A former Victorian boxing champion who spent years challenging a murder conviction has been named in court documents as the alleged head of a multi-million-dollar illicit tobacco network.
Khalid Baker, 39, is wanted under an active arrest warrant after allegedly helping control a syndicate that operated at least 19 tobacco shops and distribution points across Victoria. Prosecutors allege the network generated more than $10 million in proceeds of crime.
Baker and associate Nazir Haddara have been identified as the alleged masterminds in documents presented to the County Court during proceedings against two lower-level members of the organisation.
The alleged operation ran from regional centres including Warrnambool, Ararat, Echuca and Geelong, as well as Melbourne suburbs including Bentleigh, Werribee, Kensington and Boronia.
Prosecutors said in documents tendered to the court that the businesses and storage sites operated under an organised criminal group “controlled by Nazir Haddara and Khalid Baker”.
The network was targeted in a joint Victoria Police and Australian Border Force investigation known as Operation Galactus. Raids began in mid-2024, while Baker was pursuing another appeal against his murder conviction.
Haddara and nine other alleged members of the syndicate were charged in late 2024. Haddara, who has pleaded not guilty, has been committed to stand trial in the County Court.
Victoria Police have confirmed that Baker is being sought. His whereabouts are unclear, although two underworld sources said he was living in South-East Asia.
A person familiar with the case said Baker had arranged for a lawyer to monitor an 18-day preliminary hearing involving Haddara and other accused people in July 2026. The lawyer was allegedly expected to report back on the proceedings.
The same source said Baker had been trying to negotiate his return to Australia, but was allegedly unwilling to surrender unless he was allowed time with his family before being taken into custody. Baker could not be reached for comment.
Baker’s disputed murder conviction
The allegations emerged as Baker’s long-running campaign to overturn his murder conviction remained a prominent part of his public profile.
He was 18 when he was charged over the death of 22-year-old Albert Snowball after a fight at a party in Brunswick in 2005. Baker was convicted in 2008 of pushing or throwing Snowball through a window; Snowball died two days later from his injuries.
Baker has consistently claimed he was wrongly convicted, citing what he described as unreliable or biased witnesses, overlooked evidence and failures by police, prosecutors and judges.
A teenage associate, identified only as “LM”, had admitted to police that he pushed Snowball, but the confession was ruled inadmissible. LM later continued to claim responsibility, including during Baker’s 2022 appeal, but the evidence was rejected by the courts.
Baker was supported in his legal fight by RMIT’s Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative. He made two appeals to the High Court and lodged two petitions for mercy, but his final application for leave to appeal was dismissed in March 2023.
After being released on parole in 2018, Baker rebuilt a public profile through boxing. He won the Victorian Regional Cruiserweight title in August 2019, less than a year after his release, and secured sponsorship and promotional opportunities.
His last fight in Australia took place in October 2024, around the time Operation Galactus was finalised. He later fought in Thailand before stopping altogether in November 2025.
Underworld sources have alleged that Baker was associated with former illicit tobacco figures Fadi Haddara and Mohammed “Afghan Ali” Keshtiar. Keshtiar was murdered in 2023, while Haddara later lost his alleged stake in the black-market tobacco trade after a campaign of threats and firebombings.
