Criminal contractors who prepare cars for violent offences are in police sights, days after an alleged murder plot at a daycare centre was foiled.
In an escalation of Sydney's increasingly brazen gangland wars, NSW Police on Tuesday pounced on a group of men driving through Revesby in Sydney's southwest with balaclavas and pistols.
The trio were accused of trying to intercept and kill their target as he picked up a child at a daycare centre.
While announcing new arrests, police on Friday revealed they had covertly been watching contract criminals and their network of staged vehicles or "kill cars" across Sydney for some time.
A second trio were arrested on Thursday over their alleged involvement in the G7 crew, one of several groups of contract criminals using the staged cars.
NSW Police's organised crime squad commander Peter Faux said Thursday's raids targeted "criminal contractors" who are "willing to do the dirty work for organised crime".
“Generally, they won't have any knowledge of or relationship to the intended victim,” he said.
“However, they're willing to get paid money to co-ordinate and facilitate resources such as staged kill cars or weapons surveillance on behalf of the organised crime group, who then facilitate crimes of violence being carried out.”
Two arrested on Thursday - Ata Junior Misi, 18, and Iese Esera, 21 - did not apply for bail when facing court on Friday on instrument of crime, crime proceeds and gang-related charges.
A 16-year-old was charged over alleged car theft, driving and gang offences.
Police say the raids across eight properties on Thursday netted five cars, a firearm, ammunition, $41,000 in cash, GPS trackers and 37 mobile phones and dedicated encrypted criminal devices.
While those preparing 'kill cars' might not carry out acts of violence, police said they are very much a part of the criminal ecosystem.
“In the end, if they're facilitating, they're co-ordinating, and they're doing acts of preparation for any types of violence, the blood's on their hands as well,” Detective Superintendent Faux said.
The public can help by reporting suspicious vehicles parked for long periods of time and with signs of false or tampered plates.
Warring groups and brutal enforcement of gang members stepping out of line have triggered dozens of public shootings, murders and other violent crimes over the past year.
Innocent people have been caught in the crossfire including a mother abducted at gunpoint in front of her two sons from her Bankstown home in April, and then murdered.
A "very close associate" of her de facto husband is alleged to have orchestrated the murder.
Condell Park plumber John Versace was executed in his driveway in May in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity.
In the latest in a spree of public, daylight shootings, former UFC fighter Suman Mokhtarian, 33, was gunned down while out for a walk on Wednesday evening.
