Fugitive Australian Organized Crime Suspect George Dib Arrested in Lebanon

For years, fugitive George Dib had been a mystery.

The son of a respected service station entrepreneur, Mr Dib first appeared on the radar of law enforcement in 2013, then he vanished.

But Australian authorities had been watching.

Mr Dib, arrested last week in Lebanon, is now facing the possibility of spending decades in a Middle Eastern jail over claims he directed a global organised crime syndicate while on the run.

"He is suspected of brokering and organising multiple drug shipments to Australia on behalf of a wide range of criminal syndicates from around the world during the past 11 years," the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said after his capture in Lebanon last week.

His father is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Fugitives join forces overseas

For more than a decade, George Dib has been the source of underworld and police intrigue.

Though never convicted of a crime, Mr Dib was suspected to be part of the "Aussie Cartel", before it was systematically dismantled in Türkiye in 2023.

But according to an intelligence file from the NSW Crime Commission obtained by the ABC, Mr Dib is accused of being a main player in another offshore drug conglomerate.

The report names Mr Dib alongside fellow Lebanese fugitives Bilal Haouchar and Alameddine crime family boss Rafat Alameddine among other alleged Sydney criminals who joined forces.

Alameddine is wanted by NSW Police accused of two murders at the height of the Alameddines' gang war with the Hamzy family in 2021.

Haouchar himself was sentenced to eight years in jail by a Beirut court in May 2025 for a raft of drug crimes he committed while on the run from Australia.

Mr Dib, Alameddine and Haouchar are accused of sending threatening messages dubbed 'AUS weekly market updates' to Sydney's criminal milieu "in an attempt to set the distribution price of cocaine at $225,000 per kilogram".

Fall of 'The Commission'

It is alleged Mr Dib's coalition of criminals' rise came as another toppled.

The "AUS weekly market updates" landed in the inboxes of gangsters across Sydney in June 2023.

Just days earlier, the final domino of rival drug cartel "The Commission" fell when Alen Moradian was shot dead inside a Bondi car park.

The Commission operated under a similar rule of law, spreading similar threatening message throughout the underworld through 2022 to 2023.

"To the drop kick wannabe gangsters who just called out the Commission.

"You shouldn't try to claim things you did not know.

"We have been dominating Sydney for the past 3 years now and like puppy dogs you have all submitted each time.

"We are well aware who is responsible, writing up that message to throw the scene off won't work.

"And you/they/them pop your head out of hiding you can bet your dollar we will be there to chop it off.

"The weak dog who wrote that message has most likely paid us before and now feeling tough, nevertheless no stone will unturned. No friend will be loyal.

"Watch this and you will know what we are about."

Though its authors were not clarified in the NSW Crime Commission intelligence, the following message was spread the day after Moradian was killed.

"To every one trying to call the shots that are hiding in different countries and playing with NSW prices.

"We regret to inform your commission we control the prices in NSW from now on.

"This is not just a warning but a threat to everyone who thinks they can run the streets here.

"All NSW crews have come together to end your so called commission. Please remember the bullets dont rust here especially when you guys want to threaten familys we will also not toelerate this and will respond with kidnapping knee capping and if we hear any of your crews are trying to control prices under your guidelines we will come after anyone from your commission.

"You guys will now follow our rules and respect us prices will be dropping at anyones will …

"Thank you."

Mr Dib, nicknamed "Junior", according to Lebanese media, was picked up by the Information Branch of the Internal Security Force last week during a night-time raid.

With him in custody are about a dozen figures with links to Sydney's organised crime scene, sources told the ABC.

The intelligence that helped capture Mr Dib was provided by the AFP to Lebanese authorities by Operation Gain.

The unit is credited with taking down the "Aussie Cartel", led by drug lord Hakan Ayik out of Istanbul in 2023, and disrupting the activities of several wanted fugitives.