Broadmeadows/Coburg) Mosque months later when Tiba hung out of a car’s passenger window and shot him, shouting “run you bastard son of a bitch” as the bullets flew.

The badly injured victim declined to give investigating police a statement.

By his early 30s he was a multi-millionaire living a ‘’flamboyant and luxurious’’ lifestyle.

Strangely, as gangland’s kingpins fell out, he fell in with Roberta Williams circa 2006-2007.

Oueida’s influence was profound on her.

Roberta made a short-lived conversion to Islam and even shaved off her locks, apparently for modesty.

Oueida had a profound influence on Roberta Williams. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

But modesty wasn’t for Oueida.

His grandiose tastes had him being described in court by his own lawyer as a “terrible show-off’’ while a prosecutor depicted his lifestyle as “beyond extravagant’’.

Little wonder. He was married four times and lived in a $2.8 million sprawling Greenvale property complete with its own eight-hole golf course, tennis court and pool.

Oueida had his admirers though.

He was known to be generous with his wealth, earning him “respect” within his community.