Brisbane Broncos star Payne Haas and at least three other players are promoting a clothing brand linked to the Alameddine crime family, fuelling police concern the league has failed to stem the influence of organised crime.<\/p>\n
Haas is the face of R4W Active, an activewear line bearing the name of the Alameddine network’s violent R4W, or “Ready 4 War”, drug-running syndicate.<\/p>\n
Police say the gang has funded the powerful organised crime network through mass drug sales and enforced its dominance with public execution-style shootings.<\/p>\n
R4W Active is the latest offshoot of Proper, a streetwear label co-founded by rapper Ali “Ay Huncho” Younes, a senior Alameddine family member and central figure in Sydney’s gang war.<\/p>\n
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Rapper Ali “Ay Huncho” Younes. (Instagram)<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, R4W Active launched a campaign featuring Haas under the provocative tagline, “11th September \u2014 Ground Zero”, reigniting police fears about the crime network’s infiltration of the NRL.<\/p>\n
His involvement has emerged in the lead-up to the Broncos’ grand final against the Melbourne Storm this Sunday, after Brisbane’s home win against the Panthers yesterday.<\/p>\n
R4W Active and Proper are also spruiked by Manly’s Jason Saab and Haumole Olakau’atu, and Cronulla’s Addin Fonua-Blake, while Haas’s Broncos teammate Reece Walsh added his public endorsement as questions started to swirl on Friday.<\/p>\n
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Brisbane Broncos star Payne Haas modelling R4W activewear. (Facebook: R4W Active)<\/p>\n
A senior NSW Police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the players’ promotion of the brands risked exposing fans to violence, despite the NRL’s “best efforts” to warn players about the risks of criminal influence.<\/p>\n
“If a teenager is walking around in R4W clothing, a rival gang could attack you,” the officer said.<\/p>\n
“It’s like the Comanchero [bikie gang] selling their gear commercially.”<\/p>\n
The ABC is not suggesting the players are endorsing or involved in organised crime.<\/p>\n
Court documents say the Alameddine family runs a transnational network in Australia and the Middle East, responsible for “the highest levels of criminality in Sydney, including large-scale drug importation which arrives by the ton, armed conflict, public place shootings, extortion [and] murder for hire”.<\/p>\n
NSW Police estimated that about 50,000 Sydney customers received drugs from the R4W gang, but claimed to have dismantled the syndicate with a series of arrests in 2022.<\/p>\n
Members tattooed the letters on their bodies as proof of allegiance.<\/p>\n
Do you know more?Contact Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop on Signal: @seanrdunlop01 and on Protonmail: seanrdunlop@protonmail.com<\/a>Please use this form<\/a> to get in contact with the ABC Investigations team, or if you require more secure communication, please choose an option on the confidential tips page<\/a><\/p>\n In a statement, an NRL spokesperson said, “The NRL has been informed of the matter and is collecting all relevant information”.<\/p>\n The Brisbane Broncos said they had “made appropriate enquiries” with Haas and were liaising with the NRL.<\/p>\n A Cronulla spokesperson said the NRL Integrity Unit had been informed of the matter, while Manly spokesperson said it was “unaware of any arrangement” between any players and Proper but was looking into the endorsements.<\/p>\n High-profile endorsements<\/p>\n Haas has promoted Proper for more than a year, wearing it in interviews, photo shoots and on social media.<\/p>\n Ali Younes is the face of the label, which flaunts designs with guns, crosshairs and slogans like “Never Cross the Family”.<\/p>\n Cronulla’s Fonua-Blake and Manly’s Olakau’atu list the brand in their Instagram bios, alongside official sponsor, ASICS.\u00a0<\/p>\n Manly’s Saab cross-promotes the label with his own sports training business.<\/p>\n Manly’s Jason Saab and Haumole Olakau’atu and Cronulla’s Addin Fonua-Blake have promoted R4W Active or Proper. (Supplied)<\/p>\n After the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported the label’s criminal ties on Friday, the three reposted an R4W Active ad featuring Saab.<\/p>\n Walsh, Haas’s Broncos teammate, posted his own photo of R4W and Proper products to his 555,000 followers on Friday.<\/p>\n His agent said Walsh was unaware of the brand’s alleged links, received no payment, and deleted the post “to not draw attention to himself or his teammates”.<\/p>\n Haas, Saab and Olakau’atu, via their agents, declined to respond to the ABC’s questions, including whether they were paid by Proper. Fonua-Blake did not respond.<\/p>\n Proper’s owner, Tom Biordi, recently said in a social media video that Haas was not paid for the R4W collaboration and “did it out of love”.<\/p>\n The ABC asked ASICS if it would continue sponsoring Haas, Olakau’atu and Fonua-Blake, but it did not respond.<\/p>\n The men behind the brand<\/p>\n Proper is owned by Fangia Pty Ltd, whose director is Mr Biordi, Younes’s manager.<\/p>\n Proper’s owner Tom Biordi (left) with Payne Haas, says the Broncos star was not paid for the R4W campaign. (Supplied)<\/p>\n Younes is not listed as a director or shareholder, but previously said he was one of the people behind the venture.\u00a0<\/p>\n NSW Police allege the brand represents the notorious Proper 60 postcode gang, a subgroup of the Alameddine network, based in Sydney’s Merrylands and closely linked to Younes.<\/p>\n The rapper is the cousin of the Alameddine network’s boss, Rafat Alameddine, who fled to Lebanon in 2022 and is wanted in Australia on murder and conspiracy to murder charges.<\/p>\n As the Alameddine network fractured into an internal and deadly public war this year, Younes and his family have been targeted.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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