More than a dozen people have been arrested in early morning raids as police declare victory over a major crime gang accused of being behind a dial-a-dealer drug network.
The arrests across Sydney on Wednesday follow a near-three-year investigation into the Alameddine crime gang, based in the city's southwest, which police say has been running a drug business spanning everything from importation to street-level supply.
The probe uncovered what detectives say was a sophisticated "dial-a-dealer" syndicate responsible for selling both illegal and illicit prescription drugs across NSW.
The gang was also behind a series of violent attacks - including murders - linked to tussles for control of Sydney's lucrative drug trade, investigators have said.
Earlier in March police shut down more than two dozen phone numbers potentially linked to more than 50,000 customers as part of a probe into the network.
A cohort of about 250 officers were involved in the busts on Wednesday, which police said resulted in 15 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 said.
One of the Alameddine gang's alleged kingpins, Masood Zakaria, was charged with a string of serious offences in December - including conspiracy to murder - 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.
Australian Associated Press
