Police are claiming victory over a major crime gang linked to a string of murders amid a feud over Sydney's drug trade, which investigators say was making the syndicate about $1 million a week.
More than a dozen arrests early on Wednesday followed a near-three-year investigation into the Alameddine criminal enterprise, which had allegedly been running a drug business spanning importation to street-level supply.
The probe uncovered what detectives said was a sophisticated "dial-a-dealer" syndicate responsible for selling both illegal and illicit prescription drugs across NSW from its stronghold in the city's southwest.
The gang was also behind a series of violent attacks - including killings - linked to tussles for control of the drug trade, investigators said.
A group of about 250 officers were involved in the busts on Wednesday, which police said resulted in 16 arrests - including the accused onshore masterminds of the gang's drug operation.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said the arrests had eliminated what was left of the criminal network in Australia.
Previous raids, in May 2022, had pushed many of the main players in the network overseas, he said.
"Today's operation has cleaned up what was left of them on our shores," Mr Hudson told reporters.
"What has been referred to as the Alameddine organised crime network I believe has been eradicated.
"There are no safe havens anymore."
One of the Alameddine gang's alleged kingpins, Masood Zakaria, was charged with a string of serious offences - including conspiracy to murder - in December after being deported from Turkey.
He was allegedly involved in a failed plot to murder rival underworld figure Ibrahem Hamze in 2021, after which investigators said he fled Australia in a fishing boat shortly before his planned arrest.
Mr Hudson said police were confident the conflict between the rival Hamze, also spelled Hamzy, and Alameddine groups had been resolved, but there was a chance peripheral gangs could "see an opportunity of stepping up to fill a void".
"We will allege that this network was making up to $1 million per week in profit, which is a significant amount of money, which drives this conflict, fuels the violence, fuels the antagonism between the groups," he said.
A long-running feud between the gangs has led to the deaths of several people, including two brothers and a cousin of jailed crime boss Bassam Hamzy.
Detective Superintendent Grant Taylor said police were focusing on the street-level distribution of drugs across Sydney in a bid to stymie business for crime gangs.
"Without the ability to distribute the drugs across the streets of Sydney, they can have all the drugs in the world, it won't get them anywhere," he said.
