‘Not much difference’: How the murders of Preston, Issa compare to Moran’s
Crooks used to knock off their targets in the quietest way possible. Now, it’s only a ‘matter of time’ before innocent people are killed in the crossfire.
Police & Courts
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The recent spate of underworld assassinations have revealed how Melbourne’s organised criminals no longer care about hurting innocent bystanders, a veteran former homicide detective says.
Charlie Bezzina, a lead investigator during the city’s underworld killings two decades ago, said two brutal daylight murders were worse than what happened during the Carl Williams era.
Mr Bezzina said the daylight murders of Robert Issa at Craigieburn Central and Gavin Preston at Sweet Lulu’s cafe in Keilor, had aspects in common of the notorious hit job on Jason Moran at an Auskick session in 2003.
Moran’s killing broke the unwritten Gangland “code” which effectively banned public violence.
“The difference being is, in the Carl Williams era, they were doing it in a quiet, clandestine way, probably at two, three, four o’clock in the morning,” Mr Bezzina said.
“The concerning issue here is we’ve (now) got this particular group, possibly driven by Middle Eastern crime groups who are absolutely fearless and not concerning themselves about innocent people being killed,” he added.
“The (fact) that they’re prepared to kill in the manner they have currently is the greatest concern.
“And if innocent people get killed, well, that’s ‘too bad, so sad’ for them, they’ve got no concern.”
Mr Bezzina said the late night killing of Mohammed Keshtiar in South Yarra in August was more akin to the kind of killings which took place during the height of the Gangland war.
“The majority, I think, of these current (murders) are driven by the illicit tobacco trade and it might be a sprinkling of drug turf war, which is similar to what was happening in the Carl Williams era,” he said.
Mr Bezzina said the killings potentially involved an element of “tit-for-tat”.
Mr Bezzina claimed police “haven’t learned” how to deal with the current homicides, and said a taskforce should be created to investigate the three murders, which he said appeared to be contract killings.
Victoria Police has established a taskforce to investigate “a broad range of criminality tied to an ongoing dispute between organised crime groups”.
“It’s concerning to me that police haven’t learned from the last underworld killings, they took quite some time to form the Purana Taskforce,” Mr Bezzina said.
“They’ve got to start looking at a dedicated taskforce to start targeting these people that are involved in these brazen killings in the public among us all.”
Police have stated they are investigating links between some of the recent murders and the ongoing spate of almost 30 tobacco store firebombings.
Police believe syndicates connected to Middle Eastern organised crime groups and outlaw motorcycle gangs, are fighting for control over the illegal tobacco trade.
The sale of cheap cigarettes, brought in from overseas, can earn enormous profits for shop owners who then become targets if they begin to control the market.
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