Hadfield man charged with extortion after alleged tobacco store calls

Another man has been accused of carrying out extortions by putting crime kingpin Kazem Hamad on the phone to tobacco store victims in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

Another man has been accused of carrying out extortions by putting crime kingpin Kazem Hamad on the phone to tobacco store victims.

The 28-year-old Hadfield man was charged by detectives from the anti-organised crime Lunar taskforce on Thursday.

He faces two counts of extortion, a car theft charge and false document-related offences and is expected to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Police say the charges relate to incidents earlier in the year in which northern suburbs tobacco store owners were threatened on separate occasions.

“During both incidents, which occurred on Monday, 1 January and Friday, 2 February, it is believed a man entered the store, before telling the staff inside there was someone on the phone who needed to speak with them,” a Victoria Police statement said.

The Herald Sun understands it will be alleged that the man on the other end of the line was exiled gangland boss Hamad.

A Hadfield man has been accused of carrying out extortions by putting crime kingpin Kazem Hamad, pictured, on the phone. Picture: Supplied

He has waged war on Victoria’s top illicit tobacco syndicate since last year when he was extradited to Iraq after completing a heroin trafficking prison sentence.

A wave of arson attacks on tobacco stores and other businesses linked to his rivals has followed.

No one was hurt during the store visits.

There have been previous allegations of standover work involving people arriving at tobacco stores and putting Hamad onto the phone to operators.

Lunar officers and Australian Federal Police members raided the Hadfield man’s home where they allegedly seized fake IDs, a stolen driver’s licence, cloned number plates, a Mercedes Benz suspected of being stolen and bags of substances believed to be MDMA and cannabis.

Detective acting Inspector Andrew Foot of Lunar said: “The assistance we receive from the community is crucial in bringing a stop to this and again, I want to appeal to those who work in this industry or who have a business near tobacco stores to come forward and provide police with any information they have.

“If there are shop owners out there who have been approached to pay sums of money or who have been threatened in any way, then we urge you to contact police.

“The arson attacks in particular put not only people’s livelihoods at stake but also people’s lives. We are doing everything we can to bring this dispute and the criminality linked to it to an end, however we need your support and assistance.”