Underworld code protecting gangsters’ families torn to shreds

A spate of violence has put the families of gangland heavy hitters in the crossfire and torn an unwritten code to shreds — and it’s all down to the lure of big money.

Family members of major gangland figures are getting caught in the crossfire.

• Police fear junior Abdulrahim in gun

A key unwritten underworld code is being increasingly breached with the family members of major gangland figures now caught in the crossfire.

It was a shared agreement among serious and hardened criminals that had largely been followed for years.

But a spate of violent incidents involving the parents and siblings of heavy hitters has torn that unwritten code to shreds, a senior criminologist says.

Relatives of those mixing in organised crime circles have had their homes shot at and cars set alight in warning acts that could have deadly consequences.

Deakin University criminologist professor David Bright said the lure of big money was a major factor in the shift.

Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdularhim. Picture David Geraghty

“In the last decade or so, there’s been a degradation of those codes of the underworld,” he told the Herald Sun.

“Those established codes that the family were untouchable have been left by the wayside.

“Individuals operating in these sorts of markets are attracted to the significant sums of money that can be made.

“It’s about respect, it’s about honour and it’s about one’s image, but for many individuals it’s about the money.”

Most recently, Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim’s parents’ cars were torched in a bid to lure the former Mongols bikie from his house in the early hours of May 24.

The 32-year-old’s parents are understood to have called Abdulrahim for help as the shooters waited for him to leave his Thomastown home.

Police investigate the early morning shooting of former bikie and professional boxer Sam Abdulrahim outside his Thomastown house. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Police outside the Thomastown home of Sam Abdulrahim. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A burnt-out car founds streets away from Abdulrahim’s home. Picture: Twitter

None of the 17 bullets hit the professional boxer in what became the second attempt on his life.

That assassination attempt came less than two years after Abdulrahim was peppered with bullets as he left his cousin’s funeral in Fawkner in the winter of 2022.

Prof. Bright said increasing friction within the illicit tobacco market was a driver of the escalating violence toward family members.

“That is potentially a sign of the significant level of competition and rivalry,” he added.

“If you’re wanting to harm somebody, getting at their parents, brothers or sisters is a very intimate way of harming somebody.”

Mohammed Oueida has been charged as part of two major drug investigations in that state.

The family of former Comanchero bikie Mohammed Oueida has also been brought into the spotlight after their Fawkner home was targeted twice in a matter of days last year.

Shots were allegedly fired at the northern suburbs home on December 23 before two men tried to force their way inside.

They failed that attempt and left in a stolen Suzuki Swift, which would later be torched in Broadmeadows.

A Toyota Camry parked in the driveway of that house was torched just days later before the offenders fled in an awaiting vehicle.

Crime boss George Maroggi is serving 32 years behind bars for murder.

George Marrogi's sister Meshilin Marrogi. Picture: Supplied

Mohammed Oueida is awaiting court proceedings in Western Australia after being charged as part of two major drug investigations in that state.

The desecration of Meshilin Maroggi’s grave was one of the more confronting and personal attacks in Melbourne’s underworld.

Two men broke into the mausoleum of the Preston General Cemetery about 5am on July 30 last year and desecrated the resting place of Ms Maroggi, the sister of crime boss George.

Meshlin Marrogi’s resting place was desecrated. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

That attack is believed to be a strike on George Maroggi, who is serving 32 years behind bars for the 2016 murder of underworld player Kadir Ors at the Campbellfield Plaza.

Robert Issa’s parents’ Craigieburn home was shot up in the middle of the night in September last year, with about a dozen bullet holes smashing the front window and damaging the front door.

Just weeks later, Issa, 27, was ambushed by four masked gunmen in a northern suburbs shopping centre carpark where he was shot and killed in broad daylight.

Perhaps the bullets landing in his parents’ lounge room was a genuine warning for his life.