Dlasthr
 Gang Members Tattoo | |
| Founded | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Sydney Australia |
| Years active | 2004 - Present [1] |
| Territory | Sydney Australia |
| Ethnicity | Assyrians |
| Criminal activities | battery, extortion, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, robbery, and murder |
| Rivals | Bronx boys, Middle eastern gangs |
Dlasthr (The Last Hour) is an Assyrian criminal gang which was active in the south western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Members wear a distinctive clenched fist tattoo across their backs together with the letters AK standing for Assyrian Kings and the gangs name Dlasthr commonly found on their back.[2]
The gang was formed by Raymon Youmaran who is now serving a 17-year sentence for the murder of Dimitri Debaz.[3]
Early years
In December 2002 Dimitri Debaz was shot and killed at a strip club in the suburb of Sefton. Raymon Youmaran became the primary suspect for police and disappeared soon after as well as another suspect Raphael Joseph who went by the nickname of "Hasoni". The NSW Police submission described how Joseph Youmaran and three other men arrived at the Sefton Hotel where Debaz was celebrating his brother Aleck's birthday with about 15 to 20 friends.[4]
Within a matter of seconds after entering the hotel a fight between Joseph his co-offenders Dimitri and Aleck Debaz had erupted.
Police alleged that the pub's CCTV footage showed Joseph and three accomplices running to their car with Joseph and Youmaran each grabbing a 9mm handgun before fatally shooting Debaz who was standing near the hotel's door. Three more shots were fired execution style into the victim's back before the gunmen fled.
Sandro Mirad, the driver of Youmaran and Josephs get away car was charged and pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to Debaz's murder. Mirad received a two and a half year sentence with one and a half year non custodial sentence.[5]
As the years followed Raymon youmaran was still in hiding and was involved in the drug business in a big way it was then he formed his gang,Dlasthr became known in sydney and embarked on a reign of terror being involved in a number of murders and public shootings as they ruthlessly established themselves as a major drug dealing and distribution syndicate in Sydney.
Rocks double murder
On 16 April 2005, at approximately 1:10am Naser Ghaderi and Keyvan Ghajaloo were killed in a drive-by shooting on Hickson Road, The Rocks, Sydney. Reports state that as Ghaderi and Ghajaloo were standing by a car,a BMW and a Volkswagen stopped next to them. The driver of the BMW was reported to have said, "Are you the Persians from the party?" Following this conversation a hail of bullets from two guns were fired killing Ghaderi and Ghajaloo. Reports also state this was payback from an altercation Ghaderi had two weeks prior at a Persian event.[6]
During the coroner’s inquest into the murders, Ahmed Alfadly a non assyrian member of Dlasthr was named as the opponent Ghaderi had during the altercation at the Persian event 2 weeks prior. Raymon Youmaran and Danny Hirmiz were also identified as possible participants in the killings. Alfadly left Australia for Kuwait five days after the shootings and has never returned. No one has been charged for the shootings.[7]
Babylon Cafe, murder of Khananyah
In November 2005 the Babylon Cafe in Fairfield, New South Wales was sprayed with bullets, killing bystander Raymond Khananyah and wounding three others. Three gunmen in balaclavas, armed with semi-automatic pistols got out of a black car and fired up to 17 shots into the cafe. It was believed the incident was a case of mistaken identity. The car in the shooting was found later and arrests were made but Youmaran still remained at large.[8]
In 2011 a coroner's inquest into the Babylon Cafe shooting revealed in the days before the murder there was a previous shooting and a fight where a firearm was produced. Counsel Assisting the Coroner Peter McGrath said police believed with shooting was the work of members of local drug gang Dlasthr. McGrath named five men as persons of interest in Khananyah's death including Ramon Youmaran, Steven David, Danny Hurmz, George Hanna, Samer Marcus and Michael Odisho.[9]
Youmaran narrowly escapes police
On 14 February 2006, Youmaran was spotted by police at a house in Woodcroft, Sydney which police had staked out. Youmaran got into the front passenger seat of a green Mercedes at about 6:15pm. Police tailed the Mercedes at speeds of up to 200 km/h across the M2 and M7 motorways, but the pursuit was called off due to safety concerns.[10]
Police made no arrests there but they seized approximately 18,000 ecstasy and methamphetamine tablets with a street value of about $720,000, as well as firearms including an M16 assault rifle.[11] The following day, a 24-year-old man believed to be involved in the pursuit was arrested and taken to Green Valley Police Station for questioning. Shortly after detectives seized the Mercedes involved in the pursuit from a home in Cecil Hills. They performed forensic tests on the vehicle.[10]
Murder of Audisho
On 9 April 2006, 21-year old Ashoor Audisho was gunned down in Hamilton Road, Fairfield West. After being confronted by three men, he was shot 3 times in the back. He later died at Liverpool Hospital. Witnesses reported "seeing the three men argue with the victim and then heard shots fired". Those three men then left the vicinity in a black Jeep Cherokee. The murder was linked to Youmaran and Dlasthr. Later that year, three men were arrested and were refused bail.[12][13]
Linard Shamouil a founding member of Dlasthr later pleaded guilty to the murder of Audisho. he was sentenced to 14 years jail,at the time linard was on bail for attempted murder of which he later was found guilty of and was sentenced to a pre-parole period of 9 years.he was also sentenced 5 years non-parole period for dealing methamphetamine.[14]
Shooting of Jenzarli
On 29 May 2006, Sahir Marcus and Adam Saliba known to police to have been working with Dlasthr were arrested and charged with shooting with intent to murder Fayez Jenzarli who was shot in the back of the leg at 9.00pm outside his home in Eccles Place Prairiewood. Other men arrested in a drug sting were Steven david and Allan Dennis Pena who were also charged with supplying 3,000 methylamphetamine tablets.[10]
Arrest of Raymon Youmaran
In June 2006 Ramon Youmaran was arrested at Mount Prichard, following a series of police raids on homes in Sydney's western suburbs. He had been in hiding for four years. Police seized 3000 illegal methamphetamine tablets, with a street value of $1.2 million. Seven other high ranking gang members including Linard Shamouil were also arrested.[15]
Raphael Joseph arrested in US
Raphael Joseph (also known as Hassoni) was arrested in San Diego in October 2006.[16] When US authorities examined Joseph's fingerprints and checked with Interpol it was revealed he was wanted on suspicion of murder in Australia, and was one of the most wanted men in New South Wales. Raphael Joseph arrest came after the American Drug Enforcement Administration tipped off ICE that he could be an illegal immigrant.
Joseph had told agents he had been smuggled from Iraq to Mexico and from Mexico to the American border. He had also asked American authorities to deport him back to his country of birth, Iraq. Joseph was extradited from the US in February 2008 after fighting to stay there for more than a year. In March 2008 he faced court in Sydney and was charged with the murder of Dimitri Debaz.[17] However the charges were later dropped after Joseph had been imprisoned for nearly 18 months.[18]
In March 2014 Joseph disappeared after a meeting in Auburn, New South Wales, and has been presumed by police to have been abducted and murdered.[18]
Raids against the gang
On 24 September 2013, Sydney Police said that they have "severely disrupted a large criminal group" after 15 people were arrested in raids targeting the Assyrian crime gang Dlasthr
More than 300 heavily armed police took part in 22 raids across the city's south west in the operation against the gang.[19]
In 2014 police arrested 3 remaining gang members and said that it had dismantled the gangs operations and described the gang as finished. police had seized $20,000 worth of cannabis from the properties raided.[20]
References
- ↑ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/police-believe-they-have-crushed-one-of-sydneys-worst-gangs-dlasthr-the-last-hour/story-fni0cx12-1226910245396
- ↑ http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,20281,18686720-5001021,00.html
- ↑ http://www.syndicates.com.au/syndicates-articles/2006/6/3/police-untangle-gang-warfares-murderous-threads/
- ↑ http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22237668-5001021,00.html
- ↑ "Man jailed for being accessory to murder". ABC News. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ "Scuffle at party may have sparked Rocks shooting". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ "Killed after brawl with a gangster". NewsComAu. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/20051102054042/http://www.news.com.au:80/story/0,10117,17102662-2,00.html. Archived from the original on November 2, 2005. Retrieved September 8, 2007. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/into-theinquest-into-shooting-of-ramon-khananyah-at-a-cafe-in-fairfield-finds-that-he-was-an-innocent-bystander/story-e6freuy9-1226101425509
- 1 2 3 "Police untangle gang warfare's murderous threads". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ "Guns, drugs seized as man wanted over 2002 murder eludes police again". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ Archived April 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Welch, Dylan (17 July 2006). "Third man held over DJ killing". The Sydney Morning Herald (Faifax Digital). AAP. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ https://books.google.com.au/books?id=6IVm0tGwA5YC&pg=PA210&lpg=PA210&dq=linard+shamouil+ashoor+audisho&source=bl&ots=IXf-gWvQEm&sig=5seUzQFuBOLMw3Q1aOiuWBnK0bQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi70tKT0cfJAhUDW6YKHaaHAK8Q6AEIMDAD#v=onepage&q=linard%20shamouil%20ashoor%20audisho&f=false
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20733578-5006009,00.html
- ↑ "Aussie fugitive wanted to go to Iraq". The Age. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- 1 2 http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/gang-busters-gun-seizure-in-2012-led-to-fall-of-assyrian-criminal-organisation-dlasthr-the-last-hour/story-fni0cx12-1226923180252
- ↑ "Police in Sydney arrest 15 during raids targeting Assyrian crime gang in Rossmore and Liverpool". ABC News. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ A Edensor Park man, 26; a Middleton Grange man, 21; and a Prairiewood man, 23, remain in custody after police seized $20,000 worth of cannabis. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/police-say-the-last-hour-finished-as-final-three-members-arrested-20140508-zr6wg.html#ixzz3t00pJy5P Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook
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