Street gangs are becoming increasingly involved in drug trafficking and other serious crimes as a high level of violence escalates between groups, anti-gang police say.
Suspected teen gangs have been linked to home invasions, armed robberies and car thefts in recent months.Officers on the Viper taskforce, an anti-gang unit launched by Victoria Police last July, also recently cracked down on a street gang advertising cocaine for sale on social media, by swooping on two properties in Melbourne’s south-east and charging six people with weapons and drug offences in December.
Dismantling street gangs has become a key focus of the Viper taskforce, which Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said last year was created to disrupt outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime networks. They have seized drugs on 400 occasions, taken possession of 41 firearms and imitation guns and uncovered more than $1 million believed to be the proceeds of crime, including a $600,000 Lamborghini.
Officers arrested 12 people during a series of firearm prohibition order compliance checks and charged a 20-year-old with trafficking methylamphetamine.
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