Heavily armed cops target suspects in Pasquale Barbaro execution
A FOURTH man has been arrested, hours after heavily armed police swooped on a group of men in connection to the murder of Sydney standover man Pasquale Barbaro.
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A FOURTH man has been arrested, hours after heavily armed police swooped on a group of men in connection to the murder of Sydney standover man Pasquale Barbaro.
In a well-planned series of raids, members of the Tactical Response Unit working with Strike Force Osprey which was set up two weeks ago to investigate eight shootings including that of Barbaro, moved in on four or five targets.
Two men were tackled to the ground by heavily armed officers at Sydney’s Olympic Park in the series of raids.
“They were just face down on the ground when we went out there,” a female employee from nearby business, told AAP.
“(The police) had unmarked cars, and they all just kind of came out of nowhere so it looked like they’d obviously been in position waiting for these two guys to come back from wherever they were, and pounced on them,” she said.
The employee described the arrested pair as Middle Eastern or European in appearance and aged in their 30s.
About 7.30pm a fourth man was arrested and led out of the same building as the man taken to a paddy wagon earlier.
The Asian male was escorted by several officers handcuffed but it is unclear if his arrest is linked to the other gangland land murder arrests.
Barbaro was gunned down outside the home of construction industry identity and his friend George Alex.
A police spokeswoman has confirmed “a police operation is underway involving multiple search warrants across Sydney”.
The men arrested today are expected to be questioned over the actual shooting and the organising of the murder of Mafia figure Barbaro on Monday November 14 as well as others, sources said today.
Parts of Olympic Park around the Ibis Hotel were locked down for a time.
A couple of blocks away from the Ibis police led another man out of the exclusive apartment tower at 1 Australia Ave in handcuffs.
Tow trucks were brought in to seize a white Holden and police continue to search the building’s car park.
Parts of Olympic Park around the Ibis Hotel were locked down for a time.
A couple of blocks away from the Ibis police led another man out of the exclusive apartment tower at 1 Australia Ave in handcuffs.
Tow trucks were brought in to seize a white Holden and police continue to search the building’s car park.
Police seized a white Holden and a grey Mercedes Benz which were taken by a row-truck and they are still searching a white Audi four-wheel drive in the building’s ground-floor car park.
One resident of the building said the men who owned the vehicles did not look “not right” and always travelled in groups.
“There was always three of them walking together and just by the look of them they didn’t look normal,” the woman said.
“They didn’t look like they worked hard enough to be driving around in a Mercedes Benz.”
Officers also emerged with armfuls of brown evidence bags in scenes which have distressed some residents.
“It’s shocking,” a woman who lives in the building said.
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Customer relations manager Brian Clark saw the drama unfold as he went to pick up his car about midday and found it behind crime scene tape which blocked off Showground Road.
He said police had what appeared to be a man and woman up against a wall. It is understood they were two of those arrested.
“One of them was slight and I thought it was a woman but I could have been mistaken,” Mr Clark said.
“The police had them secured.
“It seemed to me that the police had it all well under control.
“I asked one of the officers what was happening and he said it was just standard operational procedure and I would see it on the news tonight.”
Announcing the strike force on November 17, police said they had identified links between some of the brazen murders of the men who were all bikies or organised crime figures — or both.
The underworld slayings could also be connected through hired hitmen, sources told The Daily Telegraph.
The shooting of 35-year-old Barbaro in Earlwood is the fourth underworld hit this year after Safwan Charbaji, Walid Ahmad and Hamad Assaad.
Debt collector Vasko Boskovski was murdered in July 2013 and two men are currently on trial for the December 2013 murder of standover man Joe Antoun.
The executions being investigated also include Rebels outlaw motorcycle club enforcer Mark Easter in June 2015, Rebels member Michael Davey in March 2016, Safwan Charbaji in April 2016, Walid Ahmad, also in April, Adrian Buxton who was shot in May and hitman Hamad Assaad last month on his driveway.
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