Sydney Police have allegedly thwarted a nefarious gangland hit on four members of the western Sydney drill rap collective, OneFour.
Two men have been arrested over the alleged murder plot, following coordinated police raids on two properties in south-west Sydney early yesterday (Thursday) morning. The 26-year-old and 20-year-old men have been charged with a raft of offences, including conspiracy to commit murder.
ONEFOUR – ‘Freedom Of Speech’
The cops say the accused hitmen both have links to a well known criminal syndicate and had been contracted by a rival gang to kill ONEFOUR members Pio ‘YP’ Misa, Dahcell ‘Celly14’ Ramos, Spencer ‘Spenny’ Magalogo and Jerome ‘J Emz’ Misa.
Investigators reportedly discovered the murder-for-hire plot targeting the four Mount Druitt rappers while investigating a separate international crime syndicate based in Lebanon.
“There are a number of motives we’re looking at, but it’s highly likely there’s a conflict between the organised crime group that took out this contract and the intended victims,” Detective Superintendent Peter Faux from the Organised Crime Squad told the ABC.
Police believe the accused were hired hitmen motivated by “financial reward”, but were not the masterminds behind the whole operation.
“There were other people organising the intended murder,” Faux said, indicating that at least two more arrests are likely to follow, with a warrant currently out for a 22-year-old man who is believed to be currently overseas.
“We’re confident that we’ve stopped this from occurring, we’re working closely with these [intended] victims,” he added.
It’s believed ONEFOUR were not aware of the alleged murder plot before police gave them a heads up.
The drill rap group were featured in a Netflix special last year which documented their “meteoric rise [as] Australia’s first drill rap stars, defiant in the face of police’s efforts to stop them from performing”.
There is no suggestion that any of the members of ONEFOUR are involved in any kind of criminal activity themselves.
We’ll bring you more news as it develops.
Further Reading
Sydney Easter Show Ride Operators Banned From Playing “Rapper Music”
ONEFOUR Say They’re No Longer Playing The Grass Is Greener Festival
