Melbourne Police Strike Crime Syndicate in Hospitality War

Published: 14 July 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

Melbourne police have achieved a major breakthrough in their ongoing battle against organised crime syndicates. Detectives recently announced the arrest of a young man they claim orchestrated violent arson attacks. This significant development marks a turning point in the city’s escalating and dangerous hospitality wars. The investigation highlights persistent links between local criminal activity and overseas crime figures in the Middle East. Police believe this arrest is the most consequential action since Operation Eclipse began three years ago. That initial operation began as an investigation into a series of targeted attacks on tobacco stores. The criminal activity has since morphed into violent offences occurring at various licensed hospitality venues across Melbourne.

Detective Inspector Graham Banks addressed the media on Tuesday to confirm the importance of this recent arrest. He described the capture as the most significant event since the inception of the long-running police operation. Banks explained that these specific offences are clear examples of the growing trend of crime as a service. This criminal model involves the tasking of individuals to carry out kidnappings, home invasions, and destructive arson attacks. He noted that this methodology has been observed consistently over a number of years by various investigation teams. The organised crime groups utilise this system to command local offenders to commit various forms of intimidation and violence.

Banks stated that while a primary figure named Kazem Hamad was detained in Iraq, the threat remains active. Numerous other members of this criminal syndicate are currently based offshore, directing illegal activities to further their regional ambitions. These figures are actively targeting businesses throughout Victoria and other Australian states to expand their control and illicit influence. Police identified one individual based in the Middle East as a particularly problematic member of this organised group. This person currently has an outstanding arrest warrant in relation to the attempted murder of Sam Abdulrahim in 2022.

The man arrested in Melbourne on Tuesday is alleged to be a high-ranking member of this specific group. Police believe he was known as CommBank on an encrypted application used to manage and task local criminal offenders. Despite his relatively young age, intelligence suggests he holds a very significant role within the broader organised crime structure. He reportedly described himself as an ordinary person who runs a complex empire from his own private home. This 20-year-old man, Jesse Hadchiti, was taken into custody during a police operation in the city’s north-west region.

Hadchiti faces a long list of serious criminal charges following his apprehension by authorities on Tuesday afternoon. The charges include aggravated home invasion with an offensive weapon, kidnapping, and extortion with threats to kill people. He is also charged with false imprisonment, attempting to commit arson, and three separate counts of recruiting a child. The legal proceedings were expected to begin in court on Tuesday evening as police continue their complex investigation process. A police spokesperson confirmed that the accused allegedly tasked offenders via encrypted applications for a number of violent jobs.

One of these incidents involved a mistaken-identity kidnapping that occurred in the quiet Melbourne suburb of Malvern during April. A group of men assaulted an innocent victim inside his own home before forcing him into a waiting car. The victim was later found abandoned outside a hospital after the perpetrators realised they had targeted the wrong person. Four other males have already been charged in relation to that specific assault and the subsequent abduction of him. Investigators also allege that the accused organised an attempted aggravated home invasion in Doncaster during late April of this year. He is also allegedly behind a number of earlier arson attacks that triggered the major Operation Eclipse investigation.

The ongoing police operation is targeting a range of syndicates believed to be involved in offences linked to local venues. Detectives are working tirelessly to determine the exact motive behind these targeted attacks on the city’s hospitality industry sector. The history of the alleged crime boss, Kazem Hamad, provides context for the current wave of violence in Victoria. Hamad was previously charged in 2014 as part of an Australian federal police investigation into large-scale heroin trafficking operations. He was deported to Iraq after finishing his prison sentence in 2023, where he remains active in criminal circles. He joined a growing number of Australian organised crime figures who currently manage their operations from safe havens offshore.

Before his deportation, Hamad allegedly had a long history of recruiting teenagers to commit various acts of volume offending. His previous activities included organising armed robberies of service stations to fund his criminal enterprises and build his own wealth. Police suspect this history directly informed his current practice of recruiting teenagers en masse to firebomb tobacco stores across Melbourne. Since early this year, these tactics have been applied to various hospitality businesses, leading to significant destruction and community fear.

The majority of those charged with these fires have been teenagers who were likely influenced by these older figures. Police have repeatedly stated that these youths were recruited via encrypted applications by organised crime figures they never met personally. Many of the teenagers involved had no prior criminal record before being convinced to participate in these dangerous, illegal activities. The arson attacks were sometimes rewarded with cash payments of less than one thousand dollars, exploiting the vulnerability of youth. In May, Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly noted that the use of such young foot soldiers is a major global trend. Encrypted phone applications have become the primary tool for criminal organisations to recruit young attackers without ever needing to communicate.

Kelly explained that it is a worldwide issue regarding how organised crime groups are now infiltrating children to do work. He stated that organised crime groups are out there actively recruiting kids for these dangerous tasks, which requires a response. Police are working to recruit law enforcement and government partners to address this difficult challenge in a more holistic way. The issue has even reached the highest levels of national security discussions in recent times across the Australian political landscape.

Without naming Hamad directly, the Asio director-general Mike Burgess referenced his activities in an annual threat assessment last week. Burgess specifically mentioned an attack that Hamad allegedly directed on the Adass Israel Synagogue located in the city of Melbourne. He alleged that Iran recruited the criminal through a complex web of various militia groups based within the nation Iraq. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly valued his wealth and connections while protecting him and supporting his illegal business enterprises. That situation changed dramatically after Asio publicly named Iran’s direct involvement in the various antisemitic arsons across the city area. Burgess alleged that the person’s Iranian backers eventually lost their enthusiasm for his work and threw him into local prison. This outcome occurred after further sustained pressure from Australian law enforcement and international partners working to dismantle the criminal network.

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