New South Wales Police Minister Yasmin Catley has defended the state's gun buyback scheme after 150 applications were lodged in its first hours. Bookings opened on Monday, and the government plans to remove up to 274,000 firearms from the community. Catley said fewer guns in circulation would make the community safer, pointing to firearms stolen across the state. Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has criticised the scheme, arguing it focuses too heavily on licensed owners rather than illegal guns used by organised criminals.
Authorities have shut 100 shops under newly granted powers aimed at stamping out the trade in illegal tobacco. Since those powers took effect on 9 September, the VIPER Taskforce and Tobacco Licensing Victoria officers have confiscated over four million unlawful cigarettes, roughly 70,000 vaping devices, three tonnes of leaf tobacco and close to $1 million in cash. The drive is directed at criminal networks that profit from the illicit product, including groups run from overseas. Retailers across a string of Melbourne suburbs have been inspected, and the operation is still underway.
Adelaide businessman Rob Cammarano says organised crime figures are trying to force him out of Career Boss, a labour-hire firm recruiting workers for the $15.4 billion Torrens to Darlington project. He says his home was shot at and his businesses were targeted in arson attacks. Police taskforce Operation Endurance is investigating, with detectives believing those responsible took direction from senior underworld figures. The allegations were referred to the project team, which found no evidence of criminal involvement. The state's anti-corruption commission will evaluate the Infrastructure and Transport Department.
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The South Australian government has referred its $15 billion Torrens to Darlington road project to the state's corruption watchdog. Premier Peter Malinauskas said the move follows reports that an outlaw gang member tried to take an interest in a suspended company contracted to work on the project. He said he has seen no evidence that organised crime has gained access to the project. The Independent Commission Against Corruption will decide whether to investigate. The government said the step is a precaution to protect taxpayer funds.
Three people face charges over an alleged plot to import 120 kilograms of cocaine concealed in cabinets shipped from Greece. Australian Border Force officers detected anomalies in the consignment in October, and X-rays found 120 packages of cocaine inside two cabinets declared as household furniture. Police allege a 49-year-old Pascoe Vale woman was the consignee and coordinated the collection of the shipment at an Essendon storage facility. Two men, aged 31 and 40, were arrested after the drugs were allegedly moved to Keilor and Glenroy.
Tobacco Licensing Victoria says it has closed 100 outlets across Victoria, with 12 in Gippsland in the past two weeks. The Mirboo North shop was issued a 90-day short-term closure notice. Monash MP Mary Aldred says closures are too slow, with an estimated 1000 to 1600 illicit shops in the state, and calls for excise cuts. Reports say some shops have reopened online or relocated, and that organised crime is involved in the trade.
Three people face potential life sentences over an alleged plot to import 120 kilograms of cocaine concealed in cabinets. Border officers flagged a consignment from Greece in October, and X-rays revealed 120 packages inside two cabinets declared as household furniture. Authorities conducted a controlled delivery to a storage facility in Essendon, where a 49-year-old Pascoe Vale woman allegedly coordinated the consignment. Two men, aged 31 and 40, were also arrested. The trio has been charged, and the two men were refused bail while the woman was granted conditional bail.
Police have charged three people over an alleged plot to import 120kg of cocaine into Melbourne. A Rockbank man and a Cairnlea man were among those arrested on Tuesday 20 October. The drugs were hidden in two cabinets declared as household furniture, shipped from Greece. Police allege a 49-year-old Pascoe Vale South woman was the consignee and was arrested later that day. The two men were refused bail, while the woman was granted conditional bail. All three will next appear in court on 10 February 2027.
A Tongan man deported from Australia has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for establishing a Comancheros outlaw motorcycle gang chapter in Tonga. Eneasi Taumoefolau was found guilty last month of participating in an organised criminal group. The sentencing judge said his conduct was a structural assault on Tongan society. Taumoefolau has protested his innocence and indicated he will appeal. The sentence will be served concurrently with a life sentence he is already serving for drug importation.
The Canberra Liberals have introduced a bill that would allow ACT Policing to issue warnings to people who regularly associate with convicted offenders. Those who continue the associations could face criminal charges. Opposition leader Mark Parton said the number of outlaw motorcycle gangs in the ACT had grown from one to at least five. He said the ACT lags behind NSW, which already has anti-consorting powers. Debate on the bill has been adjourned and will resume at a later sitting.
Prosecutors defending an alleged Sydney gangster against a bid to have his murder charges dismissed have admitted he was illegally deported to Australia in 2023. The admission came four days into Masood Zakaria's challenge in the NSW Supreme Court. Mr Zakaria is charged over the 2021 murders of Salim and Toufik Hamze. The case centres on whether his return from Istanbul was lawful, after the Australian Federal Police paid $1.1 million to two companies to secure it. Senior police and AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett are expected to give evidence.
Shops across Brisbane and Logan have been ordered shut after police seized almost $600,000 in illicit tobacco and vapes. Police say Operation Yankee Ashen targeted crime syndicates suspected of arson, extortion and gunfire, including the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang. Five people have been charged after searches across Logan and Brisbane. North Road Tobacconist at Woodridge is believed to be among the shops issued with a 90-day closure order. Police also seized about $120,000 in cash suspected of being proceeds from vape sales.
A Norwegian teenager has been jailed for 20 years for conspiring to murder a target in Britain. Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, agreed to carry out the killing for around AUD$40,000 in 2025. Police arrested him at a hotel in Huddersfield, northern England, two days after he arrived, and found two guns and ammunition. Natland was recruited online by the Swedish organised crime group Foxtrot Network, which has been linked to attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets on behalf of the Iranian regime. He admitted possessing the weapons but said he did not want to go through with the plan.
A 42-year-old Wollert man was shot multiple times and found dead inside a family home on Thursday afternoon. Police say the attack, around 5.30pm, appears to be targeted and that the victim may have links to organised crime. CCTV footage shows two people fleeing the address and getting into a brown sedan, and a third person running in another direction. Police say the first two were spoken to and are not believed to be involved. The third person had not been located by Friday afternoon. Residents nearby were shaken, and homicide detectives were searching properties on Friday.
A 62-year-old Berowra Heights man, who works as a licensed post office manager, has been charged over the alleged importation of illicit tobacco and vapes. Police from a joint-agency task force executed search warrants in Berowra Heights, Zetland and Banksmeadow, seizing more than 3.3 million sticks of illicit tobacco, 14,040 vapes and $60,470 in cash. The man was granted conditional bail and is due back at Hornsby Local Court on 18 November 2026. Two 36-year-old men arrested in Banksmeadow face similar charges. Detective Superintendent John Watson said organised crime networks rely heavily on trusted insiders to bypass border security.
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A 19-year-old man, David Kulitapa, has been charged over an alleged attempted shooting of a Sydney father and his 15-year-old daughter in Fairfield on June 9. Police allege he co-ordinated the attack but was not the masked gunman. Court documents allege he fitted a tracking device to the father's ute a week earlier. The gunman allegedly chased the girl, and the pistol reportedly failed to fire. Mr Kulitapa was arrested in Sans Souci and refused bail. Police are still searching for the alleged gunman.
A 19-year-old man has been charged with allegedly coordinating a failed shooting of a 44-year-old man and his 15-year-old daughter at a school in Fairfield, in Sydney's west. Police say a gunman pointed a handgun at the pair inside a ute before chasing the girl on foot, but the pistol failed to fire. David Kulitapa was arrested in Sans Souci and charged with attempted murder and related offences. Police say he played an overall coordination role, but they allege he was not the gunman, who remains at large. Kulitapa's bail application was refused in Sutherland Local Court.
An expert warns that arson attacks on Melbourne businesses will continue unless authorities move beyond reactive measures against the illicit tobacco trade. A recent spate of suspected firebombings has hit businesses and vehicles in the city's west, including Melton, Taylors Lakes and Deer Park. Victoria Police have closed 61 stores over the past four weeks for selling illicit tobacco, with alleged links to organised crime. Deakin University criminologist James Martin says violence often rises after law enforcement crackdowns and that the underlying demand for nicotine remains unaddressed.
