Bassam Hamzy, the alleged kingpin of one of the notorious crime family, has clashed with a young member of a bitter enemy clan after the two came into proximity inside prison.
Hamzy, 43, was being escorted by guards inside Sydney’s Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre on Tuesday when he came across Bilal Mahfoud, a 20-year-old associate of the Alameddine clan, who was using a phone at the time.
It is understood Mahfoud, known as ‘a mouthy’ inmate, ‘spouted off’ at Hamzy as the older man was being moved by the four specially-trained prison guards who are with him every time he’s outside his cell, a source told Daily Mail Australia.
The much-feared alleged kingpin of one of Australia’s most notorious crime families, Bassam Hamzy, has targeted a member of a rival clan while on temporary release from the country’s highest security prison.
Hamzy immediately lunged at the younger man and spat at him before being restrained.
The incident shows the bloody and high profile feud between the Alameddines and the Hamzys – which has led to eight shootings and several murders on Sydney streets in recent years – is being carried on behind bars too.
While there was no physical contact between the men, Mahfoud ‘insisted’ assault charges be laid against Hamzy.
Bassam Hamzy faces charges in May of running a large-scale meth operation from his jail cell
As Hamzy, 43, was being escorted by prison guards at Sydney’s Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre, he spat at Alameddine associate Bilal Mahfoud, who was using a phone (pictured, inmates at Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater)
The source said the ‘threshold’ for assault is whether the spit landed on Mahfoud, suggesting Hamzy’s aim was on target.
‘About 8.15am on Tuesday, January 25, a 43-year-old inmate allegedly spat at a 20-year-old inmate at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater,’ a NSW Corrective Services spokeswoman told Daily Mail in a statement.
After Mahfoud said he wanted to press charges, NSW Police were notified and officers from the Auburn area command are investigating.
Mahfoud is believed to have been the target of an attempted assassination last November when a drive-by shooting sprayed bullets at his home in Guildford in western Sydney.
He was forced to duck for cover to save his life from the late-night attack.
Police later charged Mahfoud with acquiring a gun and ammunition while subject to a firearms prohibition order.
He was refused bail and sent to MRRC – at the same time Hamzy was moved there.
Mahfoud was jailed for breaching a firearms prohibition order in December and was sent to MRRC – at the same time Hamzy was moved there
A young Bassam Hamzy (right) sits on a couch with one of his uncles, years before he wound up in Goulburn Supermax
Hamzy, who was jailed for life in 1999, was moved from Goulburn Supermax jail to the MRRC recently.
The move is not believed to be connected to Hamzy’s upcoming NSW District Court trial on drugs charges, but is instead related to an internal grievance he has raised about his treatment in the prison system.
Hamzy is set to face charges in May of running a large-scale methamphetamine operation from his jail cell.
Hamzy has been behind bars since early 1999 for a string of serious crimes including drug supply, murder and conspiracy to murder.
He will not be eligible for parole until at least 2035.
This week it was reported that NSW police believe the Hamzy family has been ‘crushed’ with at least ten members in jail or dead.
Since the family’s bloody feud with the Alameddines kicked off 18 months ago several Hamzy clan members have been gunned down, including Mejid, Bilal Hamzy, Salem and Toufik Hamze and Ghassan Amoun.
It is understood NSW police, via its 115-strong Raptor Squad which targets bikie gangs, intend to make inroads into the Alameddine clan.
A police source also vowed there was ‘trouble ahead’ for the Alameddine family, believed to be connected to several fatal shootings of Hamzy family members.
Bassam Hamzy is the former founder of the notorious Brothers 4 Life Lebanese gang and was jailed in 1999.
He was charged in 2019 over the alleged supply of a commercial quantity of methylamphetamine between October 2017 and February 2018 across the Riverina and Illawarra.
He allegedly operated the drug operation from his Goulburn supermax cell and communicated with his former solicitor Martin Churchill under the veil of client privilege.
In 2009 Bassam Hamzy offered to surrender five rocket launchers, guns, grenades and ecstasy pills to police in a desperate letter as part of a failed plea deal on behalf of his father, Khaled.
The Hamzy family name first came onto the radar of police in the mid-1990s, when Khaled was jailed for his role in a drug ring.
A young Bassam Hamzy pictured at the time of his trial for murder in 1999. He was sentenced to 21 years but that has been extended several times
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