GANGLAND GODFATHER

The supergrass,has provided evidence against accused murderer Tony Mokbel and corrupt Victorian drug squad detectives, was extradited to Victoria from the Netherlands on Boxing Day.gangland supergrass alleged to be the head of a drug trafficking syndicate spanning three continents has told a court that he fears for his safety.Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege the man, 41, headed a drug syndicate operating out of Australia, Canada and the Netherlands by conspiring to import cocaine using a large network of couriers who would swallow parcels of the drug.Police say the extradition brings to an end a two-year international operation, spanning three continents. The supergrass appeared amid high security at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday behind a protective shield and flanked by security personnel. He told the court he feared for his safety and successfully argued that his name and image should be suppressed from media publication."The biased reporting that has occurred in t...

Dead man was named in the media as Sydney underworld identity Todd Anthony O'Connor, a former member of the Nomads' outlaw motorcycle gang.Gangland links are being examined by police after the man was shot in a quiet area of Tempe, in Sydney's south, on Sunday night.He also was said to be a founding member of the Notorious crime gang, which has been linked to the drugs trade in inner-Sydney areas such as Kings Cross and the Oxford Street nightclub district.Police would not confirm the dead man's identity.A spokeswoman for the State Crime Command said Strike Force Colbee had been established to investigate the shooting.The investigation would be headed by detectives from the homicide squad, but would also include the gangs squad and the Middle Eastern organised crime squad, she said. The gangs squad is charged with investigating outlaw motorcycle gangs.Police rushed to the street in Tempe just before 9pm (AEDT) on Sunday after passers-by saw the critically wounded man st...

Underworld figure Dominic "Mick" Gatto was among more than 400 mourners to today farewell alleged mafia boss Rosario "Ross" Gangemi. Gangemi, 86, died on June 28 in John Fawkner Hospital after being diagnosed with leukaemia a month before.The great-grandfather was reportedly named as one of the top 10 mafia figures in the state in a confidential 1991 Victoria Police report, and was also alleged to have been linked with a murder at Queen Victoria Market in 1963. Gangemi's son Nicholas today paid tribute to his father, a former prisoner of war, during a funeral service at St Monica's Catholic Church in Moonee Ponds. He described his father as a leader who touched thousands of lives."He was a gentleman among gentlemen, a friend among friends and a leader among leaders," he said."He was a man with real values and real morals."Born in Calabria, Italy in 1922, Gangemi was the eldest of three sons, and was left the head of the family at the age ...

Drive to break up outlaw bikie gangs is overdue. The gangs indulge in Australia-wide, hugely profitable criminality, including distributing drugs.State and federal attorneys-general have been given details of proposed South Australian laws to break up the gangs. Even before the laws take effect, SA's war on bikie gangs has led to the arrest of 22 gang members and confiscation of $120,000 in cash, cannabis, ecstasy tablets and amphetamines and 35 firearms. Victorian Police Minister Bob Cameron's office last night said he had no intention of signing on to the SA's laws. He believes specific bikie laws are not needed. But Operation Purana's success in ending Victoria's deadly underworld war demonstrates that targeted action works. The bikies are a national menace and require a similar response on a national scale.

The Australian Crime Commission yesterday painted a disturbing picture of just how powerful organised crime gangs have become. It said Australians were largely unaware of organised crime's involvement in legitimate business activities. The nation's gigantic superannuation stockpile has even become a major target. The ACC said it was concerned about the association between criminals and potential terrorists. "Terrorists use crime to support their political objectives," the ACC said in its Organised Crime in Australia report, released yesterday. "In Australia, the relationships between criminals and terrorists have generally been short-term and limited to providing specific services, such as false identity documentation, non-traceable communications, and/or money laundering." But the ACC said it was unlikely crime gangs and terrorist groups would forge stronger links, because each wanted to avoid scrutiny. The ACC report also revealed: technology has given cr...