Two men accused of drugging NSW bikie Ricky Ciano to death then dumping his body
TWO men have been accused of giving ex-Rebels bikie gang member Ricky Ciano a fatal amount of illegal drugs then dumping his body in an abandoned luxury car on the side of a rural road in central west NSW.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
TWO men have been accused of giving Rebels bikie gang member Ricky Ciano a fatal amount of illegal drugs then dumping his body in an abandoned luxury car on the side of a rural road in central west NSW last year, police say.
The body of 35-year-old Ciano was discovered in a BMW on the side of a road near Oberon on Valentine’s Day 2017.
MORE: RIVAL GANGS COMPETING TO KILL BIKIE CIANO
MORE: BOTCHED PLOT TO KILL FORMER REBELS BIKIE
His family had reported him missing a day earlier, with NSW Police later confirming a suspicious lethal drug overdose may have claimed Mr Ciano’s life.
“Obviously the circumstances insofar as how Mr Ciano’s body was located in the back of his BMW, about 15 kilometres out of sight on Duckmaloi Road, have led us to the point where we are still conducting a homicide inquiry,” Detective Chief Inspector Jason Dickinson previously said.
Two men — aged 33 and 44 — were on Thursday arrested at Silverwater jail, and both charged with murder, with police alleging the men gave Mr Ciano a fatal cocktail of prescription and prohibited drugs, and then abandoned the car with his body inside.
The pair is due to face Lithgow Local Court on Friday.
MORE: POLICE FIND ‘ICE DRUG FARM’ PROBING DEATH
MORE: BIKIE GANG DEATH TOLL INCREASES
The 35-year-old, who survived an attempt on his life in 2015, had been living on the Gold Coast after severing ties with the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.
Mr Ciano had severed ties with the Rebels outlaw motorcycle club and nearly paid for it with his life when a hitman pretending to deliver a pizza knocked on the door of Mr Ciano’s Central Coast home but he refused to open it.
Senior Rebels member Abuzar Sultani, who was arrested in 2016 over the execution of Sydney underworld figure Pasquale Barbaro, is accused of plotting to kill Mr Ciano at Wamberal in August 2015.
MORE: REBELS MEMBER PAYS TRIBUTE TO SLAIN BIKIE
MORE: ACQUITTED BIKIES CELEBRATE JAIL RELEASE
Earlier this year, two men, aged 25 and 29, who were also serving time at prisons in Newcastle and Goulburn, were charged with conspiring and agreeing to murder.
They were among hundreds laid against more than 20 people following investigations by the homicide squad and Strike Force Raptor, which has been looking into the activities of the Burwood Chapter of the Rebels OMCG and their associates.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
► CHAPTER ONE: Inside the squad that beat Sydney’s gangs
► CHAPTER TWO: The real-life police fight club
