A former Melbourne organised crime kingpin, who was deported to Iraq in 2023, has been sentenced to life behind bars for drug trafficking.Kazem Hamad, also known as Kadhim Malik Hamad Rabah al-Hajami, was allegedly a major player in Melbourne’s tobacco wars.Iraq’s National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation said in a statement on Tuesday that Hamad was sentenced in Baghdad’s Karkh Criminal Court to life in jail after being convicted of importing drugs into Iraq and Australia.“The convict is considered one of the most wanted individuals by Iraqi and international judiciaries,” the NCIJC said.“He is responsible for importing large quantities of narcotics into Iraq and Australia, smuggling heroin, and is linked to transnational organised crime gangs involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, kidnapping, extortion, and organised violence.”Hamad has been a person of interest relating to firebombings at Victorian tobacco shops and businesses.His arrest in Iraq was revealed in January, after the Australian Federal Police provided information to local authorities in late 2025.The AFP later said Hamad’s arrest had sparked infighting among the crime syndicate.AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett described Hamad at the time as her “number one target”.On Tuesday, the AFP released only a brief statement to say they had been informed by Iraqi authorities that a life sentence had been handed down.“The AFP notes the work of our important partner. The AFP will provide further comment at an appropriate time,” the AFP said.Hamad came to Australia as a teenager from Iraq with his family in the late 1990s.He never obtained citizenship and was deported in 2023 following eight years in prison.Read related topics:Melbourne