Teen gangs clocking up huge kms on crime sprees

Street youth gangs are using stolen cars to crisscross Melbourne to plunder houses during their violent crime sprees, a police blitz revealed.

An allegedly stolen car was tracked to Point Cook as part of Operation Alliance, and an 18-year-old male arrested at the scene. Supplied: Victoria Police

Street gang members using stolen cars to crisscross Melbourne on crime sprees have been arrested in a major police crackdown.

The Operation Alliance sweep was evidence of how far offenders as young as 12 were travelling to commit ­violent crimes, plunder homes and steal cars, police said.

Officers attached to Alliance arrested three boys, aged 15 to 17, from Dandenong, Eumemmering and Hallam as part of the blitz.

They have been charged with aggravated burglaries and car thefts committed as far afield as Toorak, Brighton and Hawthorn, as well as in Eumemmering and Hallam.

Croydon divisional response unit police arrested five men on the other side of Melbourne over a stabbing on their patch.

Officers investigating the attack at Kiloran Park, Mooroolbark, raided premises in Hoppers Crossing, Werribee and Sunshine West and arrested five people aged 17 to 24.

Youth gangs are crisscrossing Melbourne on their crime sprees, police say. Supplied: Victoria Police

The victim of the stabbing, a 16-year-old boy, suffered serious injuries.

Southern metro crime team officers arrested three boys, one aged 12 who allegedly stole a Mazda CX-5 in Clayton on August 27 then went to Pakenham a day later and stole a Mitsubishi Outlander.

The Outlander was then ­allegedly used in an aggravated burglary at Beaumaris before the same youths took the Mazda to Berwick South, where they allegedly stole ­alcohol worth $5400 from a shopping centre.

The boys arrested over that spree were from as far away as Wallan, Hallam and Springvale.

Last weekend four teens were arrested at Point Cook after being tracked by the air wing as they drove a stolen car.

A stolen car linked to shop thefts and petrol drive-offs was recovered and five youths arrested in the Wyndham area.

A total of 66 people across Melbourne were arrested for offences including robbery, ­aggravated burglary, assault, car theft and criminal damage during the operation in which suburbs including Croydon, Endeavour Hills, Melton, Mill Park, Point Cook, Ringwood, Springvale and Werribee were saturated with police.

Among those arrested, 23 were aged 14 to 25 and had links to street gangs.

Alliance officers said they made 77 bail checks on serious and violent youth gang members, ­detecting 27 breaches.

Two firearms prohibition orders were issued and two cars impounded during the four-day operation.

Superintendent Michael Cruse said the Alliance operation involved several police units working together to disrupt youth gangs.

He said dozens of people had been arrested.

“We’ve also engaged with a significant number of people, further boosting our intelligence holdings and giving us a chance to deter people from getting involved in gang ­activity,” he said.