Alameddine split blamed for Sydney underworld shootings

Police believe Sydney’s most powerful organised crime network has been divided, fuelling a string of public place shootings.

Sydney’s most powerful organised crime network has split in two, sparking a series of recent public shootings, detectives investigating the new underworld conflict believe.

The Alameddine clan rose to public notoriety during a bloody gangland struggle with rivals the Hamzys in the early 2020s, but police say they are now divided.

News.com.au has learned it is believed a man formerly alleged to be a senior Alameddine member, Samimjan Azari, has defected to a new crew.

Samimjan Azari. 26. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Azari has been targeted on multiple occasions. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Mr Azari, 26, has become a marked man and survived three high-profile assassination attempts this year – including a brazen shooting at an Auburn kebab shop in June.

A few weeks earlier, he escaped unharmed when gunmen opened fire on a car he was travelling in near Parramatta.

His bodyguard Dawood Zakaria died after being shot in the head during the May 25 incident.

CCTV Screenshot of a shooting at the M Brothers Kebab shop in Auburn. Supplied.

It followed a previous attempt on his life at Brighton-Le-Sands in February, where Mr Azari and Zakaria, 32, managed to avoid a hail of bullets.

Police have revealed Mr Azari also escaped a suspected fourth murder plot that was abandoned a few days before the kebab shop shooting.

‘Collective’ to conflict

Detective Superintendent Jason Box told the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday there was a “division” between old Alameddine allies.

“It was one organised crime network working as a collective – there’s now a division and that hasn’t been accepted internally, hence the conflict,” he said.

Detective Superintendent Box heads Taskforce Falcon, a team established after the May 25 shooting in Granville that left Zakaria dead to investigate rising underworld violence in Sydney.

Detective Superintendent Jason Box leads Taskforce Falcon Commander. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

The taskforce is probing several incidents including a June 12 shooting at the home of Ali Elmoubayed – who police believe is the Australian head of the Alameddines.

The group’s patriarch, Rafat Alameddine, has been offshore since 2022 and is believed to be in Lebanon.

He is wanted by police over an alleged plot to kill rival Ibrahem Hamze, and the alleged double-murder of father and son Salim and Toufic Hamzy, in 2021.

Rafat Alameddine is believed to be living offshore. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Ali Elmoubayed’s home was shot at in June. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Lawyers for Mr Alameddine’s cousin, the rapper Ali Younes aka Ay Huncho, told a court on June 5 he held fears for his safety after the fresh outbreak of violence.

Mr Younes this month had his $1.8 million bail revoked over an alleged speeding offence, as he faces a charge of aggravated kidnapping.

News.com.au does not suggest Mr Azari, Mr Elmoubayed, Mr Alameddine , Mr Younes or anyone else named or pictrured in this article had any involvement in the recent shootings.

‘Muscle’ and tobacco

Taskforce Falcon detectives also believe that a subgroup which formerly acted as the “muscle” for the Alameddines’ vast drug supply network had defected to the new crew.

The KVT, a street gang made up predominantly of Fijian-heritage men, has joined the new network and its alleged leader Joseph Vokai has taken up a senior role.

Detective Superintendent Box said there had been a “significant divide at the highest level” which had resulted in “the Alameddine and KVT split”.

Joseph Vokai. Picture: Eliza Barr

Ali Younes, aka Ay Huncho. Picture: Paul Brescia

Police allege the illicit tobacco market has underpinned operations for the new group and it has allegedly stolen millions of dollars worth of the products.

Court documents tendered in the bail application of an alleged KVT member this year state Mr Azari allegedly planned to “rip” $4.5 million worth of tobacco and vapes from a Condell Park warehouse on January 4.

During the incident, three men were allegedly bound and “believed that they ere going to die”. One of the detained men allegedly had his right big toe “partially severed”.

Mr Azari was alleged to have “orchestrated” the plot and has been charged with offences including being accessory before the fact to kidnapping and breaking and enter.

Detective Superintendent Box has said the cause of the split was not yet known, adding “anyone connected with this conflict is a potential target for retribution”.