Updated ,first published
Two alleged members of a criminal syndicate at the heart of an escalating spate of gang violence have been charged under a newly established police strike force targeting the Coconut Cartel.
Detectives charged Isaac Mar-Tuvunivono, 24, after storming a home in Daceyville last Thursday. He was led from the home in black track pants with a shirt thrown over his shoulders, as two detectives escorted him to a police vehicle. It came after the emerging Coconut Cartel claimed responsibility for the firebombing of a Toyota SUV in Guildford last month.
Nadan Moore, 19, was arrested in Silverwater on Wednesday and is expected to face a bail hearing on Thursday.
The Coconut Cartel has been attempting to wrest control of Sydney’s lucrative drug trade from the fractured Alameddine network since late last year, police sources say, as officers work to quell the gangland war.
Footage circulating through Sydney’s underworld of the Guildford firebombing showed a masked assailant pouring accelerant from a red jerry can, before setting fire to the vehicle from the driver’s side door. A message circulated following the attack threatened those in business “big or small” with the Alameddines, signing it “P.S Coconut Cartel”.
The matter was referred to Strike Force Helston, established by the State Crime Command’s criminal groups squad to investigate a series of alleged threats and incidents linked to the rival syndicate.
Mar-Tuvunivono was charged with destroying property using fire, possessing an unauthorised pistol, acquiring the gun while subject to a firearm prohibition order, and participating in a criminal group.
Police seized a registration plate, a jerry can, a replica pistol and 13 mobile phones in the raid of the Daceyville address.
He will also face charges over possessing a gun at a premises subject to a prohibition order and possessing suspected stolen goods. The 24-year-old will appear in Blacktown Local Court on Thursday, after he was formally refused bail on Friday. Moore was charged with destroying property using fire and participating in a criminal group.
It comes after police launched Strike Force Halesowen, a 100-strong operation comprised of specialist anti-gangs detectives and uniformed officers, last week after former NRL star Matt Utai was brutally shot outside his family home. It was an incident believed to be targeting his son Iziah, a former Alameddine gangster who is believed to have switched allegiance to the Coconut Cartel.
The shooting set off a series of attacks less than 24 hours later, including the shooting and firebombing of properties linked to Iziah, in a dramatic escalation of the underworld conflict. A St Clair home was peppered with more than a dozen bullets 18 hours after Utai was shot, with the third attack on the Utai family coming at Iziah’s Guildford West home, which was engulfed in flames by a masked arsonist.
Detectives believe Iziah is overseas and that the attacks were a retaliation against the 24-year-old. It came after a Merrylands barbershop registered to Iziah was torched twice in two nights in May, after registering the business in his own name in August 2024.
The Coconut Cartel took responsibility for firebombing the Toongabbie home belonging to Bilal Alameddine in January, as they declared they were ready to “chalk out” the Alameddines. CCTV captured two hooded assailants pouring accelerant on the vehicle in front of the property before engulfing the vehicle in flames. They were heard shouting “Coconut Cartel on top” as they fled the fiery scene.
An image shared later that evening by SCN Worldstar, a social media outlet posting underworld related content, enclosed a threat detailing how the Coconut Cartel was “Ready 2 Chalk Out Every Alameddine”.
One man and five teenagers, including a 15-year-old, were arrested over the spate of violent incidents under Strike Force Halesowen. Police allege 25-year-old Eamon Sharp shot Utai in the driveway of his Greenacre family home, while a 15-year-old drove the pair in a getaway car.
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Daniel Lo Surdo is a breaking news reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He previously helmed the national news live blog for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
