Two men walked into a shop with their faces partially obscured but the warning they delivered from a voice on the other end of a phone was crystal clear.
"Call Kaz or you will have no shop anymore," the unknown voice on loud speaker told the shop attendant.
Just weeks earlier, a different man walked in and handed over a piece of paper with a phone number, asked if the shop owner knew "Kaz" and demanded he give it a ring.
The two incidents from April and May 2024 were captured on CCTV at a shop in Hume in Melbourne's north.
They are being probed by detectives investigating a long-running conflict between rival organised crime syndicates over illegal tobacco in Victoria, including more than 100 firebombings.
Detective Inspector Graham Banks said the incidents in the footage amounted to "extortions" and the shop owner was so concerned about what happened he sold up and changed his address.
The senior officer revealed which "Kaz" they believe was referred to as he declared the investigation into the tobacco conflict had finally reached a significant turning point.
"We believe that person to be Kazem Hamad, who obviously controls this syndicate," he told reporters at Police Headquarters on Thursday.
Victorian courts have previously been told Kazem "Kaz" Hamad is allegedly running the Hamad family's organised crime operations from the Middle East.
Det Insp Banks said syndicate members and the public were increasingly cooperating with police, pointing to the arrest of five people earlier the same day over an alleged $100,000 extortion and arson.
"We are getting cooperation from a number of people, including people aligned to Kaz Hamad," he said.
"The scale and number of arrests we've been making recent times ... indicate that we're having that sort of assistance."
He urged people who recognised any of the three men in the 2024 footage to come forward. But he said the people seen on CCTV were usually "far enough removed" from top syndicate members.
The incident involving a man who handed over the number happened on the afternoon of April 28, 2024 and police describe him as Pacific Islander in appearance, about 175cm tall and of medium build.
The episode involving the men who delivered the anonymous message over the phone happened on the evening of May 14, 2024.
They are both described as African in appearance, about 185cm tall and of a slim build.
Det Insp Banks said they were all on the "cusp" of being underage but looked to be aged about 20.
Demands from syndicates to shop owners are believed to be up to $5000 a month, sparking a plea for any owners approached to pay money or threatened in any way to come forward immediately.
The senior officer said shop owners selling illegal tobacco were technically doing the wrong thing but the product was otherwise legal so he had sympathy for them, stressing their offending was not equivalent to syndicate crimes.
"There's a blatantness to this offending, I think historically it's been allowed to go unchecked and hasn't been reported," he said.
