Infighting in organised crime gang The Commission is suspected to be behind two murders, three shootings and a series of arson attacks as factions of the empire left behind by imprisoned kingpin Kaz Hamad scramble for control of the multibillion-dollar tobacco and drug enterprise.
asserted
factions → organise → enterprise
Police and underworld sources, who cannot be identified publicly, say “fractures” inside the group have led to a power struggle and serious internecine violence since Hamad was jailed for life in Iraq in July.
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Hamad → identify → July
This includes two recent drive-by shootings targeting the home of an underworld family that runs one of the largest tobacco distribution and retailing networks in the country.
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that → include → country
Members of the family, which The Age is choosing not to identify for safety reasons, were a key part of the nationwide cartel Hamad formed nearly two years ago.
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Hamad → choose → cartel
They did not respond to a request for comment.
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They → respond → comment
On November 3, a gun battle erupted outside a home linked to the family in Hadfield just after 4am.
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battle → erupt → am
However, the members of the family allegedly involved in the illicit tobacco market do not live at that address.
uncertain
members → involve → address
An 18-year-old man suspected of opening fire on the house from a stolen white Toyota Kluger is believed to have been wounded in return fire by someone protecting the property.
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man → suspect → property
In a bid to defend the home, a dump truck was parked in front as a protective screen.
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truck → defend → screen
Just over a week later, the property was again targeted in a drive-by shooting.
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property → target → shooting
By this time, it had been abandoned.
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it → abandon → time
It was at least the third time the family had been the target of violence since September, when a Sunshine tobacco shop operated by one of its members was burnt to the ground.
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shop → operate → ground
Police have not made any arrests and the motive remains unknown.
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motive → make → arrests
The illicit tobacco cartel Hamad formed in early 2025 was created after a near two-year campaign of firebombings and shootings that forced a number of major players out of the market and compelled others to join forces with him.
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that → form → him
The family most recently targeted were former allies of the Haddara crime gang, which Hamad virtually destroyed in 2024 following its attempts to control the underground market.
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Hamad → target → market
The Hamad cartel had grown to control thousands of shops around the country, which are expected to pay $5000 a month in “tax” and sell the gang’s discount illicit cigarettes.
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which → grow → cigarettes
Hamad’s cartel united manufacturing, importing, distributing and retailing into a single network that came to dominate the black market.
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that → unite → market
Those alliances are now rupturing in the absence of firm central control, and a dispute over profits has arisen in the absence of his iron-fisted pressure.
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dispute → rupture → pressure
“It’s a fight over turf.
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It → ’ → turf
There’s no one really in control any more, and it’s all breaking down,” an underworld source said.
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source → ’ → control
“There’s way too much money to be left just lying around, but it’s getting harder out there to make money because of the crackdowns [from law enforcement and regulators].”
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it → ’ → enforcement
The Commission itself, a crime gang with an estimated minimum of 200 members, has also begun to “fracture”, a police source said.
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source → begin → members
There was always going to be a scramble once it was clear he was gone,” said an organised crime detective, who cannot be identified publicly.
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who → be → ?
“But it’s just too early to see all the sides.”
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it → ’ → sides
The instability inside the syndicate has come about in part because Hamad’s succession plan was thrown into doubt by the arrest of his second-in-command and cousin, Ahmed Al Hamza, in Qatar in late 2025.
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plan → come → 2025
Al Hamza’s current circumstances are unknown, leaving a vacuum following Hamad’s detention only months later.
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circumstances → leave → detention
Hamad was arrested in January 2026 by Iraqi authorities working off intelligence provided by the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police’s Lunar Taskforce.
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Hamad → arrest → Police
He was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to life in prison in late July.
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He → convict → July
At first, it appeared clear the new leader to emerge was 23-year-old Ali al-Huseini, a suspected Hamad triggerman who fled Australia for Iraq in June 2022 following a failed hit on Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim.
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who → appear → Abdulrahim
Huseini was one of a number of close associates on the run from Australian authorities who formed Hamad’s inner circle in Baghdad.
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who → form → Baghdad
Police suspect Huseini was the commanding influence behind the so-called “bar wars” extortion plot that led to dozens of firebombings, kidnappings and shootings earlier this year targeting Melbourne’s nightlife scene.
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that → suspect → scene
But other centres of potential power have since emerged.
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centres → emerge → power
Victoria Police is investigating whether insider violence is behind at least two murders in less than a fortnight targeting members or known associates of the Hamad syndicate.
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violence → investigate → syndicate
Hamad associate Ali Mohamad Albadri, 42, was gunned down in broad daylight inside his home on October 14 by a lone gunman.
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Albadri → gun → gunman
Less than a fortnight later, the father of alleged long-time Hamad associate George “Snowman Adam” Serevetas was gunned down outside a property in Reservoir.
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father → allege → Reservoir
Victim Elias Serevetas, 55, had previously been the listed owner of a tobacco shop in the West Australian town of Kalgoorlie but was not a member of The Commission.
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Serevetas → list → Commission
He was allegedly lured to the location by another lone gunman.
uncertain
He → lure → gunman
A prosecution against him was dropped reportedly after witnesses and victims refused to co-operate following a campaign of intimidation allegedly ordered by Hamad.
uncertain
witnesses → drop → Hamad
No one has been arrested for the murders of Albadri or Serevetas.
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one → arrest → Albadri
Sources with knowledge of the conflict, but who cannot be publicly identified, have described it as a worsening “fight between the two Alis” – Ali al-Huseini in Iraq and another Hamad lieutenant, 30-year-old convicted drug trafficker Ali Alkhafaji.
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who → identify → Iraq
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
