There is nothing quite like a brazen gangland war to spark a clampdown. Public shootings get
citizens riled up, and worried citizens push politicians and police to prove they've not
lost control and that brings the clampdown: sweeping raids and arrests, smashing down doors
and then parading outlaw bikers, gangbangers and mobsters in front of a relieved public
This cycle is playing out right now in dramatic style in Australia, spinning so fast it makes you
dizzy. The Mob Reporter here with news of how underworld rivalries over sales turf, ambition
and reputation are spilling out of control and how authorities are tamping it back down by
changing their laws and regrouping their forces. Let me tell you about it
There's been another rash of gangland violence over the past 18 months in and around
Sydney, Australia's best known city, and it seems to be escalating as a swirl of alliances between
biker clubs, crime families and street gangs all jostle for the spoils of the lucrative dope trade
13 hits in 18 months and several more that failed to hit their mark
— with three recent hits in just two weeks — have proved to be too much
Among the targets were the national sergeant at arms of the country's strongest biker club
the Comanchero MC, who survived — barely — and two members of the Ahmad crime family, who did not
The mayhem demanded action and action there was. A huge police task force was unveiled on May 16, 2022
It's called Taskforce Erebus. It's an ominous sounding name,
purposely so. Erebus was one of the primordial deities of the Ancient Greeks —
the personification of darkness and the shadows, the things that go bump in the night
Police wanted to send a message: the power of the state sits at the top of the food
chain. The taskforce is an amalgamation of police assets working on gang probes
An additional 60 full-time investigators were focused on the violence. The public promise of
a clampdown pulled the trigger — metaphorically — on investigations already percolating, directly and
tangentially linked to the violence. An early wave of seven arrests in Sydney's sprawling suburbs
targeted two of Australia's most powerful outlaw biker clubs — the Comanchero MC and the Rebels MC
Among those arrested was the sergeant-at-arms of the South Coast chapter of the Comanchero
In the mix of those pinched were also members of the Bandidos MC and the Finks MC and three
guns were seized. The various bikers — or bikies as they're called down under — face a barrage
of charges, from trafficking and possession to weapons, burglary, and financial crimes. A member of
the Finks is alleged to have shot a member of the Rebels in both legs inside his home; one Comanchero
was arrested with impaired driving — that's quite a spectrum. A suspect who is a British man was
pinched after officers knocked on his door and he bolted, but he couldn't outrun waiting officers
More than three hundred thousand dollars in cash was found in his home and almost six hundred
thousand dollars in a storage locker nearby. He was charged with proceeds of crime and — wait for it —
trespassing. Arrests kept coming day after day, one here, a dozen there, several dozen around the corner
The roots of all the upswing and underworld arrests, police say, is a struggle over Sydney's
illicit sales market, inflamed by a changing criminal landscape and overlapping family feuds
In Australia's New South Wales, the drug trade is estimated to be worth $3.7 billion a year
That's more than two and a half billion U.S. dollars. A long-time feud between two powerful
crime families, the Alameddine clan and their rivals the Hamzy clan, has had its ups and downs over the
years. Both families, originally from the Middle East, dug deep into the underworld of their new
home and prospered — but at significant personal cost. Several have been killed and injured, more
have been imprisoned. Their feud raged on the streets and in prison. This beef was between
Talal Alameddine and Bassam Hamzy, who was the founder of Brothers 4 Life, a gang built around
the Hamzy clan. Bassam's been locked up since 1999 but exerts influence from behind bars
An attempted hit on Ibrahem Hamzy was averted last year when a stolen Mercedes was spotted by
officers. It tore away speeding through traffic lights. When investigators probing that botched
hit came knocking for their suspects in December 2021, they weren't around. While these two were
eventually arrested, this daunting figure named Masood Zakaria, an alleged leader within the
Alameddine clan is believed to have fled the country by boat. Police had to satisfy themselves by
revoking Zakaria's driver's license and seizing his home in his absence. He's rumored to be hanging
out abroad with Mark Buddel, the influential but exiled Comanchero, evidence of cooperation between
the two groups. The Alameddine clan seems to have forged an alliance with the Comanchero, making for
a formidable force. Police say the Comanchero are "Australia's largest organized crime network"
The police pressure at that point quelled things down for a bit — but muting the gunfire
didn't end any rivalry, or douse any of their passion. Things recently flared up all over again
On April 26, 2022, another Sydney crime boss, a man named Mahmoud Ahmad, but who was known everywhere
as Brownie, died in a spray of bullets. He was killed just six months after his release from
prison, where he had been serving time for a 2016 gangland killing. Brownie had a lot of enemies. Some
of them were old ones from yet another Sydney crime family, and once back out on the street
he continued to make new ones. He apparently had a one million dollar bounty on his head and police
repeatedly warned him he was marked for death. Two weeks after Brownie fell — on May 10th — at 8 pm
two Comanchero bikers were gunned down as they left a west Sydney gym. But not just any Comanchero
Tarek Zahed, 41, an immensely influential member of the Comancheros was the likely target. He was the
club's national sergeant-at-arms and a candidate to become the club's next national president
and he had been warned repeatedly he was in danger. Despite multiple hits he survived
Bullets struck his head, torso, arms and legs. He's reportedly lost an eye and may need
amputations of a limb or two. His 39-year-old brother, Omar Zahed was killed. Two days later
Rami Iskander was shot and killed outside his home. Iskander was a nephew of Brownie's. His death was
the unlucky 13th gangland murder in the last 18 months in Sydney. That seemed the breaking point
Police officials admitted they were facing a dangerous and reckless gang war and launched Taskforce
Erebus — with gusto. Another network allegedly working for the Alameddine, a distribution ring
linked to a street gang called KVT was also hit by police in the Erebus frenzy. Those raids wrapped
up a probe that included an Uber Eats-style of distribution that police described as a "cash cow"
That entire network was shuttered by 29 dawn raids and the arrests of 18 people on May 24th, police said
Some members were part of a group calling themselves Ready 4 War. Among the evidence
officers collected then were encrypted phones and stacks of SIM cards those are what's used to activate
mobile phones. Three days later, police arrested a mobile phone store manager alleging he sold
thousands of bogus pre-subscribed SIM cards used by gangsters to operate their phones. The clampdown
then got even bigger. Why stop at just Sydney when the whole state is a hotbed of gangsterism?
Police estimate 40 percent of Australia's established gangsters are active in the state and many
left the main center of Sydney to shake off police attention, Using Taskforce Erebus as a springboard
police launched raids around the state. On May 27th, police bragged that Operation Hawk brought
45 arrests, seized eight guns, a hydraulic press, and more than 20 kilos of MDMA and other substances
Those arrests brought a grab bag of suspects into court, including some who had already been targeted
by Taskforce Erebus. One man was an alleged member of the Life and Death outlaw motorcycle club
The new clampdown also meant controversial new laws. New South Wales already have Firearm
Prohibition Orders — that's a 2013 law under which the police commissioner can prohibit
a person from having a gun or ammunition and, once so designated, allows police to search them
or their home or their car for compliance without getting a warrant. Police replicated that model to
enact Drug Supply Prohibition Orders. This allows for no-warrant raids and searches of the homes
of designated people who have been convicted of a serious drug offense within the last 10 years
As a pilot project it was introduced in four regions. It seems outrageous by the standards of many
countries, but as a sign of mainstream support in Australia, the main opposition politician's
complaints were not fear of unchecked police power, but that police powers didn't go far enough
The cops now say many leaders of the factions they've been targeting are behind bars
or have fled the country, but their crusade will continue
They're now working their way down the pyramid and promised even more arrests
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