A series of violent incidents, including one targeting Iziah Utai (inset, bottom), took place in Sydney overnight, following the previous morning's brazen shooting of ex-league international and his father Matt Utai (inset, top). Composite photo / NZME
A series of violent incidents, including one targeting Iziah Utai (inset, bottom), took place in Sydney overnight, following the previous morning's brazen shooting of ex-league international and his father Matt Utai (inset, top). Composite photo / NZME
As former Kiwis league star Matt Utai recovers from surgery after being gunned down on a suburban Sydney street, footage has emerged of a home being shot at in reported “revenge” attack.
Utai’s shooting has sent shock waves through the rugby league community and comes amid a growing series ofviolent incidents between rival Sydney gangs, the Amaleddine crime network and the Coconut Cartel.
It is believed Utai was shot early Tuesday morning in a case of mistaken identity. The intended target was believed to be his son, Iziah – who is understood to be aged in his early 20s with links to the Sydney organised crime network.
Utai, a 44-year-old former Kiwis and Samoa international, was critically injured after being repeatedly shot in the leg and upper body.
Police are also investigating a series of suspicious vehicle fires – including one which spread from a torched vehicle to a car – in the early hours of this morning.
One of those is at a property said to be the home of Utai’s son – Iziah Utai – with audio of the incident featuring a male voice saying: “F*** him and the Coconut Cartel. This is the start of the destruction”.
An eyewitness heard multiple shots fired on Macquarie St in Greenacre. Photo / NewsWire, Gaye Gerard
Audio from video of two of the incidents has been played on Ben Fordham’s 2GB Sydney breakfast. The footage of the revenge attack has also appeared on the Sydney Morning Herald.
The first shooting occurred at around 1am in the Sydney suburb of Sait Clair.
Fordham said the video showed “a hooded figure dressed in black firing directly at a house”.
The gunman is given directions about where to fire his gun during the clip, including saying: “Aim at the windows.”
Fordham then told his listeners: “It now looks and sounds like this is payback for what happened to Matt Utai when he was shot twice yesterday outside his home.”
The man talking in the video mentions the Utai family.
Footage of another incident in the early hours of this morning has surfaced on social media, with audio played on Fordham’s show.
One of several suspicious fires includes one where a man can be heard saying: “This is Ziggy Utah’s house. F*** him and the Coconut Cartel. This is the start of the destruction, brother.”
Matt Utai played test rugby league for both the Kiwis and Samoa. Photo / Photosport
Fordham then read out a message that has circulated on social media around Sydney and he said was “understood to have come from the Alameddines”.
“To the rat Ziggy Utai and his joke of a cartel, this is just the start of a losing battle for you and anyone that dares to come up against us.
“Stay tuned from the one and only crime family, forever strong.”
The Herald has contacted the New South Wales Police for comment.
“Whether the victim was the intended target or it was somebody that he knows or associates with or is related to will all form part of the investigation,” Hart said.
In trouble with the law: Iziah Utai previously convicted for drugs, firearms and armed robbery
Iziah Utai has a criminal record and previously been linked to being an associate, or a member, of the notorious Sydney organised crime network the Alameddine crime family.
But, since mid-last year, property owned by him has been targeted repeatedly in crimes that are being investigated by a New South Wales Police gang and organised crime taskforce.
A Sydney barbershop owned by him was twice firebombed in May and is now listed as “permanently closed”.
Iziah Utai, the son of ex-Kiwis player Matt Utai who was critically injured in a drive-by shooting, has reported links to Sydney's underworld and convictions for firearms, drugs and armed robbery.
Prior to the arson attacks, Iziah Utai had given the establishment a five-star Google review, adding the barber was under “new management, open six days a week”.
The fires have been probed by officers from a specialist police squad created to target warring gangs.
In December, a Sydney home reported to be linked to the son of the ex-league star was also shot at.
He is known to police, with officers previously arresting and charging him after finding weapons, cash and drugs after a raid of a Sydney home.
In 2023, he was sentenced to 18 months’ jail with a nine-month non-parole period.
He also has an earlier conviction for armed robbery.
Prior to his sentencing over firearms and drugs charges, Australian media reported he had links to the Alameddine crime family.
That network is now in conflict with the Coconut Cartel, a group that – along with Iziah Utai – was reportedly on the receiving end of a warning from the Alameddine group this morning.
Neil Reidis a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 34 years of newsroom experience.
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