Latest news with #gangconflict
News.com.au
4 days ago
- News.com.au
Alameddine split blamed for Sydney underworld shootings
Sydney's most powerful organised crime network has split in two, sparking a series of recent public shootings, detectives investigating the new underworld conflict believe. The Alameddine clan rose to public notoriety during a bloody gangland struggle with rivals the Hamzys in the early 2020s, but police say they are now divided. has learned it is believed a man formerly alleged to be a senior Alameddine member, Samimjan Azari, has defected to a new crew. Mr Azari, 26, has become a marked man and survived three high-profile assassination attempts this year – including a brazen shooting at an Auburn kebab shop in June. A few weeks earlier, he escaped unharmed when gunmen opened fire on a car he was travelling in near Parramatta. His bodyguard Dawood Zakaria died after being shot in the head during the May 25 incident. It followed a previous attempt on his life at Brighton-Le-Sands in February, where Mr Azari and Zakaria, 32, managed to avoid a hail of bullets. Police have revealed Mr Azari also escaped a suspected fourth murder plot that was abandoned a few days before the kebab shop shooting. 'Collective' to conflict Detective Superintendent Jason Box told the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday there was a 'division' between old Alameddine allies. 'It was one organised crime network working as a collective – there's now a division and that hasn't been accepted internally, hence the conflict,' he said. Detective Superintendent Box heads Taskforce Falcon, a team established after the May 25 shooting in Granville that left Zakaria dead to investigate rising underworld violence in Sydney. The taskforce is probing several incidents including a June 12 shooting at the home of Ali Elmoubayed – who police believe is the Australian head of the Alameddines. The group's patriarch, Rafat Alameddine, has been offshore since 2022 and is believed to be in Lebanon. He is wanted by police over an alleged plot to kill rival Ibrahem Hamze, and the alleged double-murder of father and son Salim and Toufic Hamzy, in 2021. Lawyers for Mr Alameddine's cousin, the rapper Ali Younes aka Ay Huncho, told a court on June 5 he held fears for his safety after the fresh outbreak of violence. Mr Younes this month had his $1.8 million bail revoked over an alleged speeding offence, as he faces a charge of aggravated kidnapping. does not suggest Mr Azari, Mr Elmoubayed, Mr Alameddine , Mr Younes or anyone else named or pictrured in this article had any involvement in the recent shootings. 'Muscle' and tobacco Taskforce Falcon detectives also believe that a subgroup which formerly acted as the 'muscle' for the Alameddines' vast drug supply network had defected to the new crew. The KVT, a street gang made up predominantly of Fijian-heritage men, has joined the new network and its alleged leader Joseph Vokai has taken up a senior role. Detective Superintendent Box said there had been a 'significant divide at the highest level' which had resulted in 'the Alameddine and KVT split'. Police allege the illicit tobacco market has underpinned operations for the new group and it has allegedly stolen millions of dollars worth of the products. Court documents tendered in the bail application of an alleged KVT member this year state Mr Azari allegedly planned to 'rip' $4.5 million worth of tobacco and vapes from a Condell Park warehouse on January 4. During the incident, three men were allegedly bound and 'believed that they ere going to die'. One of the detained men allegedly had his right big toe 'partially severed'. Mr Azari was alleged to have 'orchestrated' the plot and has been charged with offences including being accessory before the fact to kidnapping and breaking and enter. Detective Superintendent Box has said the cause of the split was not yet known, adding 'anyone connected with this conflict is a potential target for retribution'.
CTV News
04-06-2025
- CTV News
B.C. suspect charged in suspected gang shooting of Alta. man
Johnathan Hebrada-Walters, 38, is seen in a police handout image. Months after a deadly shooting in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, a suspect has been arrested and charged. Langley resident Barinder Singh Dhaliwal, 41, was taken into custody Tuesday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said. He has since been charged with possession of a loaded firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm in a vehicle, and possession of a firearm while prohibited. The charges stem from his 'alleged involvement' in a shooting in Langley Township that left 38-year-old Johnathan Hebrada-Walters dead and another man injured last fall, IHIT said in a news release Wednesday. Hebrada-Walters, of Edmonton, Alta., was gunned down at 196 Street and 84 Avenue on the evening of Sept. 21, 2024. At the time, IHIT said it believed the shooting was targeted, and connected to B.C.'s bloody gang conflict. Hebrada-Walters had also been a suspect in a road rage assault that took place earlier that month in Mission, during which a couple was attacked with a baseball bat after honking at a Chevy Malibu in a Tim Hortons drive-thru. Investigators previously said there was no apparent connection between that incident at the shooting in Langley Township.
CTV News
30-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Kamloops RCMP identify victim 1 year after fatal motel shooting
The city of Kamloops, B.C., is seen in this file photo. (CTV News) Almost exactly a year after a fatal shooting at a motel on the Trans Canada Highway in Kamloops, RCMP are sharing the victim's identity in hopes of generating more leads in their investigation. Keenan James Robertson was the man killed at a motel in the 2500 block of the highway's eastbound lanes, Kamloops RCMP said in a statement Friday. 'As the Kamloops RCMP Serious Crime Unit work persistently on this file, they are hopeful that by sharing the name of the victim they will be able to further the investigation,' said Cpl. Dana Napier, in the release. Police were called to the site of the shooting shortly after midnight on May 31, 2024, and found Robertson deceased in one of the motel's rooms. There are two motels on the specified block: the Trans Canada Motel and a Super 8. At the time, police said they believed the shooting was 'not random.' It was the fifth targeted shooting of the month of May 2024 in Kamloops, though it was the first one to turn fatal. The other four were attributed to a gang conflict between local drug traffickers, but police said at the time that it was 'too early to speculate on a motive' for Robertson's killing. Anyone with information on Robertson's death is asked to call Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000 and cite file number 2024-16432.
