Underworld kingpin behind Australian tobacco war chaos and Jewish synagogue firebombing is sentenced to life behind bars in Iraq
A former Melbourne underworld figure has been sentenced to life behind bars in Iraq.
Kazem ‘Kaz’ Hamad, also known as Kadhim Malik Hamad Rabah al-Hajami, was deported to Iraq in 2023.
He was accused of being one of the key orchestrators of the Melbourne tobacco wars, tied to infamous firebombings around the city in an attempt to dominate the billion dollar illicit market.
Iraq’s National Center for International Judicial Cooperation (NCIJC) this week found Hamad guilty of importing drugs into Iraq and Australia.
He was handed a life sentence by the Karkh Criminal Court in Baghdad.
‘The convict is considered one of the most wanted individuals by Iraqi and international judiciaries,’ the NCIJC said.
‘He is responsible for importing large quantities of narcotics into Iraq and Australia, smuggling heroin, and is linked to transnational organised crime gangs involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, kidnapping, extortion, and organised violence.’
A statement from Iraqi authorities in January described Hamad as ‘one of the most dangerous wanted men in the world’.
Kazem Hamad (above) was sentenced to life behind bars in Iraq
It alleged he was responsible for ‘importing large quantities of drugs into Iraq and Australia’ including heroin smuggling.
Iraqi authorities also accused him of involvement ‘with the most prominent organised crime gangs in Australia’ that were linked to ‘shootings, murders, kidnappings, violent assaults, extortion, and drug imports.’
Hamad has also been linked to the 2024 firebombings of Adass Israel Synagogue of Melbourne and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, a kosher cafe in Sydney’s Bondi.
Along with his cousin, Ahmed Al Hamza, he struck a deal with parts of the Iranian government to allow them to run the 313 gang from the Middle East.
The syndicate has been linked to more than 200 firebombings and a nationwide illicit tobacco smuggling network.
The 313 is also suspected of involvement in multiple murders and shootings.
In exchange, the pair allegedly organised the attack on the synagogue, which saw three masked men douse the inside of the Jewish place of worship with petrol before setting it alight on December 6, 2024.
Australian authorities previously declared the incident a terrorist attack and traced it to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps using local criminal groups as proxies to hide their involvement.
Hamad (above) is also accused of organising a terror attack on a Jewish synagogue in Melbourne in late 2024
Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne, was firebombed in December 2024
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess last week confirmed a ‘former Australian resident living in Iraq directed the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’.
‘Iran recruited him through a complex web of Iraqi-based militia groups,’ Burgess said.
‘Valuing his high wealth and criminal connections, the IRGC protected him and supported his illegal enterprises.’
Iraqi authorities announced Hamad’s arrest in January after Australian Federal Police shared information in late 2025.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett in February described Hamad as her ‘number one target’.
‘I want every offender connected to Hamad or his syndicate to look long and hard at this photo,’ she said of his mugshot.
‘And I want to be very clear – just because Hamad is in custody, the AFP’s job is not done.’
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the ABC that Hamad had continued causing problems following his deportation in 2023.
‘He thought he was offshore, he was out of reach … well he wasn’t,’ he said.
‘We are talking about someone at the apex of a criminal network.
‘For a whole process of organised crime in Australia road after road after road has continued to lead back to one individual.’
