Dozen arrests after tobacco store extortions linked to organised crime

Australian Community Media

Twelve people were arrested on March 17 as part of an investigation into alleged extortions of tobacco stores linked to a Middle Eastern organised crime syndicate. Video by Victoria Police

Transcript

00:00Police will allege that 10 persons were arrested in relation to extortion.

00:05We're doing so under a syndicate operation which is headed by a person who lives offshore,

00:10a person by the name of Kazim Hamad.

00:12This group has been operating for some time and causing significant harm to the community.

00:17Executed 14 search warrants across mainly the north-western parts of Melbourne,

00:24predominantly on residential properties but also on a storage facility.

00:3112 persons were arrested as a result of those search warrants.

00:3510 of those people were persons of interest to the task force and were going to be arrested when found.

00:41Two others were just incidental.

00:44There were significant items seized during the search warrants which included two high-powered rifles.

00:51They are semi-automatic in nature.

00:54They appear to have commercial-grade suppressors which, for all intents and purposes,

00:59make them relatively solid in operation, generally only used for illicit purposes.

01:05And a handgun, a shotgun of great concern, some commercial-grade explosives.

01:12There were also three vehicles seized.

01:15In one of the vehicles were a number of handwritten notes which are very similar in nature and content

01:21to other notes that have been handed to victims of extortions at illicit tobacco shops.

01:28There were also knives and GPS trackers as well as a significant quantity of cash,

01:34vapes and illicit or loose-leaf tobacco.

01:45.

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