Kazem Hamad, Australia’s ‘most wanted’ man, sentenced to life in Iraq for drug trafficking
Kazem Hamad, a former Melbourne organized crime figure linked to Australia’s tobacco wars, has been sentenced to life in prison in Iraq after being convicted of drug trafficking.
PEOPLE & COMMUNITY
Kazem Hamad, a former Melbourne organized crime figure once described as one of Australia’s most wanted men, has been sentenced to life in prison in Iraq after being convicted of drug trafficking.
Iraq’s National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation said on Tuesday that Hamad was convicted by Baghdad’s Karkh Criminal Court and handed a life sentence after being found guilty of importing drugs into Iraq and Australia.
The ruling marks the latest development in a case that has drawn close attention from Australian and Iraqi authorities since Hamad was arrested in Iraq in January.
The centre said Hamad was considered one of the most wanted fugitives by Iraqi and international judicial authorities, and accused him of links to transnational organized crime networks involved in money laundering, kidnapping, extortion, murder, and other violent offences.
Hamad, also known as Kadhim Malik Hamad Rabah al-Hajami, was deported from Australia in 2023 after serving time in prison.
Australian media have long linked him to Melbourne’s tobacco wars and to broader criminal activity across several states, with authorities describing him as a major target in investigations into organized crime networks.
In January, AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrest of Hamad in Iraq was a major disruption to a serious criminal network and confirmed that Australian investigators were continuing to work with Iraqi authorities.
Barrett also warned that Hamad’s detention did not mean the investigation was over, saying AFP officers would keep pursuing those connected to him and his syndicate.
The AFP has said it is supporting the Iraqi investigation by sharing operational information related to alleged crimes Hamad or his network are believed to have directed in Australia.
The case has become a symbol of deeper law-enforcement cooperation between Australia and Iraq, with both sides using intelligence-sharing and judicial coordination to pursue alleged transnational crime figures.
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