Organised crime
New ‘Lone Wolves’ group at centre of violent Sydney gang conflict
Videos of the terrifying attacks include threats of further violence against alleged underworld figures, including members of the Alameddine crime network.
- Daniel Lo Surdo and Riley Walter
Latest
Like gold to criminals: How a children’s toy became the black market’s hottest trade
Opportunistic thieves and gangland professionals alike have discovered a new way to cash in, launder dirty money, and hide their assets using Lego.
- Chris Vedelago
‘Substantial greed’: Juice bar owner accused of fatal fire for insurance payout
Ibrahim Haddara was granted bail on Friday after a court heard he orchestrated two arson attacks, which later killed his co-accused, for an insurance payout.
- Carla Jaeger
War on illegal tobacco unwinnable without price change: Border Force
Customs officers are seizing 6 million illegal cigarettes a day, but it admits that the illicit trade will continue unless smokers quit their cheap habit.
- Shane Wright
- Exclusive
- Tobacco
Black market in the red: How the Iran war is rippling through Melbourne’s underworld
Melbourne’s tobacco war sparked an oversupply of cheap black-market cigarettes. The war in the Middle East is now causing prices to soar.
- Chris Vedelago
Ocean rescue leads police to ‘mother ship’ drug smuggling plot
The arrests were the result of 10-month investigation by four separate police agencies, with eight men arrested in Victoria and one in Sydney.
- Maeve Bannister
- Exclusive
- Crime
A ghost ship, a border bungle and a missing tonne of cocaine
For weeks, authorities suspected a vessel crossing the Pacific was carrying a hidden drug shipment but when it headed for Australia’s coast, they looked the other way.
- Riley Walter
Melbourne suburb plagued by arson attacks, shootings as tobacco war rages
The city’s north-west has become a vicious battleground for illegal tobacco, with the fresh round of violence erupting following the arrest of Kaz Hamad.
- Ashleigh McMillan and Chris Vedelago
- Exclusive
- For subscribers
Why ice-cream shops are a firebombing target in renewed fight for gang territory
A gutted shopfront on Williamstown’s Nelson Place, a closed police station and the smell of burnt plastic are the latest signs of Melbourne’s tobacco war.
- Carla Jaeger and Chris Vedelago
The moment the ice cream shop went up in flames
CCTV shows the moment a Kilmore icecream shop and barber was firebombed late on Monday.