Police link alleged gang members to Talal Alameddine, terrorism and ISIS in court documents

As 18 men allegedly linked to the Alameddine crime network face court, police are claiming members “download and watch” videos promoting terrorist acts.

Police claim they have observed alleged members of the notorious Alameddine clan watching promotional videos produced by Islamic State.

Investigators desperate to stop the bloodshed on western Sydney streets have brought up links between alleged crime network boss Rafat Alameddine’s younger brother Talal and ISIS.

Talal Alameddine was in 2018 sentenced to a minimum 13-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to supplying a gun used in the shooting of NSW Police accountant Curtis Cheng three years earlier.

An extensive police facts sheet used in the matters of all 18 men charged after raids in western Sydney on Tuesday makes reference to Talal’s case.

Talal Alameddine, who pleaded guilty to supplying the firearm used in a terrorist act.

18 people were arrested and 29 search warrants executed during coordinated raids on Tuesday.

“Police have detected members of the group downloading and watching promotional videos produced by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that encourage terrorist acts and violent extremism,” the court papers read.

“Members of the group have shown their disdain for the arrest and imprisonment of … Talal Alameddine, who was convicted of supplying the firearm used in a terrorist act in 2015.”

When Talal was being sentenced in the NSW Supreme Court he was asked to stand, but refused.

That behaviour led Justice Peter Johnson to confirm that he had concerns about Alameddine’s beliefs, with the now 29-year-old serving out his sentence in Goulburn’s Supermax prison – home to the state’s highest risk offenders.

Neither Rafat nor Talal Alameddine have been arrested or charged in the most recent raids. Terrorism charges have not been laid against any of the 18 men before court.