Humble Toyota Aurion played key role in Hawi execution, police say
DETECTIVES said there will be “number of people feeling very uncomfortable” as they circle in on those responsible for killing Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi in a gym parking lot earlier this year.
NSW
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DETECTIVES say they now know the motive for the murder of one-time Comanchero boss Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi and have warned those targeted in this week’s raids — it’s time to start talking.
Criminal Groups Squad Commander detective superintendent Deb Wallace said the high-profile underworld hit on Hawi was a team effort and those withholding information had been put on notice by Thursday’s dawn raids at six addresses across Sydney’s south west.
“We don’t believe it involves one or two, we believe there are a number of people involved in the planning, the facilitation, the execution,” Det Insp Wallace said.
“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle … there’s still a bit more to go but that net is closing.
“The people who are the occupants of those premises, the owners of these vehicles … it would be in their best interests to assist the investigators at this stage.
“I won’t go into the motive at this stage … but let’s just say we think we have established the reasons for the execution.”
Police swooped on six properties in Sydney’s south on Thursday, seizing four cars which they say were used in planning the daylight shooting which claimed Hawi’s life in February.
A total of six cars — including a burnt out Mercedes found near the crime scene a few hours after the attack — have now been seized.
Some contained forensic evidence which made Thursday’s raids possible.
The properties targeted had no specific links to the Comanchero Motorcycle Club which Hawi once led, police said. Although, they did warn they were closing on in the killer.
“At the moment we would say there would be a number of people feeling very uncomfortable, and we would like them to feel uncomfortable,” Det Insp Wallace said.
Police believe Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi’s killer disguised themselves in an everyday Toyota Aurion sedan just moments after dramatically executing the fearsome former bikie boss in broad daylight.
Strike Force Amirs detectives have seized six vehicles they claim to have traced to the underworld hit on Hawi via hundreds of hours of CCTV footage of southwest Sydney streets.
Four of those vehicles, including a tow truck, were found during dawn raids on six addresses in Beverly Hills, Bardwell Park, Brighton Le Sands, Carlton, Hurstville and Padstow yesterday.
Hawi, 37, had just finished a morning gym session at Rockdale Fitness First on February 15 when he was shot multiple times by a masked gunman through the front window of his Mercedes-Benz 4WD.
A late-model Mercedes was set alight just moments later in a nearby street and two men were seen running from the area.
MORE: Ex-bikie Mick Hawi’s life and times
Criminal Groups Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Deb Wallace, believes Hawi’s attackers then jumped in a stolen silver Aurion.
“The Aurion, we’ll say would be the getaway car … that was the car used to get away from the burnt-out vehicle,” Supt Wallace said.
CCTV captured the car two days later on the back of the now-seized tow truck.
MORE: Mick Hawi shot dead at Fitness First gym in Rockdale
The Aurion was discovered by detectives in March, dumped on a street in Beaconsfield.
Yesterday’s raids also yielded a black Prado seen travelling in convoy with the Aurion on the day of the murder — possibly to carry out surveillance.
Also seized by police was a white Toyota Corolla and black Mazda believed to have helped co-ordinate the murder, as well as $22,000 in cash, mobile phones and radios capable of tracking police activity.
Supt Wallace said police were slowly unravelling the elaborate plot to kill Hawi but were now closing in on the perpetrators.
“We believe this involves a number of people involved in the planning, the facilitation, the execution, so we’re closing the net … it’s like a jigsaw puzzle,” he said.
“We think we have established reasons for the execution. It is my belief that those involved in the actual murder are aware of our information … I believe they are feeling very vulnerable and very uncomfortable, as they should be.”
Nobody was arrested during yesterday’s raids but police are expected to question anyone connected to the cars.
Nobody at the six addresses are believed to be linked to the Comanchero bikie gang.
Vision aired in March showed a balaclava-clad gunman fire multiple shots into Hawi in the driver’s seat before fleeing into the large carpark.
Police believe the motive for the assassination may have been financial.
They are looking at whether Hawi tried to extort $300,000 from a wealthy Sydney property developer who then sought help to have the dispute resolved.
Hawi had himself served time over the death of Anthony Zervas in the infamous 2009 brawl between the Comanchero and Hells Angels bikie gangs but had been keeping a low profile in the years after his release.
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