Sydney home of alleged Alameddine leader sprayed by gunfire

The home of the alleged leader of the Alameddine crime family has been sprayed with gunfire in an early morning drive-by shooting, six months after he was charged with plotting to murder a former ally turned rival.

The family home of Ali Elmoubayed, who police allege assumed leadership of the network’s local operations after patriarch Rafat Alameddine fled Australia for Lebanon in 2022, was hit with several bullets at 3am on Thursday. Police have previously claimed Elmoubayed was the ringleader of the group.

The front of the South Granville home was hit with rounds of gunfire, but none of the people inside were injured.

Police sources have confirmed the residence belongs to Elmoubayed’s family. The assailants fled the scene and remain at large.

Elmoubayed is the latest Alameddine figure to be targeted by warring criminal groups jostling for control of Sydney’s lucrative drug trade.

In December, Elmoubayed was charged with plotting to kill a former member of the network who defected to join a rival criminal group. He was also charged with conspiring to murder an associate of the former member at Kogarah Bay in August.

The former member, who cannot be named because of wide-ranging suppression orders on his identity, has survived several assassination attempts during a months-long gangland war sparked by the defection.

The escalating conflict between high-profile members of Sydney’s underworld triggered NSW Police to establish Taskforce Falcon.

The self-proclaimed Coconut Cartel has emerged as a rival to the Alameddines, who have also been challenged by a group referring to itself as the Lone Wolves.

The Lone Wolves claimed credit for the firebombing of an Alameddine-linked towing business in Wetherill Park last month.

Meanwhile, Taskforce Falcon detectives on Wednesday arrested Rebekah Hansell over the alleged conspiracy to murder Sydney rapper Ay Huncho, whose legal name is Ali Younes, in Wentworthville last month. Anti-gang detectives allege Younes, cousin of Rafat Alameddine, is a senior member of the Alameddine organised crime network.

Hansell has been charged with conspiring and agreeing to murder, and participating in a criminal group. Police allege the 23-year-old played an integral role in the murder plot, including the staging of firearms and vehicles.

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