Brother of exiled crime boss allegedly fuelling WA’s tobacco turf war

1 week ago 4

Police are closing in on a family crime syndicate suspected of being behind Perth’s escalating tobacco wars.

Last week, Police Commissioner Col Blanch revealed he believed “tobacco king” Kazem Hamad was trying to expand his monopoly of the illicit tobacco trade to Western Australia, following firebombings and shootings at several Perth stores in recent months.

Maytham Hamad leaving Perth Magistrates Court in June 2025.

Police allege Kazem is calling the shots from the Middle East after being deported from Australia in 2023. Despite his eviction, more than 150 tobacco store-related fire bombings have occurred in Melbourne over the past year, which police believe are linked to the gangland boss.

Kazem’s younger brother Maytham Hamad moved to Perth in 2022.

Last June he was arrested on one count of receiving, possessing or dealing with any money or property that is the proceeds of an offence, with the offences alleged to have occurred between April and June 2024.

But after a brief stint in jail, he was granted home detention and then a conditional release on bail.

In March this year, that charge was dropped and replaced with one count of knowingly dealt with proceeds of crime to the value of $100,000 or more.

Since then, he has been slapped with eight fresh charges, which allege the 30-year-old was found in possession of prohibited tobacco products and was allegedly dealing in the proceeds of crime worth more than $100,000 and more than $10,000 between June 2024 and June 2025.

Those charges were heard for the first time in June this year in Perth Magistrates Court, where Maytham appeared in person to state he understood what they were.

The court heard they related to alleged offending in the WA towns of Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie and Northam, as well as Perth.

During the hearing, Maytham’s lawyer also requested an amendment to his bail conditions that dropped his mandatory reporting to just one day a week, which was granted.

It was also revealed that 10 alleged co-offenders had been charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime to the value of $100,000 or more and possessing prohibited tobacco products, among other allegedly related crimes.

Almost all are on bail and had their matters heard for the second time on Friday, with a Perth magistrate confirming they were co-offenders with Maytham and that their charges were as a group being adjourned to November for police to put together disclosure documents.

In October last year, a man was allegedly caught on CCTV cameras smashing into a tobacco store in Midland before allegedly setting the place on fire. Maytham is not accused of having any involvement in those incidents.

WA Police said while low-level employees of the syndicate were carrying out the attacks, it was those higher up the chain of command they had set their sights on.

Separately, it was recently revealed Kazem has been suspected of conspiring with foreign spies in the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue.

Police are reportedly investigating Kazem’s suspected role in the firebombing and whether he, or members of his gang, did so to curry favour with the Iranian regime.

Maytham will return to court on November 21 alongside his alleged co-offenders.

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