NSW police have raided a ‘who’s who’ of bikies and organised crime gangs leading to 15 arrests as gang-related violence plagues Sydney.
In a week-long operation, Strike Force Hawk officers paid unwelcome visits to homes across Sydney seizing weapons, stolen cars, drugs, and cash and discovering an alleged drug laboratory.
Police Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said it was a comprehensive sweep of underground figures as 52 firearm prohibition order searches took place.
NSW police say they have raided a ‘who’s who’ of organised crime figure in southwest Sydney, which has led to 15 arrests as three taskforces attempt to stem the violence of gang warfare
‘Last week, we targeted the who’s who of criminality in Sydney’s southwest: Rebels, Finks, and Lone Wolves (bikie gangs) – you’d be hard-pressed to find someone in that world who didn’t get a home visit,’ he said.
Police seized around $150,000 in cash, 1.5kg of marijuana, 150g of meth, numerous prohibited weapons, and three stolen cars.
Seven men were arrested over the discovery of the alleged drug lab.
Strike Force Hawk was established in October after Brothers 4 Life gang figures Toufik Hamze and his son Salim were gunned down and killed on the street.
This was part of a wave of gang violence in southwest Sydney where 13 people were shot dead in underworld violence in the past 19 months.
Police said that during a week-long operation they paid unwelcome visits to members of the Rebels, Finks and Lone Wolves bikie gangs plus other organised crime figures
Police seized around cash, 1.5kg of cannabis, 150 grams of methylamphetamine, numerous prohibited weapons, three stolen cars and discovered a drug lab
Police seized around $150K in cash during the raids with sale of prohibited drugs in NSW estimated to be worth at least $3.7billion a year at the street level
A chilling warning posted on the Facebook page of slain Comanchero bikie Omar Zahead, 39, threatened further carnage.
Omar was gunned down as he left the Bodyfit Gym in Auburn, western Sydney, on May 10 and his brother Tarek, 41 was seriously injured and expected to lose sight in one eye.
Police warned Tarek there was a contract on him as he was believed to be poised to take leadership of the Comancheros, although his brother was involved with the gang as well.
The Facebook message posted on Omar’s page asks Allah to curse, expose and humiliate all those connected with the shooting and calls them ‘weak dogs, cowards and scum of the Earth’.
Comanchero bikie Omar Zahead (right) was gunned down on May 10 and his brother Tarek (left), who is highly placed in the gang, seriously injured in the latest of a spate of gang shootings
After his death this post appeared on Omar Zahead’s Facebook page calling for Allah to exact vengeance on his killers as police mobilise to prevent more gang-related carnage
Strike Force Hawke partners with other NSW gang-crime units Raptor Squad, Taskforce Erebus and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission to share intelligence and conduct operations.
‘This allows us to target and disrupt organised crime at the street, mid and upper-levels simultaneously within a specific organised crime network or more broadly to prevent violent crime,’ Assistant Commissioner Smith said.
More than 80 firearms and 3,300 rounds of ammunition, $2.9 million in cash, and prohibited drugs worth more than $9 million were seized by Strike Force Hawke.
It also recently expanded operations state-wide leading to the arrest of 105 people and more than 300 charges.
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NSW Police believe about 40 per cent of Australia’s national organised crime figures are based in Sydney but often operate outside the city to avoid detection.
Police estimate the sale of prohibited drugs in NSW is worth at least $3.7 billion a year at street level.
Meanwhile, the NSW Labor opposition has accused the state government of failing to honour its promise to introduce laws on ‘unexplained wealth’ targeting gang associates and crime bosses.
The laws would allow the NSW Crimes Commission to seize the assets of suspected criminals unable to explain where their ‘Maseratis, Ferraris, waterside homes and Rolex wristwatches’ came from.
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