There’s been heaps more than that. Some kind of turf war between illegal tobacco crooks. If it wasn’t for the risk to public, I really wouldn’t care if they burned each other out of existence.
Comment on Daily Discussion Thread: Fri 12 Jan 2024
wscholermann@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Ok so the tobacco shop that got fire bombed earlier this week got attacked again very early this morning having an old ute driven into it.
So we’ve got
- two gelato shops fire bombed in Williamstown.
- wolf cafe firebombed this week in Millers Junction Altona.
- tobacco shop firebombed/attacked two nights in a row in pier St Altona.
I’m about ready to put up the Bat signal at this point.
SituationCake@aussie.zone 8 months ago
wscholermann@aussie.zone 8 months ago
I meant just in the Hobson’s Bay area.
TinyBreak@aussie.zone 8 months ago
its trash taking out trash right? So long as no ones getting caught in the crossfire. Which they are smart enough not to do since they know thats gonna trigger a presser from the premier and vicpol announcing a new taskforce.
RustyRaven@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Aren’t they burning the places that refuse to peddle their dodgy cigarettes though? Which means every one of these fires has hurt a business that wants nothing to do with them.
TinyBreak@aussie.zone 8 months ago
I dont know enough about the story TBH, I thought it was gang on gang so if so I take back my cavalier attitude towards it.
RustyRaven@aussie.zone 8 months ago
I could be completely wrong too. My knowledge of gangs and related criminal activity is extremely limited. In any case fire is a very bad way of dealing with it.
Maybe we should campaign for the reintroduction of formal duels, so that criminals can kill each other in a calm and controlled environment that does not put the general public at risk. Although that could encourage betting on the results, and gambling tends to lead to more organized crime involvement, so maybe that would just make the problem worse.
wscholermann@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Well the problem is fire bombing does tend to damage adjacent buildings.
prime_factor@aussie.zone 8 months ago
I remember that cafe was a Covid hot spot, back when contact tracing was a thing.
wscholermann@aussie.zone 8 months ago
“Company documents show the Wolf Cafe & Eatery is owned by a company directed by Dib Barakat, who was jailed in November 2019 with his brother over a plot to swap real cigarettes with fakes made from potato and molasses, to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes”
"We don’t know what is going on,” Barakat, 41, who has completed his prison term, told The Age on Thursday. “We have no problems with no one. We do our business. We do our coffee shops and that’s what we do.”
Uh huh. If you say so Barakat.
SituationCake@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Yeah they all seem to have no idea why they were targeted and say it’s a case of mistaken identity. Oh sure. Well, at least you know which coffee shops to avoid so you don’t accidentally get molotoved while getting a latte.