Key points: Police say key members of two warring crime families are now behind bars Up to 600 police officers will target gang members this week The next day, a police chase in Bondi ended with two arrests and homes searched, allegedly uncovering almost $4 million worth of the drug ice. Assistant Commissioner Smithsaid police would discuss with the immigration ministerthe possibility of deporting some of their targets. The Australian government's foreign affairs, defence and humanitarian policies are also pertinent to this analysis, justifying the application of cross-cultural conflict. Bikie gangs in South Australia have diversified their activities into both legal and illegal commercial business enterprises. 'It shouldn't be any surprise that organised crime crews remain staunch and refuse to stand in the witness box and give each other up,' Professor Kennedy said. [5] In the '80s the Serbian Mafia was reinforced with the arrival of Serbian immigrants. In 2010, 133 clan labs were dismantled. [5] Serbian boxer Boidar Cveti who in 2002 was stabbed,[6] now worked as a bouncer in Australia said that Australian police had shown him pictures of some 150 Serbian criminals active in Australia. [5] In 2005 interviews with Australian Serbs, it was said some 20 Zemun clan members operated in Australia at the time, double the number working prior to Operation Sablja. decade-long gang war is believed to have been smashed by police in just 48 hours, with 115 people charged during a two-day operation targeting alleged members, associates and supporters of organised criminal networks. Increased involvement has resulted in larger and more sophisticated clandestine laboratories being detected in Australia. 'Organised crime is not going anywhere, you can't regulate it, and so you need them to self-regulate. Assistant Commissioner Smith said the operation was designed to "put [gang members]on notice that your day is coming". 'Dealing with' the proceeds of crime includes all the actions considered as possession of the proceeds of crime as well as engaging in banking transactions using the illicit funds. According to the Australian Crime Commission, there has been a noticeable increase in the involvement of Vietnamese crime groups in recent years."[83]. Various prohibitions have caused many citizens to . [75][76] In the context of the Australian Illicit Drug Report, a clandestine laboratory is any concealed place where chemicals are used to produce illicit drugs. He would threaten to attack illegal establishments, such as casinos and brothels, unless they paid him a hefty wad of cash. Middle Eastern gangs, on the other hand, have made extortion against nightclubs, ram raids, and car theft more common in the CDB. RELATED: MAFS Daniel breaks silence on criminal charge. Hamze is the cousin of Bassam Hamzy, 41, who is serving more than 40 years for a spree of killings and gang-related crimes, and Mejid Hamzy who was shot dead in his Condell Park driveway in October 2020. ), Young woman left in tears after her huge back tattoo doesn't turn out as expected: 'I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life', Don Lemon will be forced to have 'formal training' after 'frank' talks with CNN boss Chris Licht following 'sexist' Nikki Haley comment and rift with Kaitlan Collins but will return to morning show on Wednesday, 'If Don doesn't go, we will! Supporters including Rachad Alameddine (front) leave court after Talal Alameddine was given a 13-year sentence in 2018 for supplying the gun used to kill police accountant Curtis Cheng, Bilal Alameddine (left) could face more than five years in jail when he is sentenced on gun and drug running charges on December 11. Sydney's Crime Gangs | Drugs, murder, money laundering and global expansion. Sydney's western suburbs have long played home to dangerous criminal groups Among them were brothers Mejid and Bassam Hamzy, who is currently in prison Police believe Mejid may have been. 'One person said only senior guys in the club, mainly based overseas, knew about the shipment so there's a lot of internal friction. Later that year, a second fight ensued. (2010) The Fifth Estate Goes Virtual, Rise of Middle Eastern Crime in Australia. Australian Bikie Gangs: Complete List of Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs, McPherson decided to take Hakim under his wing and offered protection to the would-be gangster. Formed in 2006, MEOCS is the only police squad in Australia that specialises in organised crime by Middle Eastern originated groups. He told Daily Mail Australia that despite the hard tactics of police, antagonising these groups is in his opinion not the best way to go about it. It places burdens on the Australian health system. Money laundering gangs take up most operations in the city, moving cash in and out of casinos and banks. This offers a wonderful balance for family-oriented living. [40] This gang war has seen an increase in knife attacks amongst young Asian men as well as a rise in bottle and glass related assaults. Source countries / production: "Cannabis is produced in most areas of Australia with a trend in recent years towards the use of hydroponics. Australia has known acts of modern terrorism since the 1960s, while the federal parliament, since the 1970s, has enacted legislation seeking to specifically target terrorism. How Sydney's drug lords went global Their weapon of choice is the Blackberry, and it's helping Sydney's drug distributors make so much profit they're not bothered by losing the odd shipment - or drug runner. It is now suspected that hydroponics is the most common method of cultivation in the domestic market. McPherson decided to take Hakim under his wing and offered protection to the would-be gangster. ABC, Late night live. [25] Whilst media focus on Asian gangs in Australia is not as severe as it once was in the 1980s, activities across a diverse criminal portfolio continue to occur. On 13 April 2011 the Minister for Home Affairs and Justice launched the Clandestine Drug Laboratory Remediation Guidelines. The very next day, bullets were fired into the home of another Alameddine. Drugs are manufactured and brought in from the more rural parts on the outskirts of Sydney, often overseen by Western Sydney gangs. Examples of homicide include: Melbourne gangland killings; Sydney Airport bikie killing;[46][47] John Newman. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/nsw-police-in-hamzy-alameddine-crackdown/100785672, Get breaking news alerts directly to your phone with our app. Category Aactive (chemicals and equipment in use); Category Bstored/used (equipment or chemicals); Category Cstored/unused (equipment or chemicals); Category Dused site/evidence or admissions of a prior laboratory (ABCI 1998). Offences including possession of precursors and certain apparatus for manufacture or production of prohibited drugs fall under Part 2, Division 2 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW). There were currently 25 police task forces working to solve outstanding murders, public shootings and other crimes, he said. Today, Lebanese crime gangs in Sydney and all over Australia are notorious for weapons & drug trafficking, money laundering, and other crimes. . NSW Police have "supercharged" an anti-gang operation to put an end to the deadly underworld war that has rocked Sydney over the past 18 months. Haouchar lost his eye in a drive-by shooting at his family's Merrylands home in 2008. Most arrested gangsters over the years all looked like ordinary citizens. Organised crime groups, including outlaw motorcycle gangs are involved in the cultivation and distribution of cannabis within Australia. [18] As a result of heightening violence, New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees announced the state police anti-gang squad would be boosted to 125 members from 50.[19]. In 2013 he was caught on recordings from behind bars vowing to kill Michael and his older brother Sam once he got out of prison. Osman's brother Bilalfled Australia for Lebanon in 2018, but remains a key person of interest over a spate of murders - however Australia and Lebanon have no extradition treaty. Originally from Lebanon, Hakim established his empire in Australia after emigrating to Sydney in 1952. CANBERRA, Australia (AP) An Australian pleaded guilty on Thursday to manslaughter in the death 35 years ago of an American who fell from a Sydney clifftop that was known as a gay meeting place, with the victim's family welcoming the turning point in their long campaign for justice. There is a network or chain where each party along the way is a part of the ongoing conspiracy to manufacture, package and sell the goods for profits they could not otherwise make from those goods if they were plain, unbranded goods. 'But what you've got to do is get these communities to trust you. 07/02/2007. The court heard Mrs Trotter who sat between her sons in the dock suffered from depression and grief associated with the sudden death of her daughter. Historical rivalries between gangs continue to build up, making Middle Eastern crime in Sydney more dangerous than ever before. Operation Hawk was launched on Thursday morning, with up to 600 police officers tasked to"get in the face" ofmembers of the two crime families. 'Whoever pulled this stunt is a madman for sure. Crime Families in Sidney: The Darwiche-Razzak-Fahda Family Conflict He (Mejid) was one of the biggest names in Sydney,' they said. Soon, bodgie gangs formed at other inner-Sydney locations. These gangs are seen to be predominantly of South- East Asian descent, most notably Vietnamese. Operation Hawk 2022 is a high-visibility policing strategy designed to disrupt organised criminal networks, including outlaw motorcycle gangs. In recent years 26-year-old Talal's brother Rafat, 28, and cousins Bilal, 21, Jihad, 31, Rachad (sometimes 'Richad'), 28, and Hamdi Alameddine 27, have all faced serious criminal matters in court. People used to try and pass off inferior cloth as American-made when in fact it was not: so it was called "bodgie". It was formed in the late 1970s and was named after the Melbourne suburb in which it is based. Hes also famous for having spearheaded most of the citys criminal activity, alongside Abe Mr Sin Saffron and George Freeman. Organised crime in Australia refers to the activities of various groups of crime families, organised crime syndicates or underworld activities including drug trafficking, contract killing, racketeering and other crimes in Australia. "In total, police executed 66 Firearm Prohibition Order searches and crime scene warrants, charging 115 people with a combined 292 offences," NSW Police said. The movement essentially died out as many sharps had grown up and were tired of the constant fighting with other gangs and being targeted by law enforcement - many more had drifted off to become immersed in newer and less violent influences such as punk, ska, rocksteady & reggae. It was just after the end of WW2 and rationing had caused a flourishing black market in US-made cloth. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. A former member of his brother Bassam's gang Brothers 4 Life, Mejid was connected to several underworld killings. "You need to hand yourself in at the nearest available police station. The shooting of a father and son outside a Sydney home is believed to be the latest chapter in a bloody war between two . Tony Romeo, another high-ranking member, was shot in 2002. National; NSW & ACT; Crime; Inside the Hamzy family's bloody street war. "We've got a long way to go but we're confident we're getting on top of this," he said. "We're going to really get into the face of these people and we're going to remind them that this city's not their place," he said. As NSW Police hunt Hamze's killer, Daily Mail Australia has taken a look at these two Middle Eastern crime crews, and others, who are wreaking havoc across the city. Tensions in the city's south-west and western suburbs are at a long-time high. In the late 1980s, the Vietnamese gang 5T was active in the Cabramatta area of Sydney and believed to be involved in the murder of John Newman, the Member for Cabramatta in the NSW State Parliament. There are two significant sources of crime in Sydney: money laundering and drugs. Of course, the establishment owners couldnt report Anderson to the police, as it would put their illegal business in jeopardy. Police documents detail the brawl as a result of a Comanchero gang member and a Hells Angels biker being on the same flight from Melbourne. The Criminal Code classifies offences according to the value of the funds involved into bands of $1,000,000 or more; $100,000 to $999,999; $50,000 to $99,999; $10,000 to $49,999; $1,000 to $9,999; and funds of any value. 'You could say he is definitely a person of interest in a host of crimes, including murder,' a NSW Police source told The Daily Telegraph. [17] Four suspects were arrested as a result of the altercation. Lennie McPherson went from a boy sentenced to juvy to one of Australias most notorious career criminals in the 20th century. 6 Criminalization of the laundering of proceeds of crime; 23 Criminalization of obstruction of justice; 3 and 5 of the Protocol on Trafficking in Persons; and, 3, 5 and 6 of the Protocol Against Smuggling of Migrants, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 19:48. The mid 1960s saw the arrival of the "sharpie" culture. 'They are organised criminal groups targeting each other,' Asst Comm Thurtell said. [32], Gangs include: Triad; 5T; Spider Boys;[33] Sing Wah;[26] Yee Tong,[26][34], The now-defunct Bogota Cartel of Colombia had operations in Australia. Play it now! The execution death of Bilal Hamze has sparked fears of a gangland war in Sydney's western suburbs, where Middle Eastern crime gangs have long run rampant. However there are suggestions that due to the continuing decline in opium production in South East Asia, traffickers may begin to look to Afghanistan as a source of heroin. 'You don't give them a green light by any means, but you have an open dialogue so that you can go to them and say "this is a problem" and they will act. Community impact: "Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia and generally easily available. Some clandestine laboratories use very simple processes such as extracting cannabis oil from plants using solvents; others use complex processes involving a number of chemicals and a range of equipment to manufacture drugs such as methylamphetamine and ecstasy. , they suspect that the conflict was between two rival gangs in Western Sydney. This means that these offences are considered indictable offences, and are heard in the District or Supreme Court. Elderly man allegedly stabbed to death by family member at Sydney home . ", Community impact: "1.2 million people aged 14 years and over indicated they had used hallucinogens in their lifetime, with 116,400 using hallucinogens in the preceding 12 months.". There were multiple acts of senseless violence, including weapons theft, shootings, and murders. military) documentation have all been highlighted as key concerns for Australia.[71][72][73][74]. Bilal had been serving time on a murder charge which was later downgraded to him being an accessory. Do not sell or share my personal information. The Honoured Society is a Calabrian 'Ndrangheta group based in Melbourne[2][3][4] In 1963, it was reportedly involved in the Victoria Market Murders. Jihad Alameddine (right) has pleaded guilty to a charges including drug possession, drug driving and possessing equipment for administering drugs. The school zones in NSW where fines doubled last year. 'If you use the word "mafia" it gives the wrong idea, but it's essentially the same thing in that you have a close knit system,' Professor Kennedy said. 18 firearms, 672 rounds of ammunition and nearly $100,000 in cash were allegedly seized by police during the operation. They are known for having control over the Merrylands area in west Sydney, Police believe Mejid Hamzy was responsible for the shooting death of Hamad Assaad, a close associate of Osman Haouchar (left) who is pictured with his wannabe standover man cousin Mohamad 'Butch' Haouchar (right). He actively avoided publicity, keeping his criminal acts to a minimum (compared to other crime bosses, at least). Osman's brother Bilal (pictured) was caught on recordings vowing to kill Michael and his older brother Sam in 2013, once he got out of prison. Bilal's disdain for the glitzy rivals was so severe that John has been warned on a number of occasions about threats on his life. January 6, 2022 6.46pm. 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