/Mahmoud Brownie Ahmad: Tense scenes at wake for slain crime boss as cop cars surround the home

Mahmoud Brownie Ahmad: Tense scenes at wake for slain crime boss as cop cars surround the home

Friends and family of Sydney underworld crime boss Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad have attended a wild wake for the slain kingpin, amid fears of further gangland violence.

Up to 60 mourners met at a home on Canterbury Street in Punchbowl, in Sydney’s southwest, to pay their respects to the 39-year-old on Monday evening.

It was a tense atmosphere when men, women and children began to arrive at about 7pm and greeted their fellow guests with hugs and pleasantries before heading inside. 

NSW Police made sure their presence was known with at least four squad cars parking in different locations around the home. 

Friends and family of Sydney underworld crime boss Mahmoud 'Brownie' Ahmad have attended a wild wake for the slain kingpin

Friends and family of Sydney underworld crime boss Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad have attended a wild wake for the slain kingpin 

Up to 60 mourners met at a home on Canterbury Street in Punchbowl, in Sydney's southwest, to pay their respects to Ahmad, also known as 'Mr Big'

Up to 60 mourners met at a home on Canterbury Street in Punchbowl, in Sydney’s southwest, to pay their respects to Ahmad, also known as ‘Mr Big’ 

An even split of men and women were seen arriving at a home in Punchbowl on Monday night

An even split of men and women were seen arriving at a home in Punchbowl on Monday night 

Mahmoud 'Brownie' Ahmad was gunned down while visiting an associate in a suburban street in Greenacre at 9.30pm last Wednesday night

Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad was gunned down while visiting an associate in a suburban street in Greenacre at 9.30pm last Wednesday night

Police told Daily Mail Australia officers were ‘conducting high-visibility patrols in the area to ensure the safety and security of the community’ as authorities brace for more bloodshed.

At one point in the evening catering was dropped off to guests, while others attendees made trips to the nearby shops or stepped outside for a cigarette. 

The sombre mood was palpable with no music or prayers heard from outside the building before guests started dispersing at about 8:30pm. 

Ahmad, also known as ‘Mr Big’ in criminal circles, was gunned down while visiting an associate in a suburban street in Greenacre, western Sydney, at about 9.30pm last Wednesday night. 

Men, women and children began to arrive at about 7pm and greeted their fellow guests with hugs and pleasantries before going inside

Men, women and children began to arrive at about 7pm and greeted their fellow guests with hugs and pleasantries before going inside

At one point in the evening catering was dropped off to guests, with others seen making trips to the nearby shops or stepping outside for a cigarette

 At one point in the evening catering was dropped off to guests, with others seen making trips to the nearby shops or stepping outside for a cigarette

NSW Police made their presence known with at least four squad cars parked at different locations surrounding the home that hosted the wake

NSW Police made their presence known with at least four squad cars parked at different locations surrounding the home that hosted the wake

His brazen execution came after a $1million bounty was placed on his head and several warnings from police that an attack was imminent. 

Authorities fear the brutal execution will spark yet another escalation in the bloody gang war raging on Sydney’s streets. 

Ahmad had only recently been released from prison after serving five years for the manslaughter of an underworld rival at a Sydney scrap yard in 2016.  

The kingpin shot in a hale of bullets with authorities saying it was a ‘miracle’ nobody else was hurt. 

‘My understanding is a lot of people were in the street at the time,’ Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said last week.

Police have appealed for other people in the area at the time to come forward, particularly those with mobile phone or dashcam footage.

There was no music or prayers heard from outside the building in Sydney's Punchbowl

There was no music or prayers heard from outside the building in Sydney’s Punchbowl

Another police vehicle is seen parked near where the wake was held on Monday evening

Another police vehicle is seen parked near where the wake was held on Monday evening

Sombre guests started to arrive at the Punchbowl home at about 7pm for the wake before dispersing at about 8:30pm

Sombre guests started to arrive at the Punchbowl home at about 7pm for the wake before dispersing at about 8:30pm

Paramedics tried to treat Ahmad for his injuries but he died at the scene. 

The gunman fled with a Porsche four-wheel-drive and a black BMW both found on fire a short time later.  

A local resident recalled the car driving ‘normally’ rather than speeding from the scene after hearing several loud bangs. 

‘It was four banging noises at 9.32pm,’ they told Nine’s Today show. 

‘And then I heard a car drive off. It just drove off normally – it didn’t drive off quickly.

‘There’s always things happening in Greenacre – that’s just the way it is.’

Officers from Homicide Squad, Criminal Groups and Raptor Squads attended the crime scene

Officers from Homicide Squad, Criminal Groups and Raptor Squads attended the crime scene

Police had been scouring multiple crime scenes, including the street where Ahmad was gunned down on Wednesday night. Pictured are two men who claimed to live on the street.

Police had been scouring multiple crime scenes, including the street where Ahmad was gunned down on Wednesday night. Pictured are two men who claimed to live on the street. 

How the deadly shooting unfolded

Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad went to Narelle Crescent, Greenacre on Wednesday night to visit an associate.

Around 9.30pm, he was leaving when he was gunned down by ‘a large hail of bullets’ outside the home.

More than one person ‘lay in wait’ outside the house before opening fire.

Officers from Strike Force Raptor were in the area at the time and arrived to find a dying Ahmad lying in the street.

‘The movements of Brownie Ahmed are being investigated,’ Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said.

‘He was at that address visiting an associate. He’d been there for a little bit and was leaving.

‘What appears to be – whoever was in a car – as soon as he was out open in the street more than one person in that vehicle, someone’s fired shots at Brownie Ahmed

‘They’ve planned it. it’s well executed and I suppose it was a meticulous assassination of a person they were going to kill.’

‘They weren’t going to muck around with this one, that’s for sure.’

Another neighbour described the scenes that followed the brazen attack on the crime boss as ‘pandemonium’. 

‘Police, all my neighbours, we were all on the street,’ 34-year-old Zarif told Daily Mail Australia last week. 

‘I’d like to say I’m surprised but I don’t know, I don’t know if he was a very good person.’

Detectives have since returned to the cul-de-sac near where Ahmad was shot with sniffer dogs to comb the scene for clues. 

Officers were also seen speaking to and taking statements from both bystanders and locals who lived in the vicinity. 

Bullet holes were evident in the side of a white ute with tinted black windows which was removed at about 10.30am. 

Police are looking at a long list of ‘persons of interest’ and suspects who may have been involved in Ahmad’s death but are keeping an open mind.

Mahmoud 'Brownie' Ahmad (pictured) died at the scene, despite attempts to revive him

Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad (pictured) died at the scene, despite attempts to revive him

Police are looking at a long list of 'persons of interest' and suspects who may have been involved in Ahmad's death but are keeping an open mind

Police are looking at a long list of ‘persons of interest’ and suspects who may have been involved in Ahmad’s death but are keeping an open mind

‘The intention was to kill him and they were going to do that by firing as many bullets at him as they could,’ Detective Superintendent Doherty said.

‘He’s been warned in the past he was a marked man but he didn’t heed those warnings.’

Just last October, Ahmad dodged another attempt on his life when he was tipped off about a planned hit on him in broad daylight at a park at Rushcutters Bay. 

Detective Superintendent Doherty said Ahmad had put himself in ‘imminent danger’ by continuing about his normal business in the face of threats.  

‘His life was always going to be in danger. He was always going to end up on a slab in a morgue or end up back in jail,’ he said. 

‘Unfortunately for him, he’s in the morgue as we speak.’

The gunman fled with a Porsche four-wheel-drive and a black BMW both found on fire a short time later. Police are investigating if the two incidents are linked

The gunman fled with a Porsche four-wheel-drive and a black BMW both found on fire a short time later. Police are investigating if the two incidents are linked

Bullet holes were evident in the side of a white ute with tinted black windows which was removed from the cordoned-off scene at about 10.30am

Bullet holes were evident in the side of a white ute with tinted black windows which was removed from the cordoned-off scene at about 10.30am

Ahmad pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Safwan Charbaji in 2016 shortly after returning to Australia from Lebanon where he had fled in the aftermath.

He served five years in prison and was only released six months ago.

Charbaji was shot in a gunfight outside a south-west Sydney smash repair business owned by Ahmed’s brother Walid ‘Wally’ Ahmed.

Wally Ahmad was himself shot dead on the rooftop carpark of Bankstown Centro shopping centre weeks later. 

Seven cars in total have so far been towed from the crime scene, including this blue one

Seven cars in total have so far been towed from the crime scene, including this blue one

Ahmad (pictured) pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Safwan Charbaji in 2016 shortly after returning to Australia from Lebanon where he had fled in the aftermath

Ahmad (pictured) pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Safwan Charbaji in 2016 shortly after returning to Australia from Lebanon where he had fled in the aftermath

Afterwards he briefly left Sydney for the Middle East and when he returned had been surrounding himself with allies in a bid for protection.

Since 2020, NSW Police have focused considerable resources on a gangland war between the Alameddine and Hamzy groups which has seen at least seven killed. 

NSW Police assistant commissioner Peter Thurtell previously said there was no doubt the ongoing gang wars on the streets of western Sydney are drug related.

‘They are organised criminal groups targeting each other,’ Asst Comm Thurtell said.

THE TIMELINE OF SYDNEY’S BLOODY GANGLAND WAR

MAY 2007 – Prison officers find notes in Bassam Hamzy’s Lithgow jail cell referring to the Brothers 4 Life bikie gang for the first time

OCTOBER 2012 – Tensions between the Bankstown and Blacktown chapters of B4L blow up with the shooting of Yehye Amood, 27 and Bassim Hijazi. Amood is killed but Hijazi survives and flees to Lebanon

MARCH 9, 2013 – Bassam Hamzy’s aunt Maha Hamze is shot eight times in the legs, but survives, in a reprisal attack for her son Ashkan Rajabi demanding money from another gang member’s mother

JULY 2013 –  Ashkan Rajabi and Bilal Hamze survive an assassination attempt in Wenworthville

OCTOBER 29, 2013 – Mahmoud Hamzy – cousin of Bassim Hamzy – shot dead in Revesby Heights. Five B4L members were later charged with the murder

NOVEMBER 3, 2013 – B4L member Michael Odisho shot but survives 

NOVEMBER 4, 2013 – Masood Zakaria – an Alameddine associate – survives shooting attempt but his 13 year old sister is injured by shotgun pellets

DECEMBER 16, 2013 – Standover man Joe Antoun shot dead in Strathfield

JANUARY 1, 2014 - Farhad Qaumi shot at as his yacht pulls into Rose Bay Marina in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (pictured) after the NYE fireworks

JANUARY 1, 2014 – Farhad Qaumi shot at as his yacht pulls into Rose Bay Marina in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs (pictured) after the NYE fireworks

DECEMBER 11, 2014 – Bassam Hamzy’s mother Lola Hamzy was shot through her front door in Auburn

APRIL 9, 2016 – Safwan Charbaji – a relative of Alameddine associates – shot dead outside a smash repair shop in Condell Park

APRIL 29. 2016 – Wally Ahmad – associate of the Hamzy family – shot dead in Bankstown 

OCTOBER 25, 2016 – Hamad Assad executed in Georges Hall. Assad was suspected of killing Ahmad 

MARCH 20, 2017 – Hell’s Angel bikie Kemel Barakat is shot dead at home in Mortdale

MARCH 28, 2017 – Emed Sleiman is shot dead in his car park in Auburn. He was suspected of killing Barakat

OCTOBER 4, 2020 – Shaylin Zreika – an associate of the Alameddines – is beaten with a metal bar in a street fight in Strathfield

OCTOBER 18, 2020 – Rafat Alameddine’s former home is shot up in a drive-by shooting

OCTOBER 19, 2020 – Mejid Hamzy is shot dead in Condell Park

JANUARY 30, 2021 – Mustafa Naaman is shot dead in Hurstville in a suspected mistaken identity attack on Ibrahem Hamze

JANUARY 30, 2021 – Mejed Derbas is shot dead in Smithfield

FEBRUARY 15, 2021 – Bilal Hamze’s mother Maha Hamze comes under gunfire again in another drive-by shooting at her home in Auburn

MARCH 12, 2021 – A home linked to the Alameddine family in Guildford is shot up 

JUNE 17, 2021 - Bilal Hamze is shot dead outside Mr Wong's restaurant in Sydney's CBD

JUNE 17, 2021 – Bilal Hamze is shot dead outside Mr Wong’s restaurant in Sydney’s CBD

JUNE 18, 2021 – Bilal Hamze was killed in a “brutal, execution-style murder” in Sydney’s CBD

AUGUST 6, 2021 – Alameddine low-level associate Shady Kanj is shot in Chester Hill and found dead by police in Guildford 

AUGUST 14, 2021 –  Police foil alleged gangland hit on Ibrahem Hamze when they spot stolen Mercedes in North Sydney 

OCTOBER 20, 2021 – Salim and Toufik Hamze are gunned down outside their home in Guildford 

NOVEMBER 10, 2021 – Drive-by shooting at Guildford home of Alameddine associate. No-one is hurt

JANUARY 6, 2022 – Brother of Bassam Hamzy, Ghassan Amoun, is shot dead at 35 years of age in a brazen daylight execution as he sat in a BMW outside an apartment building in Western Sydney.

APRIL, 4, 2022 – ‘Mr Big’ is gunned down in a hail of bullets – after being warned by police that he had a million-dollar bounty on his head for his role in deadly shooting in Greenacre. 

Police at the scene of the double murder of Salim and Toufik Hamze in Guildford

Police at the scene of the double murder of Salim and Toufik Hamze in Guildford

 

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