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The western Sydney home of a high-profile member of the Alameddine crime family has been firebombed by two hooded assailants in a late-night attack, engulfing the SUV parked out the front in flames.
Dramatic CCTV footage and video posted on social media shows the Toongabbie home being targeted shortly after midnight on Wednesday by the two assailants, who pour accelerant on the vehicle and are heard shouting “coconut cartel on top” as they flee the fiery scene.
The car on the property belonging to the Alameddines erupted in flames shortly after midnight.
The Fitzwilliam Road home belongs to Bilal Alameddine, a member of the notorious crime family, a police source with knowledge of the investigation told the Herald. As a teen in 2015 he attempted to leave Australia to join Islamic State terrorists before being detained at Sydney Airport. Following an unrelated investigation two years later he was convicted and jailed for supplying guns and cocaine.
It’s unclear if the 27-year-old was in the house when the attack occurred, though at least one of his family members lives at the address. No injuries were reported, and the arsonists remain at large.
Video captured by one of the attackers and shared by SCN Worldstar, an independent media channel focused on the city’s underworld, features the other man splashing an accelerant over the car and home.
Attached is a message for Alameddine: “Stop hiding u [sic] weak c--- behind a phone and come meet with the gorillas. P.s. coconut cartel.”
A crime scene has been established and police are investigating.
Neighbour Appakutti Visvalingam sprung into action as the fire erupted, grabbing his garden hose before being forced to flee through the back door of his property as the flames took hold.
“It was so huge, so huge,” Visvalingam told Nine News. “So through that fight only, we tried to put out that fire.”
An SUV and home were damaged in the Toongabbie firebombing.Credit: Nine News
Neighbour Appakutti Visvalingam tried to put out the fire with his garden hose.Credit: Nine News
Alameddine was arrested at Sydney Airport on July 7, 2015 – moments before his flight for Dubai was due to take off – after his parents attended Wentworthville Police Station to report “serious concerns” about their son’s intention to join Islamic State.
Police believed Alameddine was planning to fly to Jordan after arriving in the Middle East, and would then cross into Syria to be a combatant for the caliphate.
In 2017, he was arrested for supplying guns and cocaine, and subsequently pleaded guilty. He was released from jail in 2022.
Police claimed to have dismantled the Alameddine gang in 2024, following a string of major operations targeting people involved in the network.
Bilal Alameddine was jailed for gun and drug supply offences.
Alleged kingpin of the crime network, Rafat Alameddine, fled for Lebanon in November 2022, sparking a leadership vacuum and a fight for control of the gang that has resulted in alleged new kingpin Ali Elmoubayed being targeted.
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