In a significant blow to one of Melbourne's most notorious organised crime syndicates, Victoria Police have arrested eight men allegedly operating alongside exiled kingpin Kazem "Kaz" Hamad, seizing a haul of firearms, explosives, and drugs during coordinated dawn raids across the city's northern suburbs.
The operation, tied to the ongoing tobacco wars and spearheaded by the Gang Crime Squad with support from Taskforce Lunar, targeted properties in Lalor, Airport West, and factories in Epping. The arrested crew – believed to be foot soldiers in Hamad's illicit tobacco and drug empire – includes two 28-year-old men from Lalor, a 27-year-old from Lalor, a 42-year-old from Airport West, a 24-year-old from Canberra, and a 27-year-old from New South Wales. Two additional Sydney men, aged 22 and 21, were nabbed following a high-speed chase.
