Tobacco boss tied to Iranian regime named one of Australia’s most wanted
AFP Commissioner has branded exiled crime boss Kazem Hamad a ‘national security threat’ over his suspected role in synagogue attacks and illicit tobacco trade.
The exiled Middle Eastern crime boss suspected of conspiring with the Iranian regime to carry out the firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue has been branded a “national security threat” by federal police, who have named him among the country’s most wanted offenders.
Kazem “Kaz” Hamad, kingpin of Australia’s illicit tobacco underworld trade, is believed to be operating his criminal network from the Middle East, after being deported from Australia in 2023.
Hamad was deported to Iraq after serving prison time for high-level drug offences and is suspected of orchestrating a wave of arson attacks, including the blaze that gutted the place of worship in Ripponlea, horrifying the nation’s Jewish community.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett indirectly confirmed Hamad’s fugitive status in a speech to all AFP staff on Wednesday, describing him as a serious threat to Australia’s national security and the architect of a violent empire that has inflicted immeasurable damage across the country.
“He is a national security threat to this country,” Commissioner Barrett said.
“That means the AFP will target him and his associated criminals and illicit tobacco traffickers. This alleged offshore offender has used illicit tobacco and other crimes in Australia to build illegal wealth and a network of Australian criminals.
“We will use our international network to target this offender because as a law enforcement agency in Australia, it is a remit only the AFP can effectively undertake,” she said.
Commissioner Barrett said the AFP would not get involved in every illicit tobacco incident “but where the commodity, an individual or a group is a threat to national security, the AFP will take action.”
ASIO director-general Mike Burgess in August informed the government that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was directly involved in the synagogue arson and attack on a Jewish-run kosher restaurant in Sydney’s Bondi.
Mr Burgess said Iran was employing a web of proxies: “(Tehran is) just using cut-outs, including people who are criminal and members of organised crime gangs, to do their bidding or direct their bidding in Australia.”
At the time, Anthony Albanese announced that Iran’s ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi would be expelled from the country, the first such expulsion since World War II, and he would move to prescribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.
Hamad was publicly named by both federal and Victorian police after a series of arson attacks, including a botched fire in Truganina that killed innocent woman Katie Tangey, who was house-sitting for her brother.
Authorities also allege Hamad has conspired with domestic crime networks to expand his illegal operations across multiple states, partnering with fellow gangland figure Ahmed Al Hamza to dominate the country’s black-market tobacco trade.
More Coverage
