Arabic version: الشرطة تعتقل المزعوم المنظم وراء حملة إشعال حرائق في ملبورن
Police have arrested one of the alleged organisers behind a series of violent crimes targeting Melbourne hospitality venues. Detectives from the Armed Crime Squad say a 20-year-old Essendon man was taken into custody after a search warrant was executed at a residential address about 8.30am on Tuesday.
According to ABC News, police allege the man used encrypted messaging apps to task offenders, some of them teenagers, to commit home invasions, arsons and kidnappings over the course of several months. Investigators link him to a mistaken identity kidnapping on April 14 in Malvern, when four people assaulted a man at the wrong address, forced him into a vehicle and dropped him off at a hospital. He is also accused of organising an attempted aggravated home invasion in Doncaster two weeks later that was prevented by nearby police officers, and an attempted arson at a licensed premises in Southbank on April 27 that was foiled by nearby patrols.
Victoria Police say the 20-year-old is a high-ranking member of an organised criminal syndicate whose leader is offshore. The arrest followed the launch of Operation Eclipse, created to target the organised crime syndicates believed responsible for dozens of attacks across Melbourne’s nightlife districts. Detective Inspector Graham Banks said today’s arrest represented a major breakthrough for the operation. “This arrest is the most consequential we have made since the inception of Operation Eclipse. These offences are significant examples of crime as a service — the alleged tasking of kidnapping, home invasion and arson,” he said. “It’s a methodology we have seen play out previously over a number of years, organised crime tasking of offenders to commit intimidatory tactics. We saw this through Taskforce Lunar and fully understand the complexities around investigating and disrupting this serious offending.”
This matters because the alleged offending involved violent crimes directed at hospitality precincts, the use of tasking through encrypted apps, and the involvement of younger offenders, all factors police say have driven an intensified response. Operation Eclipse and increased patrols are intended to protect Melbourne’s entertainment precincts and disrupt organised groups believed to be coordinating the attacks.
What happens next: Victoria Police said there would continue to be increased numbers of patrols throughout Melbourne’s entertainment precincts in a bid to stamp out the attacks. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Victoria | General | Social/إجتماعية
