Alleged ‘kill team’ charged after arrest en route to hit nea...

New South Wales police have charged three men with conspiracy to commit murder, alleging they were a hired “hit team” arrested while on their way to kill a man near a Sydney daycare centre.

Police said officers had been conducting a routine surveillance operation in Sydney’s Condell Park area on Tuesday when they allegedly identified the trio “mobilising to carry out an offence”.

Officers immediately sought assistance from the tactical operations unit, PolAir, the dog squad and the state intelligence command.

Just before 4pm they conducted “high-risk” stops of two vehicles in Revesby using less than lethal rounds and arrested the three men, aged 18, 19 and 26. A search of the cars allegedly found two firearms, balaclavas, body-worn cameras and two jerry cans filled with petrol. A third firearm was later found in another unoccupied vehicle linked to the men.

Police allege the trio – who they say did not know the intended victim – had been on their way to try to murder another man near a daycare centre in Sydney’s south-west.

The potential victim has alleged links to organised crime and police said they believed there had been a “breakdown” in his relationship to the organisation.

Police did not confirm which daycare centre was the one near the target.

The two younger men were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, possession of an unauthorised pistol and participating in a criminal group, among other charges. The 26-year-old was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and participation in a criminal group.

“This was a calculated and coordinated intervention that stopped what we will allege was a planned killing nearby a daycare centre – a deeply concerning scenario,” Scott Cook, an assistant commissioner and state crime commander for NSW police, said in a statement.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Cook said the location of the alleged murder attempt could have resulted in “so much collateral damage”.

Peter Faux, a detective superintendent with the organised crime squad, said the arrests were part of a police operation to target those responsible for previous violent events in public spaces.

“We [allege that] were able to not only identify that they were going to do something serious, we were fortunately in a position to react and stop that from occurring,” Faux said at the news briefing.

He alleged that police had stopped the men “from murdering someone and we clearly stopped other people, innocent bystanders, from being caught up in this”.

Cook said officials would continue work to “dismantle” organised crime networks operating across Sydney, adding that police would take action to protect the community from such networks “especially when it threatens everyday spaces where families expect to feel safe”.

“They were never going to make it to any [childcare] centre,” he said. “They would never be allowed to make it to a centre. The collateral damage there would be far too great.”

The three men were refused bail and were due to appear in Bankstown local court later on Wednesday.