An alleged $400,000 plot to murder a Sydney underworld figure has been thwarted less than a week after police stopped a purported plan to kill a high-profile rap group.
Two men have been arrested and are expected to be charged on Wednesday with conspiracy to murder after allegedly being part of a plan to kill a 30-year-old with links to organised crime.
Police say they are still hunting for a third man believed to be the intended getaway driver in the foiled murder plot.
Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said the group took out a contract to kill the 30-year-old and had been conducting surveillance while "waiting for the right opportunity to murder the victim".
The arrests follow the establishment of a strike force in December to investigate the alleged conspiracy.
One of the men, an 18-year-old, was arrested at Greenfield Park, in Sydney's southwest, in an early-morning raid on Wednesday.
He was expected to be charged with conspiracy to murder and participating in a criminal group, police said.
The teenager will be refused bail to appear in Fairfield Local Court later in the day.
A 30-year-old prison inmate was also arrested on Wednesday and taken to Maroubra police station, where he was to be charged with the same offences.
He is expected to appear in Waverley Local Court.
The 18-year-old was allegedly in charge of co-ordinating the intended murder, while the 30-year-old was accused of being the planned shooter.
Two Glock pistols allegedly to be used in the killing were seized during the early-morning raids.
Det Supt Faux said the intended shooter was set to receive upwards of $400,000 for his involvement in the thwarted murder plot.
"We're looking at a number of motives at this stage, but we believe that is a conflict between different organised crime groups," he said.
Police do not believe that the alleged murder plotters are part of those groups, nor did they know their purported target.
Det Supt Faux said the intended victim was known to police, but he declined to go into any detail about his possible criminal connections.
"As you'd expect, that person was \quite worried about having an immediate threat upon their life," he said.
Detective acting Superintendent Grant Taylor said police were focused on "cutting serious criminal enterprise off at the knees" and disrupting attempts to harm others, including another recently foiled murder plot.
Two men were charged on Thursday after detectives busted a criminal cell allegedly behind multiple contract kidnappings and a plan to kill Sydney-based drill rap group ONEFOUR.
Both remain in custody facing multiple charges.
