It's a foggy autumn morning in Western Sydney. Jared Treloar and his family are woken by a loud thump.
"Police, search warrant. Open the door!"
Wearing only underwear, the former Bandido bikie is met with about 15 police — all armed with guns and batons, and with helmets and balaclavas masking their faces.
It's a typical greeting from Strike Force Raptor.
NSW's anti-bikie squad was revamped in February to target a wider range of underworld networks, just days after a bullet narrowly missed a nurse working at Auburn Hospital.
The bullet had been fired towards a home linked to the notorious Hamzy family.
The Hamzys were still mourning the loss of Mejid Hamzy — the brother of Brothers 4 Life gang leader and convicted murderer, Bassam Hamzy.
He was shot dead last October in Condell Park less than 24 hours after a drive-by shooting at a Merrylands home owned by a rival family — the Alameddines.
From March Strike Force Raptor cracked down, staging high-profile raids across Sydney which initially put a lid on gun violence.
That ended with the drive-by killing of Bassam Hamzy's cousin, Bilal Hamze, near Circular Quay on June 17.
There is no suggestion either family was behind the separate incidents.
Fearing violence could escalate again, Strike Force Raptor will be at the forefront of police operations to disrupt criminal gangs.
"We'll be kicking down doors, we'll be tipping people over, we'll be talking to them, we'll be harassing them within the bounds of the law to make sure they know we are there," Criminal Groups Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Robert Critchlow said.
Strike Force Raptor Commander Jason Weinstein, who has been with the NSW force for 26 years, said the tactics were effective.
"I couldn't be more pleased with how the change in the squad has been undertaken and our operational activity to date," he said.
Detective Superintendent Weinstein said the aim of Raptor was to make criminals' lives "uncomfortable".
"To lawfully harass, making them uncomfortable to the point [where] … they get arrested and are incarcerated, or they desist from their activities," he said.
Firearm Prohibition Orders are the weapon of choice for Raptor officers.
Served through the courts, the orders allow Raptor to raid a home or business if they suspect a target has a weapon.
If officers find drugs or evidence of other crimes during a firearms search, they can prosecute those offences.
Serious Crime Prevent Orders are also used, restricting the activities and communications of certain individuals.
'Harassment' ethos raises alarm bells
Criminal lawyer Ahmed Dib has previously acted for the Hamzy family — who along with the Alameddine family — remain the "main focus" of Raptor operations, according to police.
Mr Dib has serious concerns about whether "lawful harassment" tactics should be allowed to continue.
"The fact that that's the word being used 'harassment — which is an offence under the Criminal Code — that raises significant alarm bells in my opinion," he said.
"You're innocent until you are proven guilty so if you're being targeted [that] has almost reversed that mantra to being guilty until proven innocent."
The ABC has learnt a woman was subjected to a raid simply for having a casual relationship with someone associated with an underworld family.
"Police have a job to do, we accept that and we want them to do their job [but] it's about being too heavy handed, it's about impinging on people's rights," Mr Dib said.
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) found three Raptor officers "engaged in serious misconduct" in 2019 when they "intimidated and harassed" a lawyer representing a bikie in Grafton, in Northern NSW.
Detective Superintendent Weinstein said there was "no excuse" for the actions of those officers.
"We have new additional equipment to ensure officers are held to account, body worn cameras and in-car video, which records our interactions with the public," he said.
Sources close to the investigation have revealed those officers are no longer with the Raptor squad.
There are 95 officers currently employed full time with the Raptor squad, but that number will be boosted to 115 by July this year.
"Our ethos is simple: to make our streets safer so that the mums, dads and kids can to go the park, so they can walk around, they can stay in their homes and not have the fear there is going to be a drive-by shooting or an attack," Detective Superintendent Weinstein said.
Back at the Treloar raid near Penrith, the father appears stunned as he's handcuffed and ordered to get down, facing the tiled floor.
His partner and children are ordered into another room as investigators swarm the home.
Neighbours barely bat an eyelid — one man walks past the property with his bulldog but and doesn't break pace.
Once Raptor completes the raid, Jared Treloar, 39, is taken away and charged with 15 offences.
Detectives seize more than $34,000 in cash, a large amount of steroids, an expandable baton, and mobile phones from his home.
Further raids were carried out on several storage sheds at St Marys — one of which was allegedly being used as a drug lab to manufacture Xanax.
Police allege they found a loaded handgun, knuckledusters, and Xanax tablets with an estimated street value of $300,000.
Strike Force Raptor is pleased another handgun is off Sydney's streets.
