Cops warn of ‘major escalation’ in crime wars

Fears of a revived gangland war have engulfed Australia’s top law enforcement agencies following the brutal murder of crime boss Bilal Hamze.

Police search for evidence at the crime scene where gangster Bilal Hamze, above right, was brutally executed on Sydney’s Bridge St. Picture: Adam Yip

Police fear the brutal murder of Sydney crime boss Bilal Hamze on Thursday night could be part of an escalating gangland war which could result in more violence in the city’s suburbs.

Hamze, 34, who was a well-known underworld figure and cousin of the notorious gangland chief Bassam Hamzy, was reportedly embroiled in a longstanding drug feud between warring families in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Police believe further reprisals are being planned against the Hamze family. On Thursday night, Hamze was gunned down by a fusillade of bullets after a car drove past him on Bridge St, near Kid Kyoto restaurant.

Emergency services were called to the scene following reports of the incident that involved “a shooter in a black vehicle”.

Hamze was treated at the scene before being rushed to St Vincent’s Hospital. He died shortly after.

A burnt-out car was later discovered in the north shore suburb of Northwood, where NSW Police established a second crime scene.

It is believed Hamze had moved to the city in order to escape ongoing gangland tensions in the suburbs.

NSW Police said CCTV footage from the city would form an important part of the investigation, with Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty saying “this was a brutal, execution-style murder”.

Bilal Hamze, pictured here after being granted bail in 2018, was gunned down by a fusillade of bullets after a car drove past him on Bridge St, near Kid Kyoto restaurant on Thursday.

“It was carried out in a busy street in the middle of Sydney‘s CBD,” he said. “It was extremely fortunate that no members of the public were injured.”

Criminal Groups Squad Commander chief Robert Critchlow suggested the episode was not surprising given the results of Operation Ironside, the combined AFP and FBI operation targeting international crime syndicates.

“Our Deputy Commissioner forecast that we would see increased violence after the resolution of Operation Ironside,” Superintendent Critchlow said.

“We will be opening doors, kicking down doors, tipping people over, we will talk to them, we will harass them within the bounds of the law to make sure that they know that we are there.”

However, he warned that the public should expect more gangland reprisals, saying that “several arrests” would come from the murder and indicated that the country’s top law enforcement agencies were prepared for similar acts of underworld brutality.

On Friday afternoon, Superintendent Doherty also labelled the murder as a “major escalation” in Sydney’s crime wars, saying that “an innocent person could have easily been injured or even killed in the event”.

While Superintendent Doherty refused to comment on whether Hamze was alone at the time of his murder, he did confirm that there were multiple people in the car.

“One of the lines of inquiry is who he might have been in contact with either before or during the actual shooting,” he said.

Superintendent Doherty said the murder appeared to be a well planned attack, committed by “someone who knows where he was at that time, to be able to be in that same spot and fire a number of shots and kill him, it’s escalated behaviour”.