Seven arrests made in first 24 hours of police taskforce tackling gangland crime

Deputy Premier and Minister for Police Paul Toole said six men and one woman were arrested across the Illawarra, South Coast and north-west Sydney during the first day of Taskforce Erebus.

“Yesterday we announced taskforce Erebus and already we’re seeing significant inroads into criminal networks across our state,” he said.

“Now a number of these (arrests) are associates or members of bikie gangs here in this state and they have dangerous links to these gangs and they are involved with the Comancheros, the Rebels and the Bandidos.”

Toole said police have arrested the “sergeant-at-arms for the South Coast chapter of the Comancheros”.

Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett said the wounded man was a member of the Rebels OMCG and police will allege the shooting was over a drug transaction.

He will appear before Blacktown Court today.

Webb added two men, both aged 26, have been arrested and are in the process of being charged with alleged commercial supply of prohibited drugs.

“For two kilograms of MDMA and one kilogram of cocaine, a number of their associates have also been served with FPOs and orders,” she said.

A further five search warrants were carried out in north-west Sydney where five people were arrested and a shotgun and glock pistol recovered.

“We expect to find more with searches still ongoing,” Webb said.

Toole said with the arrests already made by strike force Erebus, police will “get on top of” gang violence and “wipe out this insidious behaviour”.

“I want to make the point, that these people are not ordinary people, they are not living ordinary lives like you and me everyday, they are scum bags and they are a scourge on our society,” he said.

“If they continue down this path, there is only one place for them, and that is in a prison cell, behind bars.”