The Snitch: Changing drinking trends of Sydney’s criminal element

While crooks of days gone by would opt for beer with a bourbon chaser, today’s brand of bad guy is a little more fussier with his drink of choice.

It’s an insidious trend that would turn older, hardened criminals like murderer Arthur “Neddy” Smith red with rage.

Modern day crooks and their penchant for wimpy drinks.

In 2005, crime writer Stephen Gibbs wrote that Smith enjoyed his amber fluid — about 30 of them a day, before he switched to Jack Daniels — and enforced a similar standard among his crew.

So we can’t imagine he would be too pleased with his new aged peers who don’t seem to follow his drinking philosophy.

Our research is based on our own observations over several years and we’ll leave some names out to protect the guilty, and ourselves.

Neddy Smith knocked back 30 beers a day.

But the first person on our list was a towering professional standover man, who stood almost two metres tall, who we met at inner city cafe, Miss Carter’s, a number of years back to discuss information we were using for a story.

Your columnist usually has a strong latte, but we ordered an espresso to save face.

We were a little bemused when our coffee date ordered a hot chocolate (plus marshmallow) and didn’t bat an eyelid.

The long-running investigation that sent Michael Ibrahim and Ryan Watsford to jail revealed that on the numerous occasions the pair met an undercover cop at locations like the Sheraton on the Park to discuss a smuggling operation, they were rather partial to a caramel latte.

One lawyer told us he was representing a couple of harder edged crooks after they were charged over a brawl at a Kings Cross nightclub.

Crooks have no time for Resch’s today.

“We were going through the CCTV and the police evidence and they were on the vodka pineapples — in a tall glass,” the lawyer said. “I didn’t ask them about that.”

One of our colleagues enjoyed a lunch with one of Sydney’s most well-known crime figures at a high end restaurant and watched as he accompanied his high-end meal with a Sambuca and Coke.

So what’s with the softer pallet of the modern crim? The theories are numerous.

“It’s all part of the new age designer crooks, they like to wear the labels and go to the flash lunches — they aspire to have better things,” one source said.

Another said: “Old school crooks had two options: Tooheys and Reschs on tap.

“The other thing is there are not a lot of redneck crooks anymore, there are different cultural influences and so forth, so it all feeds into it.”

It turns out, the trend goes beyond drinks, according to one source.

“I once acted for a bikie who had a bum implant. They love Botox and all the lip and eye stuff, there’s major aspirational vanity among crooks these days,” the source said.

SOCIAL MOUDI (A)

WE can’t imagine who would take this up, but social media attracts all sorts.

One time Nomads bikie leader Moudi Tajjour has turned social media influencer and is selling his wares through his Instagram account.

Former Nomads bikie boss Moudi Tajjour. Picture: Instagram

Tajjour, who is the cousin of Kings Cross boss John Ibrahim, joked on his account recently that he is charging $250, for “birthday shootouts”, $150 for “Christmas shootouts” and $250 for “Personal video messages”.

Tajjour has about 50,000 followers, so you never know.

Regardless, we watch with interest.

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