Police believe they have dealt a blow to underworld kingpin Kazem “Kaz” Hamad’s multimillion-dollar illicit tobacco empire with the arrest of a crew of alleged extortionists and money couriers during a series of early morning raids.
Lunar taskforce boss Detective Inspector Graham Banks announced the arrests during a press conference on Monday afternoon where he publicly named Hamad for the first time since the so-called tobacco war erupted in March 2023.
“Police will allege that the 10 persons who were arrested in relation to extortion were doing so under a syndicate operation that is headed by a person who lives offshore, a person by the name of Kazem Hamad,” Banks said.
“These are significant arrests, and they will impact the syndicate. While it’s been widely reported in the media in recent weeks that there’s been a truce, there is evidence that is certainly not the case.”
Banks said some of the alleged crew members arrested had visited tobacco shops and handed over handwritten extortion notes to the owners, instructing them to call an international WhatsApp number connected to the syndicate to get instructions on how to pay a protection “tax”. Those who refused to pay risked having their shop torched.
Others allegedly worked as money couriers, collecting the protection tax on behalf of the syndicate before it was sent offshore.
Hamad, who is believed to control about a quarter of the estimated 1300 legitimate and black-market shops selling cigarettes across the state, is extorting nearly $1 million a month from tobacco retailers, as previously reported by The Age.
Banks said police had stepped in to prevent two firebombings in the past week. One was about to occur, while the other was being planned.
Officers executed a series of co-ordinated raids at 14 homes and a storage facility in Melbourne’s north-western suburbs about 6am on Monday where they found 10 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco, 6000 vapes and large amounts of cash.
Police also uncovered two high-powered semi-automatic rifles fitted with suppressors, a handgun, a shotgun, knives, handwritten extortion notes and several GPS trackers believed to have been used by the syndicate to track illicit shipments and potential targets.
Kazem Hamad in about 2015.
“The quantity of people we’ve identified leads me to believe there will be dozens of other stores that have had demands made upon them in recent weeks,” Banks said.
Police have charged 10 people from the north-western suburbs, including a member of the Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Club, with extortion offences.
Eight of the alleged crew members, aged between 16 and 26 years old, will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
On Monday night, a 19-year-old man briefly faced Melbourne Magistrates Court, and was remanded in custody to appear again on Tuesday. The court heard he had been on strict bail conditions.
A 22-year-old man will also face court on Tuesday after a brief appearance on Monday night, during which the court heard he would make an application for bail.
Banks said it was concerning that people as young as 16 were allegedly becoming involved in serious offending, some for the first time in their lives. He said methods varied from person to person, but some young people were being recruited by neighbours and associates.
“What we’ve seen in Victoria, and obviously in other states, is young people making really bad decisions,” Banks said. “There’s a lot of work goes into trying to turn that around, but it isn’t always successful.”
The tobacco war has been linked to more than 100 firebombings and three fatal shootings, including the murder of underworld figure and professional boxer Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim in January.
The two-year conflict is also believed to be behind a fatal arson attack in Truganina that claimed the life of burlesque artist Katie Tangey early this year – the first person to die in an arson event tied the tobacco wars.
Tangey was house-sitting for her brother while he was on his honeymoon when she became trapped in the inferno. Police believe arsonists targeted the wrong house.
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