An exiled underworld boss connected to Victoria’s ongoing tobacco wars has been arrested in Iraq.
Kazem “Kaz” Hamad was arrested on behalf of Australian law enforcement authorities for alleged drug trafficking, according to a statement from the Iraq’s National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation on Monday night.
The accused is “one of the most dangerous wanted men in the world”, the statement alleges.
The Australian Federal Police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, released a statement on Tuesday that did not name Hamad but detailed efforts to find an “alleged offshore offender”, who the statement accused of being a “number one target” and a “national security threat to this country”.
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Barrett said while the AFP had been working with state police to “dismantle this alleged offender’s criminal network, a number of significant events required the AFP to supercharge its efforts” to find him, including sending members overseas to gather intelligence and meet with foreign law enforcement officials.
She said late last year, the AFP provided information officials in Iraq about the alleged offender.
“Iraqi officials have made an independent decision to arrest this alleged offender after launching their own criminal investigation,” Barrett said.
“This arrest is a significant disruption to an alleged serious criminal and his alleged criminal enterprise in Australia.”
She thanked Iraq’s National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation.
The arrest follows a speech Barrett gave to the National Press Club in October, in which she described her “number one priority” – an individual she said the AFP “suspect is responsible for a number of tobacco-related arsons in Australia”.
In the speech, she said the individual was also a “person of interest in the investigation into the alleged politically motivated arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue”.
“That person is a national security threat to this country,” she said at the time.
“Of all the alleged criminals accused of threatening Australia – he is my number one priority, and I have tasked my most experienced criminal hunters to target him.”
Multiple Australian law enforcement sources have previously confirmed Hamad is thought of as an influential figure in the underworld, and he has been linked to Victoria’s ongoing turf war over tobacco shops.
Victorian police have previously said the violent scuffle – which has seen a series of stores targeted – is largely being fought by underworld figures, including outlaw motorcycle gangs and Middle Eastern organised crime groups.
They established Taskforce Lunar in October 2023, after an increase in organised crime activity linked to the illicit tobacco trade.
The Victoria police chief commissioner, Mike Bush, welcomed the news of the arrest.
“We will continue to work with the AFP and our international law enforcement partners to assist as required,” he said.
“Victoria police is determined to drive down organised crime in this state and the havoc it wreaks on innocent members of the community.
As the matter remains ongoing we are not in a position to comment further at this time.”
The Victoria premier, Jacinta Allan, said she was unable to comment on the arrest beyond acknowledging the work of authorities to achieve it, given the matter was before the courts.
She said Victoria police had done “a huge amount of work to crackdown on the illegal tobacco trade”, including several arrests and shutting down stores. Allan said this work was being supported by the state’s new tobacco licensing scheme.
The Iraqi statement issued on Tuesday refers to Hamad as “Kadhim Malik Hamad Rabah al-Hajami”.
“The accused individual … was arrested in co-ordination with the General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, after obtaining the necessary approvals from the Supreme Judicial Council to conduct investigations against him,” the statement reads.
“The proceedings were initiated by the First Karkh Investigation Court, which specialises in drug cases.”
The statement alleges Hamad is responsible for “importing large quantities of drugs into Iraq and Australia, as well as smuggling heroin”.
“He is also involved with the most prominent organised crime gangs in Australia – Sydney, responsible for shootings, murders, kidnappings, violent assaults, extortion, and drug imports,” it alleges.
Iraqi authorities allege he is involved with outlaw gangs that have extensive influence within Australia and the Middle East.
“[They] are responsible for carrying out murders, shootings, money laundering, fraud, assaults, arson, and drug trafficking on a global level.”
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