Civil war among once-thought disbanded gang likely cause of recent drive-bys, fire bombings in southwest Sydney
A civil war within a vicious gang linked to the 1997 murder of a policeman is the likely cause of a number of recent drive-bys and fire bombings in Sydney's southwest.
The internal struggle concerns the crumbling Assyrian Kings – a gang connected to criminal operations in Fairfield, including murders, robberies, drug running, extortion and the murder of 25-year-old policeman David Carty.
The gang is also known as Dlasthr – meaning "the last hour" – and was behind a number of shooting murders around Sydney over the past two decades.
A house fire in Edensor Park last week is the latest instance of the exploding war between the Assyrian Kings and the True Kings – young upstarts looking to assert power and seize control of territory in the city's southwest, the Daily Telegraph reports.
It is believed no-one was at the home when the fire broke out early Tuesday last week, but local police and the Middle Eastern Crime Squad are treating it as suspicious.
The fire followed fire bombings of two cars at the same address last month when a 21-year-old resident reported hearing "explosions". Police called it a targeted attack.
Police said there have been a number of shootings around the area over the past months but they are not revealing details.
One gang insider told the newspaper the internecine was started but the True Kings, the breakaway "young ones" looking to assert themselves as an independent entity – and they are not afraid of using violence to do so.
“They're firebombing each other, shooting at each other and it's the young ones proving… to get a name against the old-school Assyrians,” the unnamed source said.
Fairfield Local Area Command Superintendent Peter Lennon told the Telegraph police saw the recent episodes of violence as "very serious" matters.
“We are concerned by the reckless and very dangerous use of firearms and the consequences of that,” Supt Lennon said.
“While no one has been injured in any of the incidents, our investigators are treating the matters very seriously and are in the process of examining potential links between them."
The LAC superintendent said local police and the MEOCS were following a number of incidents but stopped short of calling them "gang related".
Police said the gang was finished following a number of raids in 2013 that led to 15 arrests with three more arrests in 2014 dealing a fatal and final blow.
Leaderless, the gang splinted into a number of smaller groups comprised of lower ranking soldiers that took over the drug trade in Fairfield.
The younger True Kings emerged in 2012 and were also thought done soon after when several members blew themselves up in a meth lab explosion.
Gang members often Dlasthr or AK – for Assyrian Kings – and weapons tattooed on their backs. Despite their criminal nature, gang members have strong ties to Chaldean Catholic Church.
