Big money, long grudges and brutal fallout: Inside Melbourne’s top crime gangs
Melbourne’s tobacco wars have shone a light on the ruthless, heavy-hitting crews who engage in fiery conflict. We take a look at some of the city’s most prominent crime gangs.
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Melbourne organised crime is a fluid world of big money, long grudges and brutal consequences.
The tobacco wars of the past 18 months have shone a light on ruthless, heavy-hitting crews who have attacked each other in fiery conflict.
Almost 100 arson attacks, ram-raids and shootings are linked to friction which has involved heavy Middle-Eastern organised crime syndicates and bikie gangs.
These crews are an enormous challenge for police because of the code of silence which protects each organisation.
Even victims know to keep their mouths shut.
When a man was wounded in a targeted shooting on the Ring Rd in Jacana in May, he refused to help police catch those who shot him.
The man who was with well-connected gangster Mohammed “Afghan Ali” Keshtiar when he was shot dead at South Yarra last year declined to cooperate with detectives.
Here are some of Melbourne’s most prominent crime crews.
The Hamad Family
Tobacco kingpin Kazem Hamad has ignited Victoria’s fiery conflict from overseas.
The man known far and wide as “Kaz” was deported last year after finishing a prison stint for high-level heroin trafficking and is believed to be operating out of Iraq, his country of origin.
Distance has no obstacle for his campaign of firebombings and extortions across Victoria.
The Hamad clan is going head-to-head with the rival Haddara family.
The Haddaras controlled most of the lucrative black market trade for over a decade until Hamad decided to muscle in on its profitable potential.
One related to an arson attack on a Docklands restaurant owned by the Haddara family.
On June 21, police in Victoria and West Australia arrested 13 people after raiding 50 properties across the two states in a major blow to the family’s operation.
A handful of arson attacks on tobacconists in the outer suburbs of Perth were suspected retaliation attacks against Hamad-aligned businesses.
Haddaras/Sam Abdulrahim/Brothers for Life
The Haddaras and Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim have been major forces standing against the Hamads in the tobacco wars.
The Herald Sun revealed in May that former bikie-turned-pro boxer Abdulrahim was a key player behind the rebirth of Brothers for Life – a violent Middle Eastern Crime gang based in Sydney.
The original gang was founded in 2007 from behind bars by Bassam Hamzy before a decade of internal feuding and shootings saw most key members jailed or killed.
But earlier this year, 32-year-old Abdulrahim was snapped with original BFL member and convicted killer Mohammed “Little Crazy” Hamzy, Bassam Hamzy’s cousin, on a luxury overseas getaway.
The revived gang is understood to have a growing number of foot soldiers across Victoria, NSW and South Australia and is believed to be now aligned with the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.
Its revival came just weeks before mystery gunmen fired 17 shots at Abdulrahim after luring him out of his Thomastown home by setting his parents’ cars alight on May 17.
Brothers for Life is not Abdulrahim’s first foray into gang life.
He was a prominent Mongol bikie until he and fellow former rider Mark Balsillie abruptly departed in March, 2022.
The pair was reportedly kicked out over their close ties with notorious underworld identity Toby Mitchell, who had earlier been forced to hand over his colours.
Just two months later, Abdulrahim was shot repeatedly in the chest as he left his cousin’s funeral in Fawkner.
The Haddaras and his family have kept a low-profile during the tobacco conflict but have vast business interests across Melbourne, including in the hospitality sector.
Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Gang
The Finks have a significant role in the illicit smoke trade and have allegedly had a hand in much of the fiery chaos.
While Middle-Eastern organised crime gangs control importation supply in the dodgy smoke business, the Finks have also been busy in an enforcement role.
It remains unclear how much, if any, illicit tobacco is being moved by the gang but their members and associates are suspected of being behind multiple destructive attacks across the state.
Several patched members have been charged over their alleged involvement in tobacco store firebombings including stores in Altona, Croydon, Moe and Sunshine.
Three patched members of the outlaw group were charged with a combined 14 counts of arson earlier this year when tensions within the trade were running hot.
The Finks – under the leadership of Koshan Radford – have over the years had an expansionist approach.
They are strong in the outer suburbs and have moved into more rural areas, including east Gippsland.
Notorious Crime Family
NCF has been severely weakened over the past two years by massive law enforcement investigations.
The Australian Federal Police/Victoria Police operations have crippled its drug importation and distribution networks, as well as the investment and money-laundering structure used to manage the profits.
Feared organised crime figure George Marrogi founded the gang from Barwon Prison as he served time for the 2016 murder of drug dealer Kadir Ors at Campbellfield Plaza shopping centre.
Marrogi was, before police made their move, able to orchestrate major international drug shipments from inside Barwon with the help of his girlfriend Antonietta Mannella.
Despite their flagging fortunes, police have alleged in court that the Marrogis are a factor in Melbourne’s tobacco wars.
George’s brother Jesse, once an ostentatious presence on social media, appears to have decided it’s time to take a lower profile.
The Marrogis have for years been bitter foes of the rival north suburban Hamad family faction.
Police suspect Kazem Hamad ordered last year’s attack on the Preston Cemetery crypt in which the remains of George’s sister Meshilin are held.
Hells Angels
The blue chip outlaw motorcycle gang first set up its landmark Alphington clubhouse in the 1970s and remains a strong presence here.
As other bikie clubs have risen and waned in the decades since, it has steadily grown and added the East County, Nomads, Darkside and Angel City chapters.
While their reputation remains as fearsome as ever, the Angels have got on with business relatively quietly while other clubs have been in and out of the headlines.
The Angels remain a high law enforcement priority.
They have interests in the drug trade but have also managed to, over the decades, expand into legitimate sectors such as transport and construction.
Little has been heard of late about the CBD-based Angel City chapter.
It was set up by Luke Moloney but he has since publicly renounced his membership during a court plea hearing over an assault.
The Nomads chapter has come under heavy police scrutiny over the 2020 disappearance and suspected murder of Adelaide HA’s associate Kerry Giakoumis.
Giakoumis, 29, had travelled to Melbourne with other Angels-linked figures and was last seen alive entering the Nomads’ Lipton Drive. Thomastown, clubhouse.
Subsequent arrests and major searches are yet to yield charges.
Mongols
The Mongols are still regarded as a force in Victoria, despite several years of internal turbulence and imprisonment of members.
They remain among the top cluster of OMCGs targeted by police and have been implicated in homicides, high-level drug trafficking and extortion.
The feared bikie group has undergone a huge makeover in recent years with several high-profile heavy hitters leaving the club in a major shake-up.
Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim, Mark Balsillie and Toby Mitchell departed in 2022, about the same time Queensland’s Nick “The Knife” Forbes gained control as national president.
Senior Mongol Tyrone “Little Ty” Bell is also gone and was recently named as a player in the CFMEU.
In the same period as gang’s the split, members Josh Rider and Aaron Ong received long prison terms for the freeway mistaken identity murder of fruiterer Paul Virgona.
It is also understood that Mongols have been active in running drug syndicates from inside Australia’s prisons, networking with other inmates to boost their earnings.
One Mongol was allegedly caught with a trafficable amount of drugs in his prison cell and police allege he had been moving buprenorphine for the outfit.
Rebels
The Rebels are regarded as having the largest membership base in Australia and are suspected of being entangled in Victoria’s ongoing tobacco turf war.
Their strong numbers right around the country, and in regional Victoria, makes them a formidable outfit.
It is clear law enforcement still view the Rebels as a priority target as several high-ranking members have been marked for deportation in recent years.
Ex-president Dean Martin’s visa was cancelled by the federal government on character grounds and he remains locked in a fight to stay in Australia.
The former national president, the uncle of retired Richmond star Dustin Martin, is expected to learn his fate later this month.
Founding member of the Rebels Aaron “AJ” Graham has had his visa cancelled several times and has since been booted to New Zealand.
Teenagers for hire
Teenagers have emerged as a wildcard in the organised crime trade sphere.
Evidence has emerged in recent times of their increasing use by crime groups to commit serious arson attacks on businesses and homes linked to their rivals.
Tobacco war combatants are suspected of paying the teens as little as a couple hundred dollars to carry out their dirty work late at night.
They are being recruited to commit violent armed robberies targeting legal cigarettes and fiery arson attacks on homes and businesses.
The crooks know that, if the teenagers are caught by police, they are likely to receive only a minor punishment for their crimes.
It also allows those orchestrating the crimes to remain at arms lengths from the crime itself.
Encrypted apps are commonly used to employ teenagers, who are keen to earn a quick buck for their troubles.
It is understood many of the vulnerable teenagers are living in the state’s residential care.
Lunar detectives in March arrested four boys and girls aged 14 to 16 after an attempted arson attack on Lebanese restaurant Al Nafoura.
The teenagers were also interviewed over the firebombing of a reception centre in Thomastown just days earlier.
“Clearly the age of these children and the fact that we know they’ve been tasked by others and by senior members of the criminal fraternity is of great concern,” detective Insp. Graham Banks said at the time.
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