Pasquale Barbaro: Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione vows to end bloody gang war

UPDATE: Police have seet up a new strike force, taglined Osprey, to tackle Sydney’s exploding gang warfare which has claimed eight lives in 18 months.

• Slain hitman knew he was a dead man walking
• Pasquale Barbaro: Bloody end to a brutal life
• ‘All the gangsters in Sydney are coming’: NYE party

POLICE have announced a new strike force to tackle Sydney’s exploding gang warfare which has claimed at least eight lives.

Strike Force Osprey will oversee the ongoing investigations into the fatal shootings including the brazen murder this week of underworld kingpin Pasquale Timothy Barbaro.

Its formation follows Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione’s pledge to The Daily Telegraph today that he would not let the shootings turn into a Melbourne underbelly-style bloodbath.

Osprey will be examining eight fatal shootings in Sydney over the last 18 months.

NSW Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Frank Mennilli said the reckless, violent behaviour of those involved is of very serious concern to the NSW Police and will not be tolerated.

Sydney crime figure Pasquale Timothy Barbaro was shot dead in Earlwood on Monday night. Picture: Fairfax Syndication

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has vowed to end Sydney’s bloody gang war. Picture: John Fotiadis

“Although these are targeted shootings, regardless of who the victim is – it is unacceptable. It only takes one bullet to injure or kill an innocent person,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Mennilli said.

“The recent shootings also reflect the greater ongoing challenges of organised crime and the role of illegal firearms.

“For as long as there are illegal guns in our community, we have to anticipate there will be people willing to use them,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Mennilli said.

“The safety and well being of the wider, law-abiding community remains our number one priority so we need to get those guns off the streets.

“Every single time we remove guns and ammunition from the street, the community benefits,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Mennilli said.

Barbaro was shot while sitting in his luxury car in Earlwood. Picture: Bill Hearne

“I can assure the community that our most experienced police are working together under Strike Force Osprey to bring about a swift resolution in response to these violent crimes.”

The shooting of 35-year-old Barbaro 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.

Mr Scipione has promised police will snuff out Sydney’s brutal gang war before it explodes into a Melbourne underbelly-style bloodbath.

As detectives investigate whether assassins used a tracking device on underworld boss Pasquale Barbaro’s car to help stage his vicious execution, Mr Scipione will today tell his top crime chiefs to end the war — at any cost.

“I guess the (message) that I’m going to bring to the table is it’s not going to get there (turn into a Melbourne) — get on with it and I’ll give you whatever you need to make sure it doesn’t get there,” Mr Scipione said.

Hitman Hamad Assaad was gunned down outside his Georges Hall home just weeks ago.

Assaad’s body is covered by a white sheet on the driveway where he was shot dead.

More than 30 gangsters were murdered in Melbourne’s gangland war which centred on Carl Williams and the Moran family, while the body count in Sydney’s current spree hit six with the assassination of Barbaro.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Barbaro knew he was a dead man walking when he accepted a dinner at his mate’s Earlwood home on Monday night.

In 2011 and 2012, Sydney had a vicious wave of gang shootings that were only brought under control by a special police operation called Talon.

During Talon, suspects were visited at their home to ensure they weren’t breaking the law. At the time former deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas, who had aspirations to succeed Mr Scipione but has since left the force, was applauded for the “in-your-face” operation.

“The reality is one person doesn’t run an operation. It comes from inspectors and sergeants on the ground,” Mr Scipione said.

“They’re the same people doing it (now). It’s the same guys that had responsibility for all of these investigations in the past. It wasn’t the commissioner, it wasn’t the assistant commissioner that conducted these investigations — investigations which were still leading to arrests and charges today.”

Walid Ahmad is another victim of Sydney’s bloody gang war.

CCTV footage of the moment Walid Ahmad is gunned down.

Mr Scipione said if more resources were needed to stop the killings then that’s what would happen.

“(Suspects) still do get visits in terms of firearms prevention orders,” he said.

“If the people committing these crimes think there’s no consequences (then) they’re seriously mistaken.

“We don’t know if they’re bikies, I don’t know if they’re drug dealers or people settling petty differences; the reality is we’re going after them.”

The Commissioner said the number of recent killings wasn’t “enormous”, but that “doesn’t matter”. He was worried innocent people feared they could be caught up in the carnage. “There are people out there — whether they are an associate, friend, someone in the family — who have got crucial information,” he said.

“They just needed the assurance they could do so anonymously. I want to know where the guns are.”

Besides Barbaro on Monday night, the deaths to be investigated are 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.