Top lieutenant in Melbourne tobacco war jailed after surveillance sting
Majid Alibadi, a senior lieutenant in the Hamad syndicate, has been sent to jail for helping organise a string of firebombings during Victoria’s tobacco war.
Majid Alibadi, a senior lieutenant in the Hamad syndicate, has been sent to jail for helping organise a string of firebombings during Victoria’s tobacco war. The 27-year-old was convicted after police captured his conversations in a Mercedes-Benz and tracked his movements with GPS surveillance.
He will serve at least three years behind bars under a maximum sentence of five and a half years, after being found guilty of incitement to commit arson and car theft on behalf of Kazem Hamad’s crime group. Prosecutors said he helped coordinate attacks on rival underworld figure Fadi Haddara’s interests in late 2023.
Listening devices and car tracking built the case
The prosecution’s case leaned heavily on recorded conversations and location data from Alibadi’s vehicle. Those recordings allegedly placed him in repeated contact with syndicate bosses and foot soldiers, including Kazem Hamad while he was in Iraq and Hamad’s brother Maytham, said to be a leading onshore figure for The Commission in Western Australia.
Alibadi was described by prosecutors as an “upper-level middle man” in the Hamad network. Court material cited a close working relationship with Kazem and Maytham Hamad, with regular discussions across a range of criminal matters.
The surveillance evidence proved decisive. So did the setting. A Mercedes-Benz carrying a man once collected from remand in a Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini sent by Hamad became a key piece of the case against him.
Arsons tied to the tobacco war
Police said Alibadi was linked to the firebombing of the Karizma restaurant in Docklands in November 2023, a venue owned by Haddara. He was also connected to a fire at a reception centre in Tullamarine. Investigators estimated the blazes caused almost A$2 million in damage.
The attacks unfolded at the height of Victoria’s tobacco wars, a period when organised crime groups fought for control of the illicit cigarette market. The conflict has spread far beyond Melbourne, with a series of attacks and reprisals that have unsettled businesses and residents across the state.
Alibadi fronted the County Court by video link on Wednesday after refusing to get on a bus to appear in person. He was dressed in a white T-shirt.
Haddara, the rival target in the case, was shot outside his Altona North home last month, underscoring how volatile the underworld fight has remained even after police arrests.
What the sentence means now
Detectives from Victoria Police’s illicit tobacco taskforce charged Alibadi in late 2023. His conviction marks another blow to the Hamad network, though the broader violence has not stopped.
Authorities had hoped the arrest of Kazem Hamad in the Middle East would cool tensions. Instead, the war has kept moving. The latest sentencing adds to a long list of arrests, but the market for illegal tobacco remains a lucrative trigger for gangland attacks.
For Victoria police, the case shows how surveillance, not just raids, can cut through a criminal network that relies on hand-to-hand contact and encrypted loyalty. For the underworld, it is another reminder that conversations in a luxury car can still end in prison.
