Melbourne crime kingpin jailed for life in Iraq

Melbourne underworld kingpin Kazem “Kaz” Hamad has been jailed for life in Iraq for drug trafficking.

Announcing the sentence on Tuesday, Iraqi authorities described Kadhim Malik Hamad Rabah Al-Hajami as “one of the most wanted individuals by Iraqi and international judiciaries”.

He was arrested in January after what Iraq’s National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation (NCIJC) described as an official request from Australia.

At the time, Commissioner Krissy Barrett called him the Australian Federal Police’s “number one target” and Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council declared him “one of the most dangerous men in the world”.

On Tuesday, the Karkh Criminal Court handed him a life sentence, according to the NCIJC.

“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,” the body said.

Hamad is suspected of coordinating the arson attack that killed innocent Melbourne woman Katie Tangey in January 2025 at a Truganina home.

Police said the alleged attack was targeted but took place at the wrong address, and that Tangey had no link to the illicit tobacco trade.

A $500,000 reward has been offered for information over the firebombing.

According to a police intelligence report obtained by The Age, Hamad was believed to be a major underworld figure who looms large in Melbourne’s illicit tobacco scene.

He was deported from Australia to his native Iraq in 2023 after serving a prison term for drug offences.

Hamad is also suspected of involvement with the arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024, according to The Age law and justice editor Chris Vedelago.

The AFP said the NCIJC had informed it of the life sentence and noted the work of its “important partner”.

It directed all questions to the NCIJC, saying it would say more “at an appropriate time”.

Speaking in January year, Barret said the AFP had “supercharged” its efforts to target Hamad internationally, including deploying officers overseas, but that Iraqi authorities acted independently.

“Late last year, the AFP provided information to law enforcement officials in Iraq about this alleged offender,” she said.

“Iraqi officials have made an independent decision to arrest this alleged offender after launching their own criminal investigation.”