Shooting suspect Mahmoud 'Brownie' Ahmad arrested at Sydney Airport

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This was published 7 years ago

Shooting suspect Mahmoud 'Brownie' Ahmad arrested at Sydney Airport

By Ava Benny-Morrison
Updated

The brother of slain standover figure Wally Ahmad has been arrested as he stepped off a flight from the Middle East in relation to one of Sydney's unsolved gangland killings.

Almost a year after he travelled to Lebanon following a fatal shooting in the south-western suburb of Condell Park, Mahmoud "Brownie" Ahmad touched down at 7.40pm at Sydney Airport on Monday night.

Brownie was swiftly taken into custody by police when he stepped off the Qatar Airways flight from Doha and was taken to Mascot Police Station.

The 34-year-old has been charged with murder.

'Brownie' Ahmad, pictured with two detectives, was arrested after he stepped off a flight from Doha.

'Brownie' Ahmad, pictured with two detectives, was arrested after he stepped off a flight from Doha.Credit: James Alcock

Police have been keen to talk to the well-known underworld figure ever since he was allegedly linked to the shooting death of Safwan Charbaji in April last year.

He returned home from Lebanon, via Doha, where he has been since the fatal shooting.

An hour after he landed, Brownie covered his face with his hands and had a black hoodie pulled down over his head as two homicide detectives escorted him out of the airport.

He didn't answer any questions as he was led in handcuffs out of the airport and put into the back of a police van.

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Mahmoud "Brownie" Ahmad left Australia and travelled to Lebanon after a shooting at his brother's Condell Park smash repairs  business on April 9.

Mahmoud "Brownie" Ahmad left Australia and travelled to Lebanon after a shooting at his brother's Condell Park smash repairs business on April 9.

Speaking to Fairfax Media while in Lebanon, Brownie denied he was on the run and said he had "nothing to clear" up with police.

"Tell the cops to get their facts right first," he told Fairfax Media. "I'm not running or hiding so f--- off. They can talk shit as much as they want."

Ahmad being escorted into a police van by officers after he arrived at Sydney airport.

Ahmad being escorted into a police van by officers after he arrived at Sydney airport.Credit: James Alcock

A status on one of his online profiles reads: "I'm coming back don't worry".

Mr Charbaji was shot dead in a gunfight outside A Team Smash Repairs on Ilma Street in Condell Park.

Walid "Wally" Ahmad was shot dead last April at Bankstown Central shopping centre.

Walid "Wally" Ahmad was shot dead last April at Bankstown Central shopping centre.

The violence broke out after the well-known Elmir family turned up at the smash repairs business, run by Brownie's brother Wally, to settle a dispute with the Ahmad family.

Detectives allege Brownie was one of the men who fired a gun during the heated confrontation that spilled out onto the street on a Saturday afternoon.

Safwan Charbaji was fatally shot outside the A Team Body Works in Condell Park.

Safwan Charbaji was fatally shot outside the A Team Body Works in Condell Park.Credit: Facebook

However he slipped out of the country a few days after the shooting, with some of his family following days after.

Three weeks after the Condell Park shooting, Wally, a widely feared standover man in the south-west, was shot dead at Bankstown Central.

Tit-for-tat reprisal attacks have ensued since.

Earlier this month Kemel "Blackie" Barakat, a close friend of the Ahmad family, was shot dead in his Mortlake unit.

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He was a suspect in the shooting of crime figure Hamad Assaad, who was killed in October.

In similar circumstances, Assaad was a suspect in Wally's shooting death months earlier.

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