Foreign crime syndicates setting up shop in Sydney: ‘No fear of Australian police or law’
NOTORIOUS foreign crime syndicates now consider Sydney such a soft target and are raking in so much money they’re putting aside longstanding feuds for one major reason. This investigation can reveal how a multicultural melting pot of gangs have taken hold of Sydney.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
NOTORIOUS foreign crime syndicates now consider Sydney such a soft target and are raking in so much money they’re putting aside longstanding feuds to form alliances and divide spoils rather than start bloody turf wars.
It comes as law enforcement veterans warn the international underworld simply has no “fear” of Aussie cops — with the “Land of Plenty” becoming known as a gangster’s paradise for almost every nationality.
A special investigation by The Daily Telegraph can today reveal the multicultural melting pot of gangs across Sydney who are working in tandem to control trafficking and distribution of hardcore drugs as well as a raft of other crimes.
Among the new gangs that have infiltrated the country are Mexican cartels responsible for years of murder and mayhem at home, which are now shipping tonnes of methamphetamine into Australia.
The cartels have formed links with Vietnamese gangs that have become the major distributors of Mexican drugs in Sydney, insiders said.
These Vietnamese gangs are especially feared for their ruthlessness.
One alleged female crime boss is currently facing two murder charges after allegedly ordering hits on rival members.
The bodies of a man and his girlfriend were both found wrapped in sheets and dumped in different locations in Western Sydney in 2013.
Meanwhile, on Saturday a 45-year-old Vietnamese woman was arrested as part of a police operation to smash money-laundering syndicates operating across Liverpool and Bankstown.
Police searched homes at Bankstown, Chipping Norton, Moorebank and Yagoona as part of raids that seized more than $50,000 in cash, mobile phones, SIM cards, computers and electronic storage devices.
Detectives also searched a Cabramatta nail salon and seized financial documents.
Police charged the 45-year-old with trying to conceal the proceeds of crime and directing the activities of a criminal group, among other charges.
Syndicates from the former Soviet republic of Armenia have also established themselves as major suppliers of cocaine in Sydney, using contacts in Russia and on the US west coast to build a base here.
Authorities believe that the network is based in the middle-class suburbs around Ryde and Frenchs Forest on Sydney’s north shore.
Business fronts are hidden behind seemingly legitimate businesses such as crash repairers, construction firms and even furniture stores.
Police suspect one major Armenian kingpin faked his own death in a car crash in Russia to evade authorities and is still operating on false passports to broker international deals to smuggle cocaine into Sydney.
Italian mafia groups traditionally associated with cannabis production in central NSW have moved into importing MDMA — commonly known as ecstasy — from the Netherlands.
Younger Italian Australian criminals such as Pasquale Barbaro — the Calabrian mafia-linked 35-year-old gunned down outside his Earlwood home in 2016 — are believed to be behind developing strategies to forge links with bikie gangs in order to expand their distribution networks.
Among the most secretive gangs to feature in the new Sydney crime landscape are the Chinese.
EDITORIAL: Foreign crims are increasingly snubbing our laws
Known collectively as “The Company,” the Chinese syndicates are understood to be responsible for shipping tonnes of methamphetamine into Sydney every year, and also to be behind millions of dollars of credit card fraud in Australia.
And there is a small but growing band of organised criminals from Nigeria and Sudan using contacts in Europe and the Middle East to traffic heroin and cocaine to Australia and also involved in fraud and cybercrime.
NSW Police acting Deputy Commissioner Mal Lanyon last night said Australia was “one of the most lucrative” places in the world for drug suppliers thanks to the willingness of addicts “to pay top dollar”.
“(Gangsters) will exploit or manipulate anything and anyone, with no regard for the safety of our community, in order to increase their bottom line.
“The willingness (of users) to pay top dollar is by far the greatest challenge we face in law enforcement.”
Former NSW Police Force deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas, who retired after 35 years to take a position with the United Nations, said it was “now undeniable that Australia is on the radar and is a desirable location for a diverse range of criminal groupings from Mexicans and South American cartels to Russians”.
“It is also perfectly clear now that crime groups do not recognise, nor are they daunted by, borders or law enforcement,” he said.
“Put simply, many do not fear Australian police or many other law enforcement agencies.
“We need to get back to a place where police are feared by criminal gangs and hit them hard where they fear the most — money and assets,” he said.
And where gangs would once fight bitterly for control of parts of the black market, the new generation of syndicates are forming sophisticated trafficking and supply networks.
“Everyone is making so much money there are no turf wars,” Mr Kaldas said.
NSW Police last week launched a manhunt for Nigerian national Lawrence Nwachukwu, who goes by the name Andre Lewis.
He was arrested on fraud and cybercrime charges on Friday.
It’s understood international police forces are keen to speak to Nwachukwu about alleged false passports and human trafficking.
Kaldas said “more could and should be done” to co-ordinate Australian law enforcement across state, federal, intelligence and border protection arms to tackle the threat of international organised crime groups.