Drug raids in Sydney see 45 people arrested

Underworld figures believed to be linked to a wave of unsolved gangland murders in Sydney have been rounded up in large-scale drug raids, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has claimed.

Heavily-armed officers attached to Operation Hawk arrested 45 people, seized eight firearms, a hydraulic press and more than 20kg of MDMA, during state-wide raids targeting organised crime.

Officers from Taskforce Erebus on Tuesday also arrested 18 people after busting down the doors of 29 properties accused of running a ‘dial-a-dealer’ drug business raking in over $250,000 a week.

Members of the notorious Alameddine crime network were among those taken into custody following the 10-month long organised crime investigation.

Ms Webb made an appearance on morning TV Friday in an attempt to quell public fears that police have lost control of the streets after 13 deadly shootings in the past 18 months on Sydney’s streets.

See also  Hackers behind Medibank data hack release even more private details of customers

She was asked by Karl Stefanovic on the Today show if police have ‘any leads’ on some of the highly-planned hits which often involve high-tech tracking devices and two burnt out luxury getaway cars left in neighbouring suburbs.

‘We believe that some of those in custody during this week are linked, she said.

‘But certainly it’s an ongoing investigation, it’s a great inroads this week just to get these people off the street.’

There were 36 phones seized in the raids alleged to be part of the alleged dial-a-dealer syndicate with one of the phones having more than 700 customers.

‘Without access to those contacts… we believe we have really nipped this in the bud,’ Ms Webb said.

‘It’s a very complex web, though. We are talking about a whole network of people involved in this.

‘It’s not just the importers, we are talking about distributors, we are talking about street level and the enablers who have actually supported these people in this enterprise. We have really disrupted this.’