One look in Fadi Haddara’s eyes and you knew there was trouble.
On Sunday night, Haddara was shot in Marigold Ave in Altona North, west of Melbourne, in a suspected gangland ambush.
His shooting would have come as little surprise to anyone who had been unfortunate enough to have rubbed the 48-year-old the wrong way over the years.
Haddara had lived by the sword and knew a time would come that he would likely die by it.
It’s a near miracle he made it this long, given his propensity for extreme violence.
The name Haddara once sent terror into the hearts of every Melburnian.
In the early 2000s, after Melbourne’s notorious ‘Underbelly War’ finally subsided, it was the Haddara clan that once more reminded Melburnians that its seedy underbelly remained as dangerous as ever.
In June 2009, Haddara’s brother, 28-year-old Mohammed, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting on Fifth Avenue, just hundreds of metres away from Sunday’s incident.
Fadi Haddara was a feared underworld player in Melbourne. His life hangs in the balance
It had been Haddara and his cousin Ghazi Haddara who found his body in an undignified position, face-down and bleeding on the road where the killing occurred.
Less than two months later, crime family patriarch Macchour Chaouk was murdered in the backyard of his Brooklyn home, not far from the Haddara family home.
On that day, Haddara’s father, Ahmed Haddara, defiantly sat on the porch of the family property as brave—or stupid—reporters approached for comment.
He was the prime suspect in Chaouk’s execution, but died before any charges were ever laid.
The deaths sparked another war within Melbourne’s west for years, with only time and bloodshed seeing it drift off the front page of Melbourne newspapers.
In 2019, Ali Chaouk was sentenced to a maximum 24 years behind bars for shooting Mohammed in the driveway of the Haddara family home.
On Sunday, Haddara was shot as he sat in a vehicle in the driveway of a property.
He was taken to hospital and is being treated for life-threatening injuries.
Police closed off a street at a crime scene following the reported shooting of Fadi Haddara at Marigold Avenue in Altona North
Police remained at the scene on Monday morning
While the Chaouk and Haddara war seemingly ran out of gas, Haddara continued to play a fearsome role in Melbourne’s underworld in all the years since.
In 2015, he was jailed for 23 months after his drug syndicate was busted as part of Victoria Police’s Operation Skyborn.
He had been caught selling $155,000 worth of methamphetamine, two handguns and a sawn-off rifle to undercover police during 2013 and 2014.
Surveillance also captured Haddara collecting guns, including one occasion when a gun accidentally went off and people had to duck for cover.
In sentencing him, County Court Judge Felicity Hampel said Haddara had a ‘total disregard for living within the law’.
By then, he already had a significant criminal history, including a conviction for property damage, which was retaliation against the Chaouk family.
When he finally got out, a court heard Haddara had failed seven drug tests while in custody.
While Haddara was feared across Melbourne, he has had his supporters.
Mohammed Haddara’s murder sparked another war on the streets of Melbourne
Macchour Chaouk was shot dead in his backyard just weeks after Mohammed Haddara’s murder
In 2018, Sheikh Mohamed Aljibaly, then Imam at the Australian Islamic Centre in Newport, told a court Haddara had always conducted himself with ‘great respect for other people, respect for the law and authorities’.
He expressed the view that Haddara was a great community contributor and that he had always known him to be honest and trustworthy.
But Haddara was never far removed from the family business.
When a new war descended on Melbourne, he reportedly saw opportunity in the chaos.
Haddara is suspected of having been a major player in Victoria’s illicit tobacco trade.
According to those in the know, Haddara had gone up against feared exiled underworld identity Kazem Hamad.
Controversial true crime reporter Ryan Naumenko claimed via his Outlaw Media website that Haddara had been shot in his mouth and chest.
‘Chances of surviving his injuries are currently incredibly low according to a Royal Melbourne Hospital source,’ he wrote on Monday.
Kazem Hamad is serving a life sentence in an Iraqi prison.
Kazem Hamad is serving a life sentence in an Iraqi prison
Naumenko reported Haddara’s shooting was directly linked to an ongoing conflict with ‘Kaz’ Hamad, who he claimed was one of the now-jailed gangster’s last main targets.
Hamad is currently serving a life sentence in an Iraqi prison for drug trafficking.
He was deported to Iraq after his release from a Victorian prison in July 2023, rising to become a feared force in the Australian underworld despite being on the other side of the world.
Victorian police suspected Hamad and his gang had taken control of large sections of the illicit tobacco market, enforcing a new order with extortion, fire bombings and shootings.
The organised crime gang known as The Commission was formed by Hamad from a safe haven in Iraq, becoming the dominant force controlling Australia’s multibillion-dollar illicit tobacco market and large-scale drug importations.
Victoria Police are set to hold a press conference on Haddara’s shooting on Monday afternoon.
