POLICE have raided and shut down bikie clubhouses across Sydney following a wave of fatal shootings and gun crime.
The Gangs Squad's Strike Force Raptor yesterday raided Hells Angels clubhouses in Haymarket in Sydney's CBD and Annandale in Sydney's Inner West.
Crackdown... Strike Force Raptor officers during a raid in Chinatown today. Picture:Police Media Source: Supplied
The Comanchero's newest clubhouse at Turella, in Sydney's south was also raided on Wednesday.
Comanchero chief doesn't own a bike
Police found alcohol, documentation and Outlaw Motorcycle Gang paraphernalia during the raids.
The clubhouses were also accused of illegally selling alcohol and breaching the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.
Target... Scene of an attack on the Hells Angels Bikie group at Pertersham in 2009. Source: News Limited
Commander of the Gangs Squad, Detective Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis, vowed to keep the pressure on bikies.
"As long as some people within these gangs want to carry out criminal acts or allow their violent conflicts to be aired in public, we will be there to disrupt their day-to-day activities," he said.
Officers from Strike Force Raptor conducted a mass vehicle stop of Rebels members two years ago. Source: Supplied
Strike Force Raptor was established by State Crime Command's Gangs Squad in 2009. It is a proactive and high-impact operation targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs and any associated criminal enterprises.
The raids come as four men were shot dead in Sydney in July. Tyrone Slemnick, who has links to the Hells Angels, was shot and killed, another shot in leg, in car park of a residential unit block in Eastlakes on July 8.
Slain... Hells Angel Bikie member Tyrone Lee Mathew Slemnik Source: News Limited
Bassil Hijazi, 18, the cousin of Comanchero southern chapter president Mick Hijazi, was killed after being shot in the chest at least five times as he walked through a car park in Bexley on July 31.
Slain... Bikie associate Bassil Hijazi Source: Supplied
Comanchero crackdown... Detectives from the Gangs Squad were joined by police from other State Crime Command squads during arrests in western Sydney in May. Source: Supplied
The gang's Milperra chapter president, Giacomo "Jack" Dipizio, 34, was among those arrested at the clubhouse. He was charged over his alleged part in the attempted bombing of the Mill Hotel in July last year and was refused bail.
The operation was part of Strike Force Namara, a NSW Police Force gangs squad investigation dedicated to examining criminal activities of the Comanchero bikie gang.
Since that strike force formed in January, police said they had uncovered commercial supply of ice and cocaine, an offer to supply firearms, and evidence relating to the attempted bombing of the Mill Hill Hotel.
There have been 21 shooting deaths since the O'Farrell government was elected.
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