Seb Costello

And as I understand it, they're even provided with the stolen cars with clone plates in order to carry out the attack.

And often when these teenagers are told where the stolen car is, they'll get there and they'll find the materials to carry out the attack in the car.

So the jerrycan and the lighter will already be there so they can earn their cash.

Unlikely.

Yeah, I think a lot of this is done at a distance through the encrypted phone apps.

And who is recruiting them, you know, is really the biggest question at the moment.

You know, there's a lot of questions and not so many answers.

You know, there's still multiple theories as to what's going on here.

You know, what we do know is there's been a heck of a lot of damage.

There's been dozens of arrests, more than 140 charges laid.

But, you know, there's also venue owners who are living in fear

I know venue owners who have moved away from their family home or at least the owner themselves is living somewhere else where their wife and children might be in the family home.

There's a lot of fear and there's a lot of damage being done.

Yeah, and I think... Look, I'm going to stick with what I know to be true because there's a lot of guesswork going on.

That's the honest truth.

So the main five theories are the sale of tax-free or illicit alcohol, the idea that a crime gang is trying to push illicit alcohol onto venues...

It was a drug market, the sale of cocaine.

Number three was, you know, teams of nightclub promoters doing illegal activity.

That was one of them.

You know, number four was just a basic standover racket where, you know, you extract a tax from businesses in exchange for, you know, protection.