Police have charged a man with the murder of underworld boss Bilal Hamze in Sydney’s CBD last year.
Hamze, the cousin of Brothers 4 Life gang leader and murderer Bassam Hamzy, was shot dead in what police described as a "brutal, execution-style" drive-by hit just before 10.30pm on June 17, 2021.
He was 34.
Officers charged 32-year-old Samuel John Rokomaqisa with murder on Tuesday.
The case came before Downing Centre Local Court for a brief mention on Tuesday.
Homicide squad commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said the charge was a "breakthrough" in the ongoing investigation.
"The facts in relation to ... the motives behind that are still ongoing," he said.
"Obviously there's more than one person involved in this [alleged] offence and those inquiries are still ongoing."
The charge comes after police made renewed calls for witnesses who may have seen cars involved last week.
Police released CCTV footage of a Ford Territory, Mercedes sedan, and a Honda Odyssey they believe were linked to Hamze's murder.
Detectives identified the Mercedes as being the same one used in an alleged aborted hit on Hamze's relative, Ibrahem Hamze, two months later.
Hamze was leaving restaurant Kid Kyoto with a group of people when he was shot several times in June last year.
Witnesses described seeing a pool of blood before he was put into an ambulance and taken to St Vincent's Hospital, where he died from critical injuries.
Detectives at the time said they had warned Hamze that his life was at risk in the months before his death, with a bounty on his head.
Detective Superintendent Doherty said police expected to make more arrests in the high profile gangland case.
"This has been a ... murder of a well-known target. And there's a number of people that we believe are involved," he said.
"It doesn't matter if you source the car, you source the plates, whether you've disposed of the car, whether you pull the trigger — you're all complicit."
Hamze's cousin, Mejid Hamzy, was shot dead outside his Condell Park home in October 2021 at a time when detectives were concerned about an ongoing feud with a rival family, the Alameddines.
Three men remain before the courts over Ibrahem Hamze's alleged assassination attempt, charged with conspiracy to murder.
Mr Rokomaqisa's matter was adjourned to September 29.
