Raids In Sydney After Police Station ‘Shooting Threat’

Police have carried out dawn raids on two properties in Sydney, Australia this morning following suspected threats against police stations.

One of the houses stormed belongs to the family of Talal Alameddine, who was arrested in October over the killing of police accountant Curtis Cheng outside a police station.

He is accused of supplying the gun that Farhad Jabar, 15, used to kill Mr Cheng on 2 October in what police describe as a terror-related attack. Mr Jabar, who is of Iranian origin, was shot dead at the scene.

Police confirmed the raids were sparked by a threat to a police station in the west of the city, but later said that “no items of interest” were found.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins said in a statement: “Any threat to police officers or police premises is of major concern and taken extremely seriously, as demonstrated by the operation we undertook today.

“We will continue to take every precaution necessary to protect our officers and the safety of the wider community, and will respond swiftly to any specific threats that are received.”

The raids were carried out by the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad and officers from the Tactical Operations Unit, along with local police.

Australia’s Daily Telegraph says that a number of people at both properties searched were subject to the Firearms Prohibition Act, which gives police the power to search without a warrant.

“We will use a suite of powers when it comes to these types of threats and we make no apologies for that,” Assistant Commissioner Jenkins said.

The second property that police searched belonged to the family of one-eyed Osman Haouchar, 26, who was detained last week upon returning from the Middle East.

He told his family he had moved to the town of Antakya on the Turkish-Syrian border in February. While there, he listed his occupation on Facebook as “humanitarian aid”.

Police questioned him for more than four hours when he touched down at Sydney airport, but was later released without charge.

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