Updated ,first published
Teenagers lured through online gaming and dark web platforms to commit heinous crimes for quick cash likely never actually receive the payment for their “brain-dead” acts, the premier has warned in a desperate plea, as the government announces new powers to search devices.
Premier Chris Minns made a direct appeal to young people involved in the “malicious stupidity” of taking contracts from organised crime groups to commit violent crimes as police arrested four teenagers allegedly involved in a spate of shootings in Sydney’s south-west and the Illawarra.
“Chances of you actually getting paid for this crime are virtually zero. So not only is it an evil act, it’s a stupid act, it’s genuinely brain-dead to be involved in a contract on the dark web with an unknown associate on the other side of the world, and the chances, statistically speaking, are that you’ll spend decades in prison as a result,” he said. “It’s a stupid act as well as being malicious and evil.”
When asked what factors were driving Sydney’s young people to become guns for hire, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon named online gaming and the motivation to make a quick buck. Parents need to know what their children are doing, who they are spending time with and what online platforms they are using, to prevent young people falling into a life of crime, he said.
Minns said new legislation will give police the ability to obtain a court order to compel suspected criminals to hand over their phone passwords and digital devices if they have been involved in a lawful arrest or vehicle stop, even if police do not have a search warrant. Lanyon said the change would allow police timely access to evidence when officers stop people suspected of being about to commit a murder.
Suspected organised crime associates who are compelled to appear before secret NSW Crime Commission hearings would also face up to 10 years in prison if they fail to appear, or lie in their evidence, under the reforms.
The announcement comes as a group of teens, ranging in age from 16 to 19 years old, are due to face court on Thursday after they were arrested in a series of raids early on Wednesday morning.
The three alleged shootings in three days began on the morning of April 9 when a number of shots were fired towards a home at Kanahooka near Lake Illawarra at about 4.30am.
In the early hours of April 12, several shots were fired from a car into the front of a home on Columbine Avenue, Punchbowl.
A second home was targeted about 15 minutes later on Noble Avenue, Greenacre.
No injuries were reported from any of the shootings.
The investigation was handed over to Taskforce Falcon, which targets gangland violence with a focus on the recruitment of young offenders to allegedly carry out attacks on behalf of organised crime.
Raids on Thursday targeted homes at Fairfield, Liverpool and Macquarie Fields, while an 18-year-old man, Ali Khalid Saud, was arrested at Moorebank.
He was charged and is due to face Liverpool Local Court on Thursday, along with Abdulazeez Alghileiwi, 19.
Two others, aged 16 and 17, who cannot be identified due to their ages, are scheduled to appear before a children’s court.
All four are facing two counts of firing at a dwelling and participating in a criminal group.
Police have also released CCTV footage of a red Mitsubishi Pajero, seen with P-plates on the back, near the scene of the two Sydney shootings, and have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
Taskforce Falcon, established a little over 12 months ago to target escalating conflict between organised crime groups, has made hundreds of arrests.
But the level of violence continuing on the streets of Sydney remains “completely unacceptable”, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said last week.
Minns said some in organised crime no longer feared being caught.
“Their chances of committing an offence and getting away with it are close to zero, and yet they continue to do it anyway,” Minns said.
Those comments came after a would-be hitman armed with a pistol ran towards an innocent father and daughter during school pick-up in Fairfield.
Police suspect the gun jammed, enabling the man and his teenage daughter to flee.
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Jack Gramenz is a breaking news reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
Jessica McSweeney is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering state politics and urban affairs.Connect via email.
