Organised Crime in Australia

[Hollander]

Fourth arrest made over Des Moran murder
18:41 AEST Tue Jun 16 2009
A fourth person has been arrested over the murder of Victorian man Des Moran, police say.

Mr Moran was shot dead at a deli in Ascot Vale. (AAP)


A fourth person has been arrested over the murder of Des Moran, police say.

The 45-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in Myrniong in Ballarat.

Mr Moran's sister-in-law, Judy Moran, and a 45-year-old woman have been charged with being an accessary after the fact, their lawyer Damien Shields said.

The 45-year-old woman is believed to be Suzie Kane, the sister-in-law of Moran's slain son Jason Moran.

The women remain in custody and are expected to appear in an out of sessions hearing at the Melbourne Custody Centre on Tuesday night.

Police identified the man arrested earlier on Tuesday as Geoffrey Amour, 43, of Ascot Vale, who is believed to be Kane's boyfriend.

He is expected to be charged with one count of murder and has faced Portland Magistrates Court in western Victoria.

He was remanded in custody to reappear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.

[cattivo]

carl and goerge would be pissing them selves laughing what a fucked up family

[Giuseppe]

New twist in Melbourne mafia war as matriarch is charged over family murder


It is a tale worthy of a Scorsese script: warring factions and families embark a bloody battle to reign over a city’s organised crime scene, spanning two decades and involving death, destruction and mayhem on the streets of one of Australia’s biggest cities. But this drug turf war is fact, not fiction, and this week it erupted again.

The underworld battle – dubbed Victoria’s gangland war – began in 1998 and has resulted in the deaths of more than 30 people. On Monday, after two years of relative peace, it was re-ignited with the broad daylight killing of a member of one of the leading families.

The alleged murder was followed by a dramatic series of events which left even the hardened police investigating the Sopranos-style saga scratching their heads in disbelief.

The story, centred around the Moran and Williams' family battles, has been the subject of many books. It was immortalised in two high-rating television series, called Underbelly, in Australia. A third series is being written, and this week’s events may give screenwriters plenty of fodder.

Even the Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland – who previously ran the Purana task force which has been investigating Melbourne’s organised crime networks for two decades – admitted that the saga is so far-fetched it is hard to fathom.

“Fact is almost stranger than fiction with what we've seen,” Commissioner Overland said on Wednesday. “If you were a scriptwriter and sat down and wrote this stuff you'd probably say, ‘look, no, it's a bit far fetched no one will believe it'.”

This week came an extraordinary turn of events with the killing of Des "Tuppence" Moran, 61, the last male member of the family, as he sipped his daily coffee in a café in suburban Melbourne. The death of Des Moran, considered one of the more amiable members of the family, was initially regarded by Victorian police as not gangland-related, but a dispute related to a previous attempt on his life in March, when a masked gunman shot at him while he sat in his car.

About 15 minutes after his death, Mr Moran's sister-in-law Judy Moran – the matriarch of the family – arrived at the crime scene in tears screaming “Dessy, Dessy”. Within 24 hours she had been charged in relation to his death.

Mrs Moran is a widow. Her husband Lewis, Des Moran’s brother, was killed during the gangland wars along with her two sons, Jason and Mark.

Mrs Moran was charged along with a family friend Suzanne Kane, the sister-in-law of Jason Moran, and Kane's de facto boyfriend Geoffrey Amour. Mrs Moran, 64, and Ms Kane, 45, were charged with being an accessory after the fact. Amour was charged with murder.

Police alleged during a court hearing that Mrs Moran had dumped the suspected getaway car and was monitored talking about disposing of items used in the murder. A police search of Mrs Moran's home had uncovered three handguns, a loaded shotgun, stolen number plates and clothing – including a wig – matching the description of that worn by the two gunmen who shot her brother-in-law.

On Wednesday Mrs Moran was refused bail by a Melbourne magistrate after police deemed her a flight risk. Jelena Popovic said she was concerned about Mrs Moran’s access to several firearms and that she was “unacceptable risk to the community”.

In a further twist, Mrs Moran’s house was severely damaged on Tuesday night by what police were describing as a “suspicious” fire.

It was just the latest chapter in the gangland war, in which the Moran family played a major role, battling for control of Melbourne's drugs trade. Other players include Carl Williams, currently serving life in prison for three murders, the Carlton Crew, an Italian-Australian criminal organisation, and underworld figure Mick Gatto, a professional mediator and former heavyweight boxer.

There are fears that this week’s events – while seemingly kept within one family – could lead to a renewal of hostilities.

Commissioner Overland was at pains to say that while “violence begets violence”, the police are keen to “get on top and put a stop to it”. “The community wants to know – is this a restart of the gangland wars? I don’t believe it is,” he said on Wednesday. “The evidence or briefings that I’ve got indicate to me that its not, but we’ll obviously continue to watch the situation pretty carefully.”

[DARREN]

This has got to be a first!


The matriarch of a underworld family, who is 'allegedly' involved with the murder of her brother-in-law. I wonder what will unfold after these events

[cattivo]

SHE DID CARL AND GOERGE A BIG FAVOR
BELOW IS A LINK TO AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN BARBARA WILLIAMS AND JUDY MORAN WORTH A WATCH
JUDY AS ALWAYS PLAYS THE VICTIM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMwwY3xsCXs

[adrian]

Melbourne's northern suburbs gang that seems to have filled the void left by Williams Mokbel and co seemm to have stepped it up. I'm not aware of them murdering anyone but they seem to have now

Hunt for pair after man shot deadJune 21, 2009 - 12:28PM

Homicide Squad detectives are hunting for two men suspected of being involved in last night's fatal shooting in Altona North.

A 28-year-old Altona North man, believed to be a father of two, was shot dead as he was getting out of his car in Fifth Avenue around 7.45pm, in Melbourne's west.

Police are also looking for a gold or champagne coloured 2005 Holden Commodore SS sedan that was seen at the scene shortly before the drive-by shooting.

The shooting is Melbourne's second in only a week following the death of gangland figure Desmond "Tuppence" Moran who was gunned down at a cafe in Ascot Vale last Monday

[adrian]

Judy Moran charged with murder

Judy Moran has been charged with the murder of her brother-in-law Des "Tuppence'' Moran along with her co-accused Suzanne Kane.

The pair were already facing charges of being accessories to murder after Des Moran was shot dead in an Ascot Vale cafe on June 15.

Moran, 64, of Moonee Ponds and Kane, 45, of Dawesville, Western Australia, are both in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre after being refused bail following the shooting.

They will reappear in Melbourne Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Kane's defacto Geoffrey Leslie Armour, 43, is also facing a charge of murder in relation to the the shooting.

Police had earlier alleged that Moran dumped the getaway car used by the killers but the new charges suggest they suspect she had prior knowledge about the shooting.

A search of her house following Mr Moran's murder revealed three guns in a safe, a mask and clothing matching the description of that worn by the killers.

The house, where Kane and Armour were also staying at the time, was set alight after the trio were charged.

Police are still searching for a second gunman and a getaway driver believed to have been involved in the daylight shooting of Des Moran at a Union Road cafe.

The investigation into the fire at Moran's house is also continuing.

Kane's sister Trisha was married to Moran's son Jason, who was shot dead along with his brother Mark and father Lewis.

Moran's lawyer Jim Stavris said he had only learned of the charges when contacted by The Age.

"I did not expect to run these sorts of charges through the media,'' he said.

"I would have thought Purana would have been more professional than that. They haven't even told me yet.''

Mr Stavris said that Moran had been planning to apply for bail due to her ill health.

Moran has been reported as having a blood-related cancer.

However, Mr Stavris said the latest development could affect her application.

When asked if Moran would be fighting any charges against her, Mr Stavris said "my instructions are yes''.

[Nav]

Revealed: How police got Fadi Ibrahim
September 26, 2009 10:53PM

POLICE allegedly found a hit kit containing a pistol, an address and two photographs of the intended victim when they raided the home of man associated with Fadi Ibrahim.

The items, along with a NSW Police badge and wallet and two car registration numbers, were in a black bag hidden in the kitchen of Rodney Atkinson's Rosehill home, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

Atkinson and Ibrahim have been charged with conspiring to murder John Macris, a convicted drug dealer, in revenge for the shooting of Ibrahim outside his Castle Cove homein June. Details of the alleged conspiracy can now be revealed for the first time.

Documents obtained by The Sunday Telegraph reveal police intercepted more than 7000 telephone calls between Fadi, younger brother Michael Ibrahim, Atkinson and others yet to be named. Officers will allege that Atkinson visited Michael Ibrahim in Broken Hill jail, where he is serving time for manslaughter, on July 5.

After this visit, police began closely listening in on all of Michael's telephone calls, made from a mobile phone previously illegally smuggled into prison.

From July 10, police listened to numerous telephone calls in which the two Ibrahim brothers and Atkinson allegedly discussed a plot to murder Macris.

Michael allegedly arranged for details of Macris's addressto be delivered to Atkinson.

Police will allege that between September 9-16, calls between Atkinson and others had "increased in frequency".

On September 11, Fadi allegedly arranged for a third person to deliver an address and two photographs of Macris, apparently downloaded from the Internet, to Atkinson.

In the days that followed, Atkinson called Michael in jail to tell him that he was going "shopping for him soon" and that Michael would be "very happy" with the purchase.

Police claim "shopping" was code for purchasing weapons. They listened to the updates, between September 14 and 25, as Atkinson allegedly tried to buy a firearm from several sources.

When police raided Atkinson's home last Thursday, they seized a .22 Ruger semi-automatic pistol fitted with a silencer, hidden inside a kitchen cupboard. Atkinson allegedly told police that he had bought the gun less than 12 hours earlier. Police claim ammunition and a holster were found on the bedroom floor and a bullet-proof vest in his wardrobe.

They found another loaded .45 semi-automatic pistol in the black bag containing photographs of Macris and his address. But in a horrifying twist, the address Atkinson allegedly had for Macris was that of a "neighbour'', not Macris's home.

The Sunday Telegraph can also reveal that Detective Inspector Ben Janssen, of the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad, said police moved in when they did because of concerns that "an inaccurate address" was being circulated and innocents could be killed. Police have warned Macris that his life remains in danger because others involved in the alleged plot remained at large.

Insp Janssen said Michael would be charged this week with conspiracy to murder. On Friday, he was "put on a bus on a bumpy road" from Broken Hill and transported to the Supermax jail at Goulburn. Further arrests were expected.

"Anything is possible ... stay tuned," Insp Janssen said.

Meanwhile, it is understood that Macris is in such fear of his life that he is planning to flee the country.

The Sunday Telegraph tried in vain to contact him yesterday and can reveal that three of his namesakes - all of whom live in Sydney - are frightened that harm will come to them. John Macris, of Pagewood, said: "All my friends rang me up and said, `What have you been up to? Is there something you're not telling us?'."

Friends say Macris and the Ibrahim brothers have been implicated in a long-running feud for several years. In the past, Macris and his brother Alex were involved in business ventures with nightclub king John Ibrahim, his younger brother Fadi and slain standover man Todd O'Connor.

It is understood John Ibrahim and John Macris were partners in a trendy Double Bay restaurant but the pair fell out after a money dispute in 2007. A source said: "When anyone falls out with the Ibrahims, it's usually about money.

"John claimed Macris owed him cash and there had been trouble between him and (the family) ever since. Personally, I don't believe John shot Fadi. He's got a reputation for being a bit of a soft c***."

It can also be revealed that O'Connor had fallen out with Macris in recent years.

O'Connor, 41, a long-time friend of the Ibrahims, was shot dead in South St, Tempe, on October 5 last year.

Sydney man Hugo Jacobs has been charged with his murder in a case that has yet to go to trial.

[Hollander]

Stan the Man, gangland heavyweight of the '80s, dies at 73
MALCOLM BROWN
January 15, 2010

Thick as thieves … Len McPherson and Stanley Smith.
ONE of Sydney's criminal heavyweights for three decades, Stanley John ''Stan the Man'' Smith, described during his prime as a Mafia associate, a ''stand-over criminal and international shop thief'', has died.

Smith, who was an associate of such luminaries as Len McPherson and George Freeman and featured in Sydney's ''gang wars'' of the mid-1980s, died on Wednesday night at the age of 73.

Smith grew up in Balmain. In 1963, he and several associates broke into the home of Robert ''Pretty Boy'' Walker in Paddington. Walker shot Smith several times. Walker was later machine-gunned to death in a Randwick street.

McPherson and Smith became heavily involved in ''protection'' of Kings Cross nightclubs and suburban gambling clubs. In 1966, the two were barred from entering Hong Kong and managed to put on record their boast that they wanted to get into the ''big time'' in smuggling gold and narcotics.

In 1968, Smith and Freeman travelled to the US on false passports and spent six weeks as guests of mafioso Joe Testa. In 1970, Smith was fined for trying to sell amphetamines.

Smith did have personal problems. His son, Stan, became addicted to heroin and died in 1979 of a drug overdose, sufficient for Smith to say with feeling at the Woodward royal commission that year that he had never had anything to do with drugs.

Smith gave evidence supporting Freeman's claim that his unexplained income was from ''race winnings''. Smith said that as a punter taking tips from Freeman, he knew the quality of Freeman's information.

Justice Woodward commented that it might not have been a case of good luck but of ''good organisation''.

In 1979, Smith was convicted and jailed in Victoria for 15 months for possession of amphetamines. He did his time and then formed a 15-year partnership with drug trafficker Lawrence MacLean.

In 1986, Smith's name appeared on a list of targets for the National Crime Authority. At the top of the list was crime figure Abe Saffron, followed by Karl Bonnette, Robert Trimbole and Frederick ''Paddles'' Anderson.

Smith found religion in 2003. According to private investigator Rex Beaver, Smith started reading the Bible and ran legitimate businesses.

Smith died at his Gladesville home. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, and a son, Hayden.



Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

[Nav]

Why Sydney's hitmen are deadlier
By Chris Masters From: The Daily Telegraph April 08, 2010 12:00AM



THE Melbourne gangland killings that straddled the turn of the century generated a small media industry which delivered personality to an otherwise charmless band of thugs, largely through the skill of actors and writers.

There is still a good question why 30 murders in a decade focused so much attention on the southern capital, when Sydney crooks had been killing each other at a similar rate for years.

The latest Australian Institute of Criminology national homicide monitoring program for 2006-07 lists 260 homicide incidents across the nation, 49 in Victoria and 89 in NSW.

As always, the great majority were domestic homicides, only about 10 per cent had underworld connections.

It is to the credit of NSW Police that the shadow of corruption, although not completely absent, is not so visible at Sydney's crime scenes in the way it was back in the 1980s.

Not that the news is ever good - in 2009 came a spike in bloodshed in Sydney.

Kneecappings, woundings and drive-by shootings pepper the dual family histories, some tracing the mayhem to the failure of marriages and subsequent dowry compensation.

After the getting square conflict, you go to underworld accounting procedures for the next most common motive.

When dirty deals are done they are often shambolic and worst-laid plans have a way of going awry. Rip-offs are a common hazard.

While the execution of someone who owes money is hardly the smartest form of debt recovery, it does occur - but more often the killing is about retiring the debt.

The attempted murder of Fadi Ibrahim in June 2009 may have such a motive.

Police suspect similar cause in the background of the earlier murder of an Ibrahim associate.

Although popular in the movies, the classic contract killing is, in real life, not so common.

Although one character who seemed to step from a movie set was arrested early last year following Strike Force Tuno's investigation of violence reaching back to the 2001 murder of Terry Falconer. When police caught former army commando Sean Waygood they found a revealing work diary. Paul Elliot, a Melbourne underworld figure murdered and dumped at sea in 2008, appears to be another victim of an organised execution. Waygood, it seems, was unavailable through injury at the time.

It is still unclear whether the highest profile execution in 2009, of loan shark Michael McGurk, was organised crime-related or a consequence of his business dealings.

Although it had the hallmarks of an efficient underworld hit, in reality assassins tend to be not so competent.

At the height of the Razzak/Darwiche mayhem in 2003, one attack involved at least two magazines from SKS assault rifles being emptied, with no bullets finding their mark.

Inevitably the tragedy is heightened when the innocent are caught in the line of fire.

In another melee in 2003, when Ziad Razzak was shot dead, young mother Melissa Nemra was also killed.

Then, on June 25 last year, TNT truck driver Bob Knight died when rival Middle Eastern clans facing off nearby started throwing bullets as well as insults.

As homicide investigators well know, the search for logic at a crime scene can be dispiriting.

Too often the shootings are orchestrated to a kind of mindless war dance. Police listening to wire taps gain insight into less than masterful criminality as young thugs boast about motives and prowess. '

Bad mouthing accompanies a lot of violence. When someone is not allowed in a club, when someone else leers at a female, the weapons flash.

In 2006, Ashoor Audisho was shot at Fairfield Heights when he left the Assyrian Club and walked into an argument.

In 2005 Ramon Khananyah, a bystander, was killed in a similar gang-related incident outside the Babylon Cafe in Fairfield.

Sometimes a more logical cause is evident. Would-be thugs will offer paid protection to a business. When payment is not forthcoming they turn up and make trouble. The business operator calls in rival protectors and the war drums sound.

Eliminating witnesses is a standard. Retribution for someone refusing to take the blame for a crime is another.

Organised crime has a hierarchy. Sometimes the job of an underling is to serve time for a superior.

Then, when time is served and debts are called in, it can get messy.

In the background of the push on the Ibrahims is said to be anger within a rival family about an alleged failure to honour such a deal.

According to one senior officer: "There will be a lot more to be shot in this power struggle."

Most often the fighting is down to distribution rights, with the drug trade a common denominator.

The Australian market is, by international standards, lucrative.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, a gram of cocaine that sells for $97 in the US attracts $285 in Australia. Police recently observed one transaction of precursor chemicals originally offered at $120,000 a box soon after selling for double that sum.

While overall homicide rates have trended down over the years, the rate of violence attributed to organised crime remains steady.

Superintendent Ken McKay has watched the crooks killing one another for years. He says it is not the numbers that change, just the characters.

[Junior]

Judge refuses bail for Judy Moran
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Big Pond News

Gangland widow Judy Moran has been denied bail as she awaits trial for the murder of Des 'Tuppence' Moran.Gangland widow Judy Moran has failed in a bid to win bail as she awaits trial for the murder of her brother-in-law Des 'Tuppence' Moran.

Earlier this month, Moran was committed to stand trial for the murder of Mr Moran who was gunned down at an Ascot Vale cafe last June.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic told Moran her bail application on Wednesday did not go well after hearing she allegedly threatened a witness.

Police urged Ms Popovic to refuse bail with the court hearing Moran had allegedly threatened a witness in a telephone call to a friend from prison.

A police transcript of the call was read to the court.

'Sandra is going to have the best rude awakening coming to her when I get bail that you have ever seen,' Moran is alleged to have said.

'I will fix her up, two shakes of a lamb's tail.'

Moran's lawyer Jim Stavris had urged Ms Popovic to release his client on bail.

He said Moran required treatment for a possible fractured thigh and that the case against her was fairly weak.

But Ms Popovic said the evidence before her on Wednesday simply didn't establish exceptional circumstances.

Moran remained silent and looked towards her lawyer as the decision was delivered.

[Nav]

The need for speed
May 8, 2010


Richard Walsh, left, was the chief supplier of amphetamines in Newcastle and Todd Little is illiterate but an expert "cook" of amphetamines.

Two whistleblowers provide a rare glimpse into the shady dealings of an outlaw motorcycle gang and its east coast drug syndicate, writes Michael Duffy.

This story begins in 2000, when a small-time Newcastle drug dealer and user named Peter Bennett could not repay a debt to his supplier. Her name was Julie Clarke, and she was the de facto of Richard Walsh, serjeant-at-arms in the local chapter of the Nomads and chief supplier of amphetamines to the people of Newcastle.

Business was booming and every three weeks Walsh bought several pounds of methylamphetamine from a manufacturer up around the Queensland border. This would be cut by Julie, and she and some of the other Nomads would sell the resulting product to dealers outside the gang.

With this arrangement, Walsh protected himself by having as little as possible to do with criminal outsiders. He knew he could rely on his fellow bikies not to betray him to police. In outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs), loyalty is fierce and usually forever: the penalties for leaving a gang can include savage beatings, being scalded with boiling water, and having club tattoos removed with an electrical sander without the benefit of anaesthetic.

But the risk-averse Walsh still had a problem: how to get the drugs to Newcastle. It was not a task he wanted to take on himself.

Bennett did a few jobs for Walsh and proved himself a reliable sort of fellow, and soon he was heading north to bring back Newcastle's speed supply. His wife Wendy was also employed by the Walsh household, as a nanny, cleaner, and tester of the amphetamines once they had been delivered by Bennett and cut by Julie.

It was a happy arrangement that might have gone on for a long time except for a breakdown in the Nomads' human resource management. They had lent Bennett a shotgun and it was seized by police during a search.

To punish him for losing the weapon, the Nomads beat him senseless, so he needed hospital treatment.

To add insult to injury, Walsh withheld a promised Christmas bonus. This meant Bennett had no money with which to buy presents for his wife and children. Being a family man, he robbed a bank to get the necessary funds, but was caught and spent Christmas in jail.

Brooding on his treatment at the hands of the Nomads, he made a decision to become a police informer in March 2001. His wife, still employed by Walsh and Clarke, agreed to help him. Because of their level of knowledge of the Nomad operation, this was an event almost unprecedented in the annals of organised crime in Australia.

The delighted police, who had been looking at the Nomads for some time without much success, set up Strike Force Sibret, run by the Drug Squad and Northern Region and headed by Detective Superintendent Wayne Gordon.

Because of the high quality of the information on offer, the investigation received valuable resource back-up and analytical support from the NSW Crime Commission.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs are important because they comprise the largest category of organised crime gangs. In the words of Chief Superintendent Ken McKay, director of the State Crime Command's Organised Crime Directorate, they are ''indicative of organised crime in its purest form''.

''They have national, sometimes international, links,'' he said. ''They have a hierarchy with different roles in the structure, and that carries through to criminal activities. At the bottom there are a lot of ordinary workers. The gangs can be effective at ingratiating themselves into smaller communities.''

For three months Sibret monitored and followed Walsh and the Nomads, using the full panoply of modern surveillance technology. Phones were tapped, listening devices placed inside premises, cameras focused on buildings, tracking devices attached to cars.

It was soon established that the drugs were being bought from Todd Little, the president of the Gold Coast chapter of the Nomads and, despite being illiterate, an expert ''cook'' of amphetamines. Little paid people to do ''pseudo runs'', going from chemist to chemist and purchasing enormous quantities of Sudafed, from which he extracted the pseudoephedrine needed to make amphetamine.

Although Little lived on a rural property on top of a ridge at Terranora in the Tweed Valley, police were able to enter his house covertly and found the drugs were not being made there. They wanted to locate his lab before making their arrests, and observed seven drug deliveries to Newcastle while they tried to track Little's movements.

It was a difficult operation because of the remoteness of the property and the distances involved.

''The drug couriers were using amphetamines and did the 20-hour round trip almost without stopping,'' recalls Detective Senior Sergeant George Radmore, a senior officer in the strike force. ''Sometimes it was hard for us to keep up. The police have certain OH&S requirements that need to be observed.''

Meanwhile, Walsh had a new problem with his supply chain. When Bennett went to prison he'd been replaced by Nomad Phillip ''Big Phil'' Quinnell. But on May 16, when Big Phil reached Little's Terranora property, he stopped his vehicle on the steep track and got out to open the gate. He forgot to put the handbrake on, and the vehicle rolled back and killed him.

Having no one else he could trust, a reluctant Walsh began making the pick-up runs himself. He used a hire car, hiding the drugs in the door cavity, and always took someone with him. This meant if he was stopped by police he could argue the drugs had been placed there by (a) a previous hirer or ( the other person in the car.

But when he set out for Terranora in September 2001, for what turned out to be his last drug pick-up, he drove his own vehicle, a Toyota HiLux, because he had to tow a trailer. After paying Todd Little $65,000 for almost half a kilo of amphetamines, he began his return journey.

Police had become increasingly concerned about letting the drug shipments reach Newcastle. ''It was an ethical dilemma,'' Radmore says.

''On the one hand, we wanted to find out where the drugs were being made. On the other, we wanted to stop them reaching the public. How long do you let things run?''

On September 23, Strike Force Sibret struck, and Walsh's HiLux was stopped near Murwillumbah and the recently purchased drugs were found inside one of the doors. Simultaneously, raids were conducted at 13 properties in Newcastle, northern NSW, and on the Gold Coast.

When Todd Little was arrested, he was carrying a semi-automatic pistol with a silencer. In his house police found lease papers, made out in a false name, to storage facilities on the outskirts of Murwillumbah. They searched the facilities and discovered one of the biggest amphetamine manufacturing operations found in Australia. The glassware alone was worth up to $100,000.

There was also equipment, such as camouflage netting and generators, to allow the lab to be relocated to remote areas.

The searches found 74 firearms, including a Bren gun, a Remington assault rifle, and other guns stolen from the military. There were plentiful precursor chemicals (including 20 kilos of Sudafed tablets), lots of explosives, hundreds of blank birth certificates for identity fraud, and large amounts of drugs, cash, jewellery and gold nuggets.

The Nomads were involved in a range of criminal activities, and police recovered $1.5 million of stolen vehicles, heavy equipment and other items. Eventually the NSW Crime Commission would confiscate more than $1.5 million of assets under proceeds of crime legislation.

Sibret led to the charging of 43 people, including 16 Nomads. One reason so many convictions were achieved was because Walsh's de facto, Julie Clarke, became a police witness, thereby gaining indemnity from prosecution. Walsh received a sentence of 32 years, the longest ever given for a non-importation drug offence in Australia.

He was charged with supplying one tonne of amphetamines over a period of four years, but his sentence was based on a plea of guilty to supplying 400 kilos.

Todd Little received 24 years, mainly for manufacturing the drugs. The others received lesser sentences.

The Nomads responded with anger. Soon after the initial arrests, those still at large arrived in force at the Cricketer's Arms, a pub in inner-city Newcastle where the police were known to drink. The Nomads blocked off both ends of the street and went through the hotel in search of the Sibret detectives, who fortunately were not there. They learnt the Nomads had hired private investigators to find out their home addresses, and security arrangements had to be put in place.

In September 2004, about 35 Nomads from Sydney arrived at the Newcastle clubhouse and allegedly attacked local members, beating several and kneecapping two.

At this point the traditional loyalty of the gang appears to have broken down. During the subsequent trial in 2007, one of the men who'd been shot in both knees said it was because their Sydney colleagues were unhappy with the level of support Richard Walsh had been receiving in jail. A man was caught filming the only Crown witness as he gave evidence, and a Nomad was removed from court for menacing the jury. The three accused, who included Hassan ''Sam'' Ibrahim, were acquitted on all charges. As the Herald said at the time, there is no suggestion the verdict had anything to do with the apparent acts of intimidation.

The Newcastle Nomads were shattered by Sibret and its fallout. According to Sergeant Brian Burgess, the strike force's intelligence officer, ''the chapter is very much a shell of its former self. Their regular get-togethers are not what they used to be''.

''Sibret was one of the most successful hits on an outlaw motorcycle gang in Australia,'' Ken McKay says. ''It sent a message to the gangs that they can't know who they can trust. And it sent a message to the community that police are capable of working together and bringing down major criminal networks.''

Although the growing sophistication of organised criminals is often alluded to, this wasn't the case with the Newcastle Nomads. They had a lawyer on call; a barrister who liked to party with his clients and has since been disbarred. Walsh had an accountant for his legitimate concreting business (which he was hopeless at managing - the accountant was once heard on the phone asking how he was able to survive) but engaged in no money-laundering activities.

The huge sums of money he earned were not invested in shares or property but blown on flash bikes and jet-skis, holidays at Jupiters Casino, were stashed under the bed in a box, and went up his nose as his own speed habit increased.

Unlike some other OMGs, the Nomads are a purely Australian phenomenon and seem to have had no international connections. They did not import precursor chemicals but relied on the humble and relatively expensive Sudafed tablet as the basis of their drug operation.

What made it all work was the Mafia-like code of loyalty and use of extreme violence. What brought it undone was the quality of the information provided by the informants.

The police are prevented by legislation from saying whether Peter and Wendy Bennett and Julie Clarke are in the witness protection program. None has been seen around Newcastle lately.

[Junior]

Desmond Moran leaves $780,000, but not to Judy, his sister in law!

[Nav]

TWO people have been killed in a second shooting in Melbourne today, hours after crime patriarch Macchour Chaouk was shot dead in his backyard.

The shooting happened at Players on Lygon, a hotel and pokies venue in Lygon Street, Carlton. Police received a call about 5pm (AEST).

Police confirmed that two men, aged in their 60s or 70s, died in the shooting.
A man in his 50s was taken into custody, the Herald Sun reported.

During a media conference this evening, a police spokesman described the double shooting as "fairly callous ... whether it's an execution I can't say". However, police have made no connection between the Lygon St shooting and the shooting of crime patriarch Macchour Chaouk earlier today.

"It's outrageous that it takes place on Lygon St, Melbourne," the police spokesman said.

He said one body was found inside the premises and one outside the venue.
One body was seen lying just inside the doorway of the hotel, slumped at the top of three steps going into the bar.

Witnesses said there may have been up to eight shots fired, while others have reported seeing a gunman running across the park in Argyle Place off Lygon St.
Police cordoned off Lygon St, a busy restaurant strip.

The manager of Lygon St cafe Koko Black said people in the area were scared.
"People are just freaked out," Surbhi Puri said.

"It's pretty scary.

"All my staff are worried."

She said although the cafe was near the scene of the shooting, no shots were heard because the door was closed and the place was very busy at the time.

A staff member at Players On Lygon would not speak when contacted this afternoon.

"I can't take any calls," she said.

In a separate incident earlier today, crime patriarch Macchour Chaouk was shot dead in the backyard of his Melbourne home at 11am (AEST).

Chaouk was gunned down at his heavily secured Brooklyn home by a gunman who got out of a car in a side street to shoot the 65-year-old in the chest.

Up to 12 Special Operations Group officers stormed the residence where the fatal shooting occurred this morning, at the corner of Cypress Ave and Geelong Rd, Brooklyn.

A police vehicle stopped at the front of the property moments before the police team stormed the house, yelling as they entered through the front door, the Herald Sun reports.

The raid happened about 12.45pm (AEST), with officers seen searching an upstairs bedroom.

Just three minutes later they were seen leaving the premises.

Officers wearing riot gear remained outside the home throughout the raid.

About 30 family and friends were also gathered outside the house, with some hurling abuse at the waiting media.

Family patriarch Macchour Chaouk died after being shot in his backyard of the house this morning, with the gunman still at large.

Several people tried to resuscitate him before paramedics arrived.

Three children, aged 1, 3 and 5, who were inside the house when the shooting occurred, have been taken to a different location.

Homicide Squad Det Sen Sgt Ron Iddles has confirmed that the gunman responsible has not yet been apprehended.

A group of young men including Macchour's son Omar, 19, stood outside the house in the aftermath of the shooting as police, including force response units and Santiago detectives, scoured the scene.

At one stage, Omar walked up Geelong Rd to greet a friend who exclaimed: “Who the f--- shot him?”.

The area has yet to be declared safe and the public has been urged to stay away.

Ambulance Victoria received a call to the house at 10.54am and found a man at the scene performing CPR on the victim.

When it was safe for paramedics to approach the house, they confirmed the man was dead at the scene.

Witnesses in the area said they heard a volley of shots, described as “rapid fire”.
“It was definitely not a car backfire,” one said.

Macchour and his two sons, Walid, 36, and Omar, were arrested at the same house during a series of police raids in July, in which police seized guns, ammunition and blank passports.

The home was also the scene of the shooting death of Mohamed Chaouk, 31, who was killed by police during a dawn raid in 2005.

The Chaouk family has allegedly been embroiled in a feud with a rival Lebanese family from Melbourne's north, the Haddaras.

Their home was raided after a drive-by shooting in June in nearby Altona, in which Sam Haddara, 18, was shot in the face while sitting in a car.

Sam is a cousin of Mohamed Haddara, who was killed a year earlier in a drive-by shooting, and there have been a series of alleged tit-for-tat violent incidents between the families.




Macchour Chaouk.

[adrian]

There'll definitely be more to come after this. I suppose we're now seeing the results of the void created by the ganagland killings

p.s. are these families related to the northern suburbs Lebanese nutcases. Anyone know?

[Hollander]

Hells Angels farewell Chaouk at funeral
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/natio...f-1225905809845

[Nav]

Ibrahim family home sprayed with bullets
By Clementine Cuneo, From: The Daily Telegraph, November 30, 2010

THE Ibrahim sister targeted in a drive-by shooting shoved her child behind a brick wall and begged him to "stay down" as a gunman opened fire on their home

One of the 25 bullets that peppered Armani Haddad's Sydney home on Sunday night missed her 11-year-old son's head by millimetres and lodged in a wall beside him.

The frightened 35-year-old - the sister of Kings Cross entrepreneur John Ibrahim - yesterday said she "flew" downstairs to protect her youngest child after she woke to gunfire and realised her son was in the line of fire at 11.30pm.

He was in the kitchen, toward the front of the two-storey Ryde house, getting a drink of water, when the gunman started firing.

Neighbours said yesterday: "Hell was breaking loose."

Ms Haddad said: "I flew downstairs and ran to him, I said 'stay down, stay down, don't move'." She shoved the terrified boy behind a brick wall, and told him to stay there until the shooting ended.

"The house is double brick, so I put him behind the wall and told him to get down," she said.

"He was screaming. It was terrifying, I've never been through anything like it in my life." Her older son, aged 15, was asleep in his bedroom at the rear of the house, and only woke afterwards.

Her husband Marwan Haddad was away.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal police are looking at links between the shooting and a similar attack on the home of Mr Haddad's brother Bashir Haddad, three weeks ago.

Up to five bullets were fired into Bashir Haddad's Wakeley home, in Sydney's southwest, on November 5. One shaved the top of his head.

Superintendent John Duncan said the latest incident was a targeted act of violence and police were looking at the possibility that it was a "revenge" shooting.

"It is one of the things we have to consider, yes," Supt Duncan said.

Older brother and ex-Nomads bikie boss Hassan "Sam" Ibrahim, who raced to the house after the shooting, denied the hit was anything against the Ibrahim clan.

He said anyone who fired bullets into a house occupied by a woman and her children was a "coward".

"She's only lived there for two months ... it would have been about the people who used to live there," Mr Ibrahim said.

He also denied suggestions the gunman may have been targeting Ms Haddad as a way of taunting the Ibrahim brothers, including himself, Fadi and John.

"No way. If anyone was going to target one of the girls, they'd target Maha because people know where she lives," he said.

Ms Haddad, her husband and children moved to the Ryde address in September, having previously lived with her mother Wahiba, who is battling terminal cancer.

"I know this is not about me. No one knows where I live. I don't have a criminal record, it's the previous tenants this is about," she said.

Police confirmed they were prepared for the possibility of reprisals.

Forensic officers scoured the grounds of the home yesterday, searching for bullet casings or clues to the brazen drive-by shooting.

Man shot in Sydney drive-by shooting
Glenda Kwek, November 30, 2010 - 4:20PM

Police are hunting for a man they believe was responsible for a second drive-by shooting in Sydney in as many days.

But they said it was still too early to link last night's shooting, which took place at a Doonside house, to the shooting at the home of a member of the Ibrahim family on Sunday night.

Police and emergency services said they were called to a house on Gerald Crescent about 10.15pm yesterday. They found a 24-year-old man with gunshot injuries to his thigh and leg.

He was believed to have been standing on the verandah, or near the front door, when two shots were fired from a dark-coloured car, Inspector Paul McHugh of Blacktown Local Area Command said.

"There was an offender seen running from the scene and got into a dark-coloured sedan, which took off," Inspector Brian O'Donoghue told Fairfax Radio Network.

Paramedics treated the victim before he was taken to Westmead Hospital, where he remains in a serious but stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said this morning.

Inspector McHugh said police were waiting to speak to the man as he was getting treatment for his wounds.

"There's more canvassing to be done in the area and we're looking for more possible witnesses," he said.

Police alleged this afternoon the injured man was a member of the Notorious criminal group.

Police are seeking a man described as being about 175 centimetres tall, of solid build and wearing dark clothing including a dark hoodie.

On Sunday night, more than 20 bullets hit the Ryde home of Armani Stelio - the sister of Sydney identities the Ibrahim brothers.

Ms Stelio, 35, and her two sons, aged 11 and 15, were asleep at the two-storey house on Santa Rosa Avenue when the shooting took place.

The Ibrahims' family lawyer, Brett Galloway, said yesterday that Hassan "Sam" Ibrahim was "quite concerned that somebody shot at her as she has nothing to do with gangs".

He said the trio may have been wrongly targeted and said they had not lived at the home long.

"There's another person living nearby with the name Ibrahim. It wouldn't be the first time a shooting has been wrongly targeted."

Investigators warned against revenge attacks yesterday, saying that the matter should be left to police.

A police spokesman said today it was "too early to say one way or another" if the shootings were related.

"Police are still at the scene investigating," he said.

"There is no indication either way at this stage [that the incidents are connected]."

"Sam" Ibrahim is a former leader of the Nomads Motorcycle Club.

The oldest of the Ibrahim children, he was committed to stand trial over the alleged kidnapping of a 16-year-old last year.

The second-eldest Ibrahim child, John, is a Kings Cross nightclub enterpreneur.

Fadi Ibrahim was shot five times outside his Castle Cove home in June last year.

Fadi and and another brother, Michael Ibrahim, are due to face a committal hearing soon after being charged with a conspiracy to murder a man whom they believe was behind the shooting of Fadi.

Another sister, Maha Sayour, was last year charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime following the discovery of $2.8 million in the ceiling of her kitchen. She is due to face court today.

Police urged witnesses or anyone with information about the shootings to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

[Nav]

Criminal underbelly right under our noses
January 1, 2011

THERE were so many bodies being found and stories about drugs and corruption in circulation that royal commissions galore started up as Australia turned into an early real life draft of Underbelly.

The tone was set early in the year when the report of Justice Philip Woodward's NSW royal commission into drug trafficking - looking in part at the murder of the Griffith businessman Donald Mackay - was criticised by the colourful former Whitlam minister Al Grassby as ''ethnic slander''.

Meanwhile, the tide came in when Justice Edward Williams's royal commission into drugs identified Sydney as the centre of a $59 million heroin trade.

Frank Nugan, a merchant banker facing stock fraud charges, was found dead in his Mercedes-Benz outside Lithgow in January 1980. His partner, Michael Hand, a former US soldier with links to the CIA, gave evidence that the bank was broke, and left the country.

Finally reports on painters and dockers in The Bulletin in January alleging fraud, standover tactics, violence and intimidation raised cabinet concerns. The Federated Painters and Dockers Union, especially in Victoria, had a mean reputation partly because it was one of the few organisations likely to employ men finishing sentences at Pentridge prison.

The union's nefarious activities fitted happily with the Fraser government's continuing campaign against industrial unrest.

Of course, the union's thuggish hierarchy did little to stop the public from being alarmed. The union secretary, Jack ''Putty Nose'' Nicholls, said: ''We catch and kill our own.''

Within a year he, too, was dead. Nicholls's body was discovered in his car outside Wangaratta after he had fled to Brisbane with the union's membership roll.

Another colourful union member, Billy ''The Texan'' Longley, told the magazine he could name 30 people who had been ''knocked off'' by the painters and dockers.

A memorandum to cabinet on March 18 warned that the union was fleecing both the navy and ANL. One shipping line staffer told the magazine: ''I cannot see any problem employing criminals when we know they are criminals.''

The Victoria Police investigated Longley's claims but got nowhere.

Malcolm Fraser was far less easily deterred. Cabinet decided that only a royal commission could settle the question once and for all of what was happening in the union.

Francis (Frank) Xavier Costigan, QC, was picked to head a joint Federal-Victorian royal commission. He started hearings in Melbourne at Williamstown Court on October 1, 1980, just down the road from the naval dockyard.

The Nugan Hand bank was linked with money laundering and drugs as investigations continued through the year.

Cabinet's interest had been sparked by the findings of the Woodward inquiry in NSW and the discovery in a bush grave near a Victorian surf beach of the bodies of two Sydney operatives of the Mr Asia drug syndicate, Douglas and Isobel Wilson.

The attorney-general, Peter Durack, and administrative services minister, John McLeay, recommended a joint federal-state inquiry to investigate the Mr Asia syndicate and said there was ''great public concern an announcement of the government's intention is urgently required''.

Donald Stewart was appointed commissioner and eventually had his terms of reference extended to take in the Nugan Hand matter.

In the years to come, the various royal commissions exposed a world of corruption few Australians realised was taking place under their noses.

The late magnate Kerry Packer was enmeshed in the painters and dockers inquiry. Another result was the introduction of legislation, the Crimes (Taxation Offences) Act 1980, that put an end to bottom of the harbour tax schemes.

[Junior]

'Godmother' Judy Moran guilty of murder
BBC News, March 9, 2011

Matriarch of Australia's underworld, Judy Moran, has been found guilty of the murder of her brother-in-law Des "Tuppence" Moran.

She was convicted in the Supreme Court in the state of Victoria after a jury deliberated for seven days.

The court heard Moran had not pulled the trigger but engaged in a joint criminal exercise with a gunman to kill her relative on 15 June 2009.

Moran has previously lost two husbands and two sons to gangland killings.

She has not yet been sentenced.

Tuppence Moran was shot seven times in the head and upper body inside a cafe in Melbourne in broad daylight.

The gunman Geoffrey Armour had already pleaded guilty to murder. His assistant, Michael Farrugia, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and testified against Moran in court.

Gangland logic

Mr Farrugia said Moran had congratulated Armour, patting him on the back, after confirming that he had shot her brother-in-law.

He said Moran had driven them from the scene and taken their clothing and the murder weapon so she could ''get rid of everything''.

Police found all these items in a safe hidden behind a bookshelf at Moran's home after she was arrested on her way back from dumping the getaway car.

BBC correspondent Nick Bryant says Judy Moran is one of Australia's most high-profile gangland celebrities, and has long been the matriarch of one of Melbourne's most infamous crime families.

The 66-year-old grandmother has also been known for her designer sunglasses and blow-dried blonde hair.

Our correspondent says this has been one of Australia's most high-profile trials in years, and there are shades of Judy Moran in one of the central characters in the critically-acclaimed film Animal Kingdom, for which the Australian actress Jacki Weaver received an Oscar nomination.

During the four-week trial, the court heard Moran deny any motive for the killing.

The Australian media has linked it, however, to a series of about 30 gangland murders that began with the killing of Alphonse Gangitano in the laundry of his home in January 1998.

[adrian]

Poor Judy will not be pleased, having to spend the rest of her life behind bars. But I'm a bit surprised Suzanne Kane was given a suspended sentence for being involved in the murder

[adrian]

Gangland murder acquittal

A MAN who refused to implicate Melbourne underworld figure Mick Gatto in a gangland execution - but was himself charged with it - has been acquitted of the murder.

The Age can now reveal that a Supreme Court jury acquitted Vincent Benvenuto of murdering notorious criminal Victor Peirce in May, 2002.

Benvenuto, 58, was found not guilty in 2009, but an order has suppressed his identity because at the time he faced serious, then unresolved but unrelated, charges.

After Benvenuto yesterday pleaded guilty to 13 of those charges in the County Court, including drug, weapons and fraud offences, Justice Mark Weinberg lifted his order.

It can now be reported that the prosecution case was that Benvenuto arranged for Peirce to be in Port Melbourne so hitman Andrew ''Benji'' Veniamin could shoot him.

It was alleged that Peirce expected to buy drugs from Benvenuto.

The jury was told that Benvenuto's brother Frank was murdered in May 2000 and that Benvenuto believed Peirce - once Frank's bodyguard - was responsible. Another man who cannot be identified was convicted of the murder.

Defence barristers Christopher Dane, QC, and Sean Cash submitted that for Benvenuto to be guilty he would have had to know that Peirce would be murdered then and there.

In a letter through his lawyers, Mr Gatto once accused the Purana taskforce investigators of telling Benvenuto that ''irrespective of the truthfulness or accuracy of what he may be able to say about Mr Gatto, if he was prepared to make a statement against our client he would be supported in a bail application and his charges would be resolved favourably''.

Prosecutor Claire Quinn yesterday said that for almost a year from September 2006, Benvenuto was caught on about 24,000 bugged phone calls and listening and surveillance devices in his office and car trafficking in an aggregate large commercial quantity of various drugs.

Ms Quinn said he was the seller, supplier and purchaser of drugs, had orchestrated false and unauthorised bank transactions and threatened to injure seriously a man behind a failed investment scheme.

He admitted he used his name to intimidate people ''due to its connection with gangsters'', Ms Quinn said.

Mr Cash said Benvenuto sold drugs to feed his addiction and for greed, but had no ''trappings of wealth'' and had spent 26 ''depressive and oppressive'' months in protective custody because he had faced a ''gangland'' trial.

Judge Jim Duggan will sentence Benvenuto, a financial broker who has served more than three years in custody, on March 31

[Carmelo]

document about organized crime in Australia

http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/publicat...011/oca2011.pdf

[Nav]

Shots fired at Ibrahim houses
Melissa Davey, Rachel Olding, Dylan Welch
July 2, 2011

THE continuing gun violence targeting Sydney's notorious Ibrahim family has come to the city's eastern suburbs, with a drive-by shooting at the clifftop home of the nightclub boss John Ibrahim.

Mr Ibrahim, a Kings Cross business owner and nightclub operator who has been labelled a ''major organised crime figure'' by police but denies involvement in crime, was unharmed.

There have been six targeted shootings involving the Ibrahim family in the past six months, including one that left Sam Ibrahim with bullet wounds to both his legs.

Several spent bullet casings were found on the footpath outside Mr Ibrahim's recently rebuilt home in the cliffside suburb of Dover Heights. Detectives cordoned off George Street to investigate.

The shooting happened on Thursday night, within hours of shots being fired at a house associated with the eldest Ibrahim sibling, Sam, next to the home of his ailing mother, Wahiba.

Sam was bailed earlier this week after being charged with trying to extort money from a man at a bank.

A 42-year-old woman and her seven-year-old son, who had been renting the house, escaped that shooting unscathed.

''John's OK [but] the house needs a bit of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to recover,'' Mr Ibrahim's lawyer, Stephen Alexander, said yesterday.

Mr Alexander used the statement to hit out at the people behind the shootings, as well as the police investigating the spate of Ibrahim-related shootings. ''The class of 2010-2011 is the most gutless Sydney has ever produced. And Sydney's finest will solve this mystery as they've solved all other Ibrahim shootings,'' he said.

A criminal source said a group called Taking Care of Business has been formed recently and is believed to be the new muscle for people associated with the Ibrahims. A law enforcement source confirmed they had heard of the name and were aware two well-known Sydney criminals were involved.

Superintendent Brett McFadden said police had been hampered by a lack of assistance from the Ibrahims.

[Junior]

Australia 'Godmother' Judy Moran sentenced to 26 years
BBC News, August 10, 2011

Matriarch of Australia's underworld, Judy Moran, has been sentenced to 26 years in jail for the murder of her brother-in-law.

The 66-year-old was convicted in March for her role in killing Des "Tuppence" Moran, who was shot dead in a Melbourne cafe in June 2009.

Moran has previously lost two husbands and two sons to gangland killings.

Moran is one of Australia's most infamous gangland figures, and her trial attracted worldwide attention.

'Deliberate and brutal'

Correspondents say Moran, who is in poor health, appeared shocked by the sentencing and shouted out her innocence.

Sentencing judge Lex Lasry said Moran's crime was "appalling".

"This was a deliberate and brutal killing. There is of course no sign of remorse on your part," he said.

Geoffrey "Nutts" Armour, the man Moran paid to carry out the killing, was also sentenced to 26 years.

A second gunman, Michael Farrugia, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was jailed in December for four years.

[Junior]

Razor's edge of Sydney crime shows its real underbelly
By Craig Quartermaine, ABC Sydney
Friday, September 9, 2011

The underbelly of Sydney's 1920s razor gangs is being explored on television but the real story is dramatic enough, some may argue.

Prohibition in early 20th century New South Wales created a market opening for Kate Leigh, who ran successful sly grog shops out of a row of Surry Hills terraces.

"She was also involved in the cocaine trade and was involved with opium smugglers and thieves and spent time in prison for perjury," points out Justice and Crime Museum assistant curator Nerida Campbell.

Legislation at that time stated men could not "live off immoral earnings" from prostitution so a woman, Tilley Devine, opened as many brothels as possible earning the name 'The Queen of Woolloomooloo'.

Inevitably, the two women ended up with competing criminal interests, mainly the vice trade.

Indeed, violent clashes weren't uncommon between criminal groups known as razor gangs (named after their weapon of choice following 1927 legislation banning the carrying of concealed guns).

However, as Nerida Campbell points out, "Kate and Tilley were really media savvy and they'd invite journalists to come and talk to them, stating their side of the story."

Those versions of events can be found in the State Library of New South Wales in copies of the Truth newspaper of the time.

Further breaking criminal stereotypes, Nerida Campbell points out Devine's life, "when she got home, was quite traditional.

"In her house in Maroubra she cooked, cleaned, dusted, [and] was the housewife in that environment."

That highlights the apparent contradiction that, as Nerida puts it, "you don't really associate women with that hard nose criminal world - they're often the wife or the sister of the gangster, [but] here they are the gangster."

What's more, in an era where women's rights weren't paramount, Kate Leigh and Tilley Devine commanded savage gangs through volatile times, and their rivalry only ended with Kate Leigh's passing in 1964.

Tilly Devine died in 1970. Their stories live on.

[Junior]

Australia seizes drugs worth $500m from Hong Kong ring
BBC News, July 31, 2012

Australian police have seized drugs worth over half a billion dollars and broken up a Hong Kong-based drugs ring.

Four Hong Kong nationals and three Australian residents were also arrested in raids in Sydney on Monday.

Over half a tonne of drugs, including 306kg (674.61lb) of crystal methamphetamine - also known as ''ice'' - and 252kg of heroin, were seized.

The haul is the largest seizure of ''ice'' and the third largest seizure of heroin, police said.

The drugs are estimated to be worth A$500m (US$526m; £335m), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement.

The raids and arrests followed a year-long investigation.

"Countless lives would have been affected had this seizure made its way to Australian streets," Deputy Commissioner Andrew Colvin told Australian media.

He said investigations would continue and more arrests could take place.

The investigations into the syndicate began in August 2011 after a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, police said. The drugs were found in a shipment of terracotta pots on 19 July.

The suspects will face charges in a Sydney court for importing and possessing drugs.