Sydney’s largest suspected cocaine gang has been dismantled following massive raids after the group allegedly sold a staggering $1.8 billion worth of cocaine in just four months.
Police arrested six men suspected of being part of a sprawling organized crime network called “The Commission” in sweeping raids early Wednesday.
The men are believed to be the backbone of the drug cartel, controlling the price and distribution of cocaine in Sydney.
The police operation began in July when a 21-year-old man from Guilford, in Sydney’s west, was found with one kilogram of cocaine and another 12 kilograms in a nearby car.
He is charged with two counts of supplying prohibited drugs in large commercial quantities, intentionally trafficking in the proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity.
The drugs involved had a street value of more than $20 million.
The arrest put investigators on the trail of a group allegedly involved in the large-scale supply of cocaine in the New South Wales capital.
NSW Police, together with investigators from the Australian Crime Commission and Criminal Intelligence Commission, established Strikeforce Barograph to investigate the syndicate’s alleged large-scale supply of cocaine.
The syndicate allegedly supplied more than 1.2 tonnes of cocaine to New South Wales between February and July this year, with an estimated street value of more than $1.8 billion.
Detectives from the strike force executed 20 search warrants at homes across Sydney around 6am on Wednesday.
Sydney’s biggest cocaine trafficking gang has been dismantled following massive raids after the group allegedly sold a staggering $1.8 billion worth of cocaine in just four months.
The men are allegedly the backbone of the drug cartel known as ‘The Commission’ and allegedly controlled the price and distribution of cocaine in Sydney.
Jibreel Bakir, 25, and his brother Laith Bakir, 26, along with Duy Nguyen, 34, Akrom Hamzy, 27, Houssam Khoder-Agha, 27, and Khalid Mohamed, 33, were arrested.
The six men were charged with numerous crimes related to their alleged roles at the Commission.
During the raids, police located and seized 20 kilos of cocaine – which were allegedly found in a bag that was thrown over a fence -, ten vehicles, $800,000 in cash, a Rolex watch, four firearms, two bulletproof vests and multiple electronic devices.
The cars were taken to Bass Hill Police Station where officers allegedly located more than 12kg of cocaine stored in hidden compartments in the vehicles known as “hides”.
The combined street value of the cocaine found exceeds $55 million.
“Police have today dismantled one of the most dangerous and destructive groups Sydney has ever seen,” said NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb.
“I am confident that today’s arrests will make the community safer and make this dangerous drug harder to find.”
Police will allege in court that the gang supplied more than $1.8 billion worth of cocaine in Sydney over four months and that they deliberately controlled the supply to boost their profits.
It will also be alleged that the group used a sophisticated system of hidden compartments in their vehicles to transport and conceal the cocaine.
The combined street value of the cocaine found during the search warrants exceeds $55 million.
Six men, aged between 25 and 34, were arrested and charged with numerous offences relating to their alleged roles in the gang.
During the raids, police also seized ten cars, $800,000 in cash, a Rolex watch (pictured), four firearms, two bulletproof vests and multiple electronic devices.
Organised crime squad commander Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said the arrests would be felt across the criminal underworld.
“We have just dismantled the group that allegedly played the role of government, banking and economics for Sydney’s criminal underworld,” Detective Superintendent Faux said.
‘Today’s arrests will put many criminals out of work as the large-scale drug supply that funds their crimes dries up.’
Detective Sup Faux also warned other criminal groups not to fill the void left by the arrests.
“For those criminal groups looking to fill the void left by yesterday’s arrests, we are waiting for you,” Detective Superintendent Faux said.
“We are fully prepared to prosecute him for any offence he commits that endangers the public of New South Wales.”