Latest news with #TaskforceFalcon
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Sky News AU
Silverwater Correctional Centre inmate arrested over kidnapping conspiracy, theft of high-end vehicles
A Sydney inmate has been charged after police linked him to a kidnapping conspiracy and the theft of high-end vehicles believed to be destined for use by organised crime groups. The 21-year-old was arrested at Silverwater Correctional Centre around 9.20am on Monday, following an extensive investigation by NSW Police's Taskforce Falcon — a unit established to target serious organised crime across the city. Police allege the man played a key role in stealing three vehicles earlier this year, including a Haval used in a planned abduction, and a Bentley and Rolls-Royce with a combined value exceeding $800,000. The charges stem from a dramatic incident in North Parramatta on February 27, when officers from Parramatta Police Area Command witnessed three masked men fleeing from a car. A subsequent search of the abandoned vehicle uncovered duct tape, flexi cuffs, mobile phones and a baseball bat — items police say pointed to a planned kidnapping. The matter was swiftly escalated to the State Crime Command's Raptor Squad, which launched Strike Force Drever to probe the broader conspiracy. That investigation led to charges being laid against three men, all of whom remain before the courts. In May, detectives identified the jailed man as a suspect in the theft of the Haval SUV linked to the February kidnapping attempt. Further inquiries allegedly connected him to the high-value theft of a Rolls-Royce and Bentley in March. Police believe the stolen vehicles were intended to be supplied to criminal syndicates operating across Sydney. As part of their wider crackdown, authorities formed Taskforce Falcon to consolidate efforts across several strike forces tackling violent organised crime in New South Wales. The 21-year-old is now facing a string of serious charges, including aggravated break and enter with intent to commit a serious indictable offence in company, theft of property exceeding $60,000, and taking and driving a vehicle without the owner's consent. He was formally refused bail and appeared in Parramatta Local Court on Monday. All three vehicles have since been recovered as investigations continue into the extent of the alleged network's operations.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Australia news LIVE: Man charged with alleged kidnapping and $800,000 theft of luxury cars
A Sydney inmate has been hit with fresh charges over his alleged involvement in a kidnapping and the theft of several luxury vehicles, including a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce. Police allege the man, 21, currently detained at Silverwater Jail, stole the cars to supply vehicles to organised crime groups. It follows a four-month investigation by strike force detectives. An investigation was launched after local police allegedly spotted three men wearing balaclavas running from a car in North Parramatta on February 27. Mobile phones, duct tape, flexi cuffs and a baseball bat were seized during a search of the vehicle. Three men have since been charged for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to kidnap and remain before the courts. Last month, the State Crime Command established Taskforce Falcon to oversee a number of strike forces – including Strike Force Drever – to investigate potential links between violent crime in Sydney. As a result of ongoing inquiries, detectives allegedly linked a 21-year-old man to "having a direct involvement" in the theft of a Haval vehicle, which was to be used in the kidnapping at Parramatta. Detectives will further allege the man also stole a Bentley and Rolls-Royce worth over $800,000 in March 2025. All three vehicles have since been recovered. The man was charged with aggravated breaking and entering, stealing over the value of $60,000, taking and driving a car without consent and other offences. He faced Parramatta Local Court on Monday, where he was remanded in custody to reappear at a later date.
ABC News
21-06-2025
- ABC News
How teens are recruited as players in Sydney's gangland war
The phone buzzes with a job offer in an encrypted group chat full of young men. But it's not about repainting a house or mowing lawns, the person on the other end is looking for a hit-man. Police say they are now grappling with guns for hire in Sydney being recruited online getting younger and younger. Often, the teens do not know who is making the offer on behalf of the organised crime group paying them to shoot, kidnap and firebomb the properties of underworld rivals. Other jobs include stealing a potential getaway car and staging it in a nearby location for the gunmen to make their escape from the scene. In the most recent iteration of the city's gangland war, those recruited by warring crime gangs "for literally nothing" are juveniles lured by meagre sums of money, one police source noted. In the most recent attempt to take out an underworld figure on Monday in Auburn, police suspect the gunmen hired to shoot Samimjan Azari were recruited in a similar method. But as Taskforce Falcon Commander Jason Box said after a 16-year-old was charged with torching a barbershop in Merrylands, the consequences for those involved can go beyond the court system. "You're associating with serious organised crime networks and committing offences against them," Superintendent Box said. "The repercussions for their actions in the courts is one consideration, but there's also repercussions from the persons they're targeting from the organised crime networks. Superintendent Box said the owner of the torched barbershop has links to the Alameddine crime family, whose internal feud, police believe, is behind an explosion in underworld violence. The Alameddines are a Western Sydney family who police allege are one of the biggest crime gangs currently involved in the city's lucrative drug trade. Taskforce Falcon, headed up by Superintendent Box, was established last month after the internal feud saw Dawood Zakaria killed while sitting at traffic lights in Granville. Mr Zakaria was a member of the splintering Alameddine clan, though the hitmen's target was believed to be Samimjan Azari, who survived the attack in the back seat. Mr Azari this week survived the brazen fourth attempt to kill him this year when masked gunmen stormed the Auburn kebab shop he was in about 1pm on Monday. Police believe those responsible for picking up the offers to steal getaway cars and commit arson attacks are being recruited on encrypted group chats like Signal in a new marketplace for criminals for hire. "We believe [the recruitment] is from social media, encrypted devices and word of mouth," Superintendent Box said after they charged the teenager over the Merrylands firebombing. One day after forming on May 27, Taskforce Falcon charged another 16-year-old boy over allegedly staging a stolen "kill car" with jerry can of fuel, a balaclava and two guns inside. The items are consistent with getaway cars often found burnt-out in the aftermath of the dozens of underworld killings Sydney has experienced since 2020. A few days later a 17-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy were charged with stealing a car in Lidcombe. Jerry cans of fuel were found inside. Later that same day they also arrested another 15-year-old boy who they allege fled the scene after the stolen car, a Toyota HiLux, was stopped during a random patrol. In the botched attempt to shoot alleged Alameddine crime boss Ali Elmoubayed at his Merrylands home on June 12 police are investigating what role two teens may have had. The pair, both 17, were arrested after allegedly driving a stolen Ford Territory erratically in Greystanes in the aftermath of the shooting. Inside police said they located balaclavas, cans of fuel, bleach and knives. One of the teenagers — believed to have been a passenger in the alleged stolen vehicle — pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court and was granted conditional bail. His lawyer told the court it was the first court matter on his record and his first interaction with police. The lawyer expressed "extreme concerns" about the prosecution case against him, including that there was no assertion he was driving the car, or that the knife was his. All the teenagers who have been charged by Taskforce Falcon remain before the Childrens Court. Three adults have been charged over the shooting on Mr Elmoubayed's home, which forced him to leave over fears for his life. Former NSW Police officer Peter Moroney spent 18 years on the force, for most of those years he was chasing the worst of the worst. Mr Moroney could see similarities in how the teens are being lured into the underworld with his days tracking terrorists and how they recruited young extremists. "In terms of how [the children] are getting involved a lot of the time in disadvantaged areas when they're coming from broken homes they're looking for a sense of belonging," he said. "And these gangs offer that. But if a couple of kids get caught in the crossfire they don't give a rat's arse. "If they get a cleanskin to do it with no criminal record it's less likely to tie back to them. "But you have seen how their work is sloppy, back in the day they would have paid a lot of money, flown a hitman in and [the target] would be dead by now."
Sydney Morning Herald
17-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Dramatic CCTV shows gunmen open fire in Sydney restaurant
Pointing to a bullet hole on the counter top, Rahimi said he hadn't realised shots had been fired so close to where he and his staff were working. 'I didn't even see this bullet coming,' he told Nine News. During the shooting, Rahimi ran to the aid of his staff member, who was shot twice in the torso, applying pressure to her wounds while they waited for ambulances to arrive. Rahimi said the 47-year-old mother has worked at the store for a couple of years, adding she was 'very hard-working, very honest, very nice lady'. 'My staff is my first priority now, so I just hope she's doing all right, and we will support her [with] anything we can,' he said. 'She doesn't deserve it, to get shot.' A major manhunt continued on Tuesday for the shooters, with investigators probing three suspicious car blazes on Monday night as part of their inquiries. A black Audi Q7, believed to be the gunmen's getaway vehicle, was found alight on Wigram Street in Harris Park just before 6pm. Police believe the second vehicle found ablaze about 3.20am, a white ute in Greystanes, was used in another planned attack on Azari on June 13 in Rozelle. 'We believe [the incident] was another attempted attack on the 26-year-old male from the shooting yesterday,' Detective Superintendent Jason Box, the commander of Taskforce Falcon, said at a press conference. 'On this occasion, witnesses sighted a white ute with several occupants and their faces covered, and one occupant was believed to be holding a firearm. The 26-year-old male and his associates fled the scene.' The 25-year-old associate who was shot on Monday, and remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition, was also present during the June 13 planned attack. When police attended the Rozelle scene a short time later, Azari provided 'limited information' about the attempt on his life. Loading 'He was made aware of threats against his life. He acknowledged those threats against his life, to an extent, he was reasonably dismissive of what we had to say, and he's obviously continued his movements in the public area with not a great deal of concern,' Box said. Police are still investigating whether a third vehicle that was set ablaze overnight, a red Commodore found outside a home in Merrylands, is connected to the attempts on Azari's life. Police allege Azari has climbed the ranks of the Alameddine network to become one of its most senior members not to have fled overseas or be serving a lengthy prison sentence. Investigators from Taskforce Falcon, established to crack down on escalating gangland violence, are probing whether Monday's shooters are the same men who opened fire on Azari last month on Woodville Road in Granville, killing Alameddine associate Dawood Zakaria, 32, and injuring Parramatta lawyer Sylvan Singh, 25. Zakaria died in hospital several days later. A day after the assassination attempt, police warned Azari was at the 'epicentre' of an ongoing feud between the Alameddine clan and rival organised crime networks, and that he could be targeted as part of a 'tit-for-tat' gangland war if granted bail on firearms offences laid after the Granville shooting. 'There will be further bloodshed on the streets – the streets will not be safe,' police prosecutor Kai Jiang told Parramatta Local Court, in the failed attempt to keep Azari in custody. Acting Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell on Monday said police held concerns a 'war' within the Alameddine network had imploded and spilled onto Sydney's streets. Loading Multiple police sources not authorised to speak publicly say internal conflict between subgroups of the Alameddine crime network is to blame for the spate of shootings. With no clear leader in the wake of kingpin Rafat Alameddine leaving Australia, tensions have risen between the Fijian-dominated KVT – a group who were previously used by the Alameddines as enforcers – and the so-called Afghani crew, as well as gang members aligned with other senior members of the crime group. The ongoing conflict and recent shootings have sparked fears of attacks in the underworld, with several Alameddine members and associates taking measures to make themselves less predictable. NSW Premier Chris Minns labelled the shooting labelled 'shockingly brazen'.
News.com.au
17-06-2025
- News.com.au
Police investigate whether burnt-out cars linked to kebab shop shooting at Auburn, Sydney
Detectives are investigating whether three burnt-out vehicles found in Sydney's western suburbs are linked to the shooting of three people outside a kebab shop in broad daylight, including an alleged underworld figure. Samimjan Azari, his friend, and a woman not known to either man were shot outside the M Brothers' Cafe on Auburn Rd, Auburn about 1.15pm Monday. The three people were shot by two men wearing masks, who entered the kebab shop and fired eight times. Acting Commissioner Peter Thurtell said on Monday the masked men tried to access the back of the shop before fleeing in a black Audi. 'They left in a black Audi Q7 bearing cloned number plates,' a police statement read. Azari was shot in the arm and shoulder, while his friend, a 25-year-old man, was shot in the face. The innocent bystander – a 47-year-old woman – was shot twice in the torso. Azari and the woman are said to be in a stable condition, while the 25-year-old man is in a serious condition. NSW Police have established a crime scene at the kebab shop and the matter was referred to Taskforce Falcon under Strike Force Caljie. Three cars were later found burnt-out on Wigram St in Harris Park, Hilltop Rd in Merrylands and Gerald St in Greystanes. Crime scenes have been established at all three locations, with police investigating whether they were linked to the shooting. Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the incident was 'absolutely abhorrent', and the female shot in the incident was 'an innocent victim doing her job'. 'All she did was go to work and she has been caught up in this shocking event,' she told reporters. 'Look, I have to say, it's one thing for criminals to be shooting each other. But when innocent people get caught up in this, it is absolutely abhorrent. 'And we will not tolerate it.' Acting Commissioner Thurtell said Azari had previously reported to a local police station as part of his bail conditions following a shooting in Granville. There have been several alleged attempted hits on Azari's life. Police believe the 26-year-old was the intended target of the shooting which killed bodyguard Dawood Zakaria and injured solicitor Sylvan Singh. 'As recently as last Friday, police had spoken with the man due to concerns about his safety. 'This man has already been the target of previous shooting attempts,' she said.
