Police have charged a man with the murder of underworld boss Bilal Hamze in Sydney’s CBD last year.
Key points:
- Police arrested the suspect on Tuesday
- Hamze was shot outside a sushi restaurant in Sydney’s CBD in June last year
- Three men remain on trial in connection with the attempted murder of Hamze’s brother
Hamze, the cousin of Brothers 4 Life gang leader and killer Bassam Hamzy, was shot dead in what police described as a “brutal, execution-style” hit-and-run shortly before 10:30 p.m. of June 17, 2021.
He was 34 years old.
Officers arrested a 32-year-old man for murder on Tuesday.
He is due to appear in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court today.
The arrest comes after police again appealed for witnesses who may have seen cars involved last week.
Police and forensic teams continued to comb the scene of the fatal shooting. (AAP: Dean Lewins)
Police released CCTV images of a Ford Territory, a Mercedes sedan and a Honda Odyssey they believe were linked to Hamze’s murder.
Detectives identified the Mercedes as the same one used in an alleged botched hit on Hamze’s relative, Ibrahem Hamze, two months later.
Hamze was leaving the Kid Kyoto restaurant with a group of people when he was shot several times in June last year.
Witnesses described seeing a pool of blood before he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to St Vincent’s Hospital, where he died from his critical injuries.
Detectives at the time said they had warned Hamze that his life was in danger in the months before his death, with a reward on his head.
His cousin, Mejid Hamzy, was shot dead outside his Condell Park home in October 2021 at a time when detectives were concerned about an ongoing feud with a rival family, the Alameddines.
Three men remain on trial for the alleged attempted murder of Ibrahim Hamze, accused of conspiracy to murder.