Western Sydney gang violence spirals as old rules vanish
A Muslim undertaker who has buried gang members for decades says western Sydney's escalating violence has shattered the ethics that once governed gangland conflict.
Ahmad Hraichie, a Muslim undertaker at Lakemba Mosque, is witnessing a shift in gangland violence that has shaken him. For decades, gangs followed unspoken rules: no shooting innocent people, children, women, or at funerals.
Gangs no longer follow these boundaries. Louis Meehan was shot dead behind his boxing gym in Punchbowl last week.
He was the third killing in just over a week. University student Marco Tapia, 23, was shot in his bed in Glen Alpine on Tuesday.
The next day, Joshua Macdonald, 40, was killed in a doorway in Merrylands West. In two years to June, 19 people died amid gang warfare in western Sydney, according to a Herald analysis.
Police recorded 100 shootings and 52 firebombings in the same period. Hraichie believes the violence is driven by social media, internet culture, and young people drawn to the lifestyle and quick money.
The conflict is believed linked to organised crime gangs, including the Alameddine and Coconut Cartel groups locked in a brutal turf war.
Why it mattersThe breakdown of traditional gang codes means innocent bystanders, children and school students are now at risk from random violence in western Sydney.
AustraliaResidents in western Sydney are living under growing fear as gang violence intensifies without the informal rules that once limited bloodshed. Police and community leaders are facing escalating pressure to contain the conflict.
Corroborated bytheage.com.au·watoday.com.au
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 13 d ago
