Alameddine crime network have ‘picked off Hamzys like flies’ in western Sydney gangland war

The Alameddine organised crime network will ‘be on top’ in Sydney‘s underworld gang wars for the foreseeable future after picking off almost every senior member of the Hamzy network ‘like flies’, sources have revealed.

The warring western Sydney families have been vying for turf, drug contracts and status for more than a decade but detectives have never seen the battle so one sided.

Daily Mail Australia was given an insight into the workings of the gang war, including how the Alameddine network recruits impressionable youths to help with the grind work of stealing cars for hits and drug pushing, allowing senior members to strategise and lay low.

With the Hamzy crew – formed around notorious Brothers 4 Life gang boss and founder Bassam Hamzy – decimated by deaths and arrests, one senior police source said it’s almost unimaginable to think of them getting the upper hand in the conflict again any time soon.

‘They [the Hamzys] just don’t have the means to keep up at the moment. We don’t want to write them off, but it’s almost like they’re fighting something unwinnable.’

‘The Alameddines keep coming out on top.’

On Tuesday, senior Hamzy clan member Ibrahem Hamze (different branches of the family use different variations of the surname) was arrested on the Gold Coast.

He was extradited back to Sydney to face a raft of charges including knowingly directing activities of a criminal group, and commercial drug supply. 

For detectives who have been tracking the movements of both crime families for years, Ibrahem was considered ‘the last man standing’ within his family.

After surviving multiple attempts on his life, he is understood to have fled Sydney with his glamorous girlfriend when his cousin Ghassan Amoun, Bassam Hamzy’s brother, was gunned down on January 6.

Police also allege he solicited a hit on a fringe member of the Alameddine crew at the World Gym in Prospect in November 2021. 

The failed alleged attempted murder itself also highlighted the new chasm between the Alameddine and Hamzy networks, sources said.

At one point, the two groups were considered almost on par – in a different league to their outlaw motorcycle gang predecessors.

‘This was sloppy,’ a police source said. ‘Normally MEOC (Middle Eastern Organised Crime) hits are a lot more sophisticated than that.’ 

One person was injured during the shooting but CCTV shows stray bullets came just inches from children playing at a daycare centre.

Also this week Bassam Hamzy’s younger brothers, Tareek and Haissam Hamzy, were both arrested and charged this week over an alleged violent kidnapping.

Their arrests mean the Hamzy crew are down at least 11 members, with five in jail and the other six dead.

It’s understood Tareek, Haissam and Ibrahem reignited the gang war 18 months ago by allegedly bashing Alameddine associate Shaylin Zreika on the street in Sefton in mid-2020.

The feud escalated again when Bassam’s brother Mejid Hamzy was shot dead at Condell Park on October 19, 2020. 

It was the first of eight public shootings police believe were reprisals between the Alameddine and Hamzy networks.  

Most of the recent hits on Alameddine interests have been unsuccessful.

In October 2020 and again in April and November 2021, homes formerly linked to Alameddine group members were shot up, with no fatalities.

The last person linked to the Alameddine network to die was Shady Kanj, a low-level associate shot dead in August 2021.

Meanwhile, Amoun, Bassam’s cousin Bilal Hamze, father and son Salim and Toufik Hamze, Mejid Hamzy have all lost their lives since the October 2020 bashing.

Another family member, Mahmoud Hamzy, was shot and killed in 2014. 

‘The Alameddines are picking them off like flies,’ a police source told Daily Mail Australia.

But there is reportedly ‘trouble ahead’ for the Alameddine family, believed to be connected to several fatal shootings of Hamzy associates. 

Rapper Ali Younes handed himself in to authorities late last year amid allegations of his ‘close links’ to the Alameddine network.

The 24-year-old, who also goes by Ay Huncho, has previously spoken about the strict non-association orders on members of his family and the toll they’ve taken on him.

His cousin, Rafat Alameddine, was accused of being the ringleader of the network and hit with a non association order which prevents him from speaking with several alleged members of the group – including Younes.

‘We’re not allowed in certain areas. We can’t associate with family. We’re not allowed to have two mobiles. We can only ever drive or be a passenger in a single vehicle. These orders have made history,’ Younes told Rolling Stone.

‘I miss Raf, the bloke is my family.’ 

Younes denied in the interview he’s an active member of the crime network, saying he’s ‘focusing on his career’ and ‘not thuggin’.

‘I want to tell the youth to put their guns down. I’ve been around the biggest gangsters in Australia. They’ll shoot people and go into hiding… at the end of the day it’s Muslims killing Muslims. We’re killing ourselves. We’re tired of the news telling our story.’ 

Daily Mail Australia understands both crime networks have strong recruitment prospects and have no trouble finding eager youths to help them get ahead.

Detectives believe both organisations target vulnerable teenagers from an early age, luring them into the underworld with the promise of cash, infamy and a sense of belonging.

‘They get them young,’ the source said.

‘These kids are usually the ones stealing the cars, pushing the drugs. It’s insidious.’ 

It’s alleged the chosen youths have ‘stealing cars down to an art’ and hand them over to the senior members accused of carrying out or soliciting hits on their enemies.

Raptor detectives are often faced with at least one – sometimes several – burnt out stolen cars when they arrive at a crime scene linked to the Hamzys or Alameddines.

NSW Police assistant commissioner Peter Thurtell previously said there was no doubt the ongoing gang wars on the streets of western Sydney are drug related.

‘They are organised criminal groups targeting each other,’ Asst Comm Thurtell said.

‘The rationale behind targeting each other is obviously drug related.

‘We will be targeting associates and known offenders. They can expect us to be in their face. They know we will come knocking on their door.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

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