Strike Force Raptor lets ex-con bikies know they are on police radar for life
THEY walk out of jail expecting a fresh start but Sydney’s gangsters and bikies are being confronted by Strike Force Raptor at the prison gates.
CAREER criminals expecting to start a new life after jail, free from the prying eyes of the law are finding themselves on police radar for life.
A new arm of Strike Force Raptor, named the Lifetime Offenders Management Team (LOMT), is meeting gangsters and bikies at the prison gates. Others are not even getting out of jail, being visited by police in their cells when their release is pending.
The LOMT, established late last year to catch criminals by cross-referencing police intelligence from around the state, also includes a “fugitive team” responsible for tracking down criminals on the run from arrest warrants.
Crime figure Bilal Haouchar, whose reputation for violence has police on tenterhooks, was released from jail in June after serving time on remand for his role in a gangland shooting.
Before Haouchar, 31, had time to walk out of the Parramatta Court House, the LOMT served him a firearms prohibition order (FPO), allowing police to search his home at any time without a warrant.
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Having kept an eye on Haouchar’s impending release, police analysed the Comanchero gang associate’s long list of shady associates, earning him an official warning for consorting.
If police catch him rubbing shoulders with two or more convicted criminals, he could face charges.
On Thursday, a former Rebels gang nominee was charged with sexual assault after the fugitive team hunted him down.
Police went through his phone after arresting him in November on an outstanding warrant. They found photographs of a woman being sexually assaulted.
Eventually the victim was tracked down and provided a statement to police. Raptor charged the man, who was still in jail, with sexual assault without consent.
The LOMT was set up as a way of catching bikies using police intelligence from around the state.
That intelligence, whether it be a bikie pulled over by a highway patrol officer in the country or a sergeant-at-arms searched outside a pub, is cross-checked against 19 “control measures” that criminals might have hanging over them, from firearm prohibition orders to being down to their last demerit point.
If the bikie has been drinking with an associate they shouldn’t be, or using WhatsApp in contravention of a serious crime prevention order, the LOMT will make sure they know about it.
MORE: THE DAY THE BIKIES WENT TOO FAR
“These guys who thought they are slipping under the radar are not,” Criminal Groups Squad commander Detective Superintendent Deb Wallace said.
“The radar is 360 degrees.”
The LOMT also monitors high-risk targets about to walk out of jail. It assesses whether they need an FPO or a subtle reminder that police will still be watching them.
Some parolees have been pulled up by the LOMT right outside jail while on their way home from serving a lengthy stint behind bars.
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Others have opened their front doors to find Raptor warning them against having a welcome-home party where they would consort with other criminals.
There are hundreds of bikies and crime figures on the LOMT’s list, from eager gang nominees to high-ranking office-bearers with lengthy rap sheets.
Supt Wallace said often bikies were released from jail and fell back into their old lifestyle.
“If they do … (and) we don’t make their life too difficult to remain in the gang, they will stay,” Supt Wallace said.
“The power of the gang is about their families and their relationships.
“Especially if they have stayed loyal to the group, they may be rewarded when they get out of jail.
“They need a strong reason not to go back.”
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► CHAPTER ONE: Inside the squad that beat Sydney’s gangs
► CHAPTER TWO: The real-life police fight club
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