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An exiled underworld boss connected to Victoria\u2019s ongoing tobacco wars<\/a> has been arrested in Iraq.<\/p>\n Kazem \u201cKaz\u201d Hamad was arrested on behalf of Australian law enforcement authorities for alleged drug trafficking, according to a statement<\/a> from the Iraq\u2019s National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation on Monday night.<\/p>\n The accused is \u201cone of the most dangerous wanted men in the world\u201d, the statement alleges.<\/p>\n The Australian Federal Police commissioner, Krissy Barrett, released a statement on Tuesday that did not name Hamad but detailed efforts to find an \u201calleged offshore offender\u201d, who the statement accused of being a \u201cnumber one target\u201d and a \u201cnational security threat to this country\u201d.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/sub><\/a><\/p>\n Barrett said while the AFP had been working with state police to \u201cdismantle this alleged offender\u2019s criminal network, a number of significant events required the AFP to supercharge its efforts\u201d to find him, including sending members overseas to gather intelligence and meet with foreign law enforcement officials.<\/p>\n She said late last year, the AFP provided information officials in Iraq<\/a> about the alleged offender.<\/p>\n \u201cIraqi officials have made an independent decision to arrest this alleged offender after launching their own criminal investigation,\u201d Barrett said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis arrest is a significant disruption to an alleged serious criminal and his alleged criminal enterprise in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n She thanked Iraq\u2019s National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation.<\/p>\n The arrest follows a speech Barrett gave to the National Press Club in October, in which she described her \u201cnumber one priority\u201d \u2013 an individual she said the AFP \u201csuspect is responsible for a number of tobacco-related arsons in Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n In the speech, she said the individual was also a \u201cperson of interest in the investigation into the alleged politically motivated arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThat person is a national security threat to this country,\u201d she said at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cOf all the alleged criminals accused of threatening Australia \u2013 he is my number one priority, and I have tasked my most experienced criminal hunters to target him.\u201d<\/p>\n Multiple Australian law enforcement sources have previously confirmed<\/a> Hamad is thought of as an influential figure in the underworld, and he has been linked to Victoria\u2019s ongoing turf war over tobacco shops.<\/p>\n