Police say they’ve dismantled a major organised crime network which has been terrorising the streets of Sydney.
Nine people were arrested across Sydney over the past month over alleged connections to the so-called Coconut Cartel. One of the men arrested, Henry Kupa, is alleged to be a local leader.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Coconut Cartel dismantled in major Sydney drug bust
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Much of the gang violence allegedly perpetrated across Sydney in the past 18 months has been due to a war between the Cartel and Alameddine crime syndicate.
Police believe the arrests will prevent further shootings, kidnappings and firebombings while raids on properties also allegedly seized 390kg of methamphetamine.
The cartel’s alleged local ringleader, Henry Kupa, is now behind bars, along with those he allegedly hired to commit crimes.
“We have been able to arrest not just the onshore principals but also many of the contract criminals and facilitators,” Assistant Commissioner Scott Cook said.
The cartel’s unravelling escalated last week when offshore kingpin, Lorenzo Lemalu, was gunned down at a restaurant in Vietnam.
With Lemalu dead and Kupa locked up, just one alleged leader remains. That man, Anthony Pele, is on the run in South East Asia.
“Those people hiding in other countries, we know where you are,” Cook warned.
Police believe a violent Sydney gang, the Coconut Cartel, has been dismantled after alleged members were arrested and others killed overseas. Credit: NSW Police
Police are now confident that with key players behind bars and a massive quantity of drugs off the street, they are for once ahead of the game.
“We feel like we’re getting there,” police said.
Among the nine people arrested was a 15-year-old boy at a home where the methamphetamine stockpile was allegedly uncovered.
He was charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and refused bail.
The remaining eight people, all aged in their 20s were charged with drug supply and criminal group related offences.
“The intelligence gathered throughout this investigation has already been fed directly into a number of active strike forces, giving our detectives new visibility into how these networks are structuring their finances, their logistics and their violence,” Cook said.
“What we’re seeing now is the cumulative effect of sustained pressure over the past two months.
“Fractures have emerged across the broader criminal landscape; fractures we are already exploiting through other investigations.”
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