The men, aged between 19 and 39, face dozens of charges related to an alleged drug network used to deliver cocaine, MDMA and prescription drugs.
Court documents revealed details of the drug’s operating methodology that allegedly included 36 phones to carry out agreements using encrypted messaging applications.
Eighteen alleged members of the Alameddine gang are facing lawsuits after the dial-a-deal union dismantled. (NSW Police)
Police said the group used safe houses to prepare and pack drugs before dropping bags of cocaine on Sydney residents.
On one occasion, police allegedly controlled a number of union members who were driving to Newcastle to deliver a kilo of methamphetamine to an unnamed man.
Deputy Commissioner Mick Fitzgerald said yesterday that a covert police operation on the criminal Alameddine family revealed that the phones were earning $ 250,000 a week and that the phones could be linked to a series of murders.
Most men were denied bail or did not apply. (NSW Police)
Prosecution evidence included physical observation of members, telephone interceptions, and vehicle tracking.
“There are a number of irrelevant things contained in the fact sheet at this stage, but we have only limited instruction, so we are bound by them,” said lawyer Talal Krayem out of court.
Most of the group, including several high-ranking members, were denied bail.
The cases will return to court in July.
Erebus task force conducts search warrants and arrests in south-west Sydney (9News)
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said yesterday that police were confident that “they have cut off the snake’s head”.
Deputy Prime Minister Paul Toole said yesterday that state criminal networks have been a form of “suburban terrorism.”
“These individuals are nothing more than scoundrels,” he said.