Nightclub firebombings and ‘The Ghost’: Melbourne’s latest crime war
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to 7am. It started with a single nightclub attack and escalated into what's been dubbed Melbourne's hospitality crime war. More than 30 clubs, pubs and restaurants have now been targeted in drive-by shootings, break-ins and firebombings. And while dozens of arrests have now been made, the people behind the attacks remain a mystery. One theory, that an international crime syndicate led by a man called The Ghost is ordering the hits from a bunker in Iraq. Today, senior reporter at The Herald Sun, Seb Costello, on the escalating attacks threatening the lives and livelihoods of Melbourne venue owners.
It's Friday, May 22. So, Seb, could you begin by just taking me back a few months to when we first started to hear about these attacks on clubs and restaurants in Melbourne and what first started to come out?
What initiated the Melbourne hospitality crime war?
Yeah, I think it first happened with the Love Machine, which is a fairly notorious nightclub in the Paran area.
Thankfully, nobody was inside when this blaze broke out just after two o'clock this morning, sparking a huge response from firefighters.
That was completely gutted by arsonists towards the end of March. Love Machine has ended in flames.
Arsonists destroyed the venue in the early hours of this morning and organised crime figures are among the suspects.
But when that happened, you know, Love Machine had attracted a lot of attention. There'd been a fatal shooting there pre-COVID.
How have the attacks on Melbourne venues escalated?
Somebody had been jailed for that. You know, it was... understood to be a fairly hot drug market for police looking at that very closely.
The club has a chequered history. In 2019, a security guard and a patron were shot dead during a drive-by shooting. In August 2024, a group of young men were involved in a stabbing.
But over the course of April and into May, we basically had some sort of attack every night, be it an arson or an attempted kidnapping or a bashing.
In South Melbourne, the George Hotel was firebombed. The owners questioning why they have been caught up in the chaos.
You know, by the time there are at least a dozen attacks on bars and clubs, that's when the police started to link these. But what was clearly common between the different attacks was the way they were being carried out. So it was often, you know, in the early hours of the morning when the venues were empty, it was by young people.
Who is behind the attacks and what is the role of 'The Ghost'?
And, you know, it was generally the same sort of MO, smash open the front door, carry a jerry can, splash that around and light it on fire.
It appears arsonists have used a vehicle to ram their way through a roller door to get inside and then gone upstairs and spread accelerant. Two 20-litre jerry cans were found out the front and this was a big blaze.
It took probably three weeks before Victoria Police formally put together their Operation Eclipse task force, but it was pretty clear by the way these attacks were being carried out that there was some similarities.
We've had a real escalation that we're addressing through Operation Eclipse, an escalation of crimes that include firebombings and arsons, home invasions, kidnappings and shootings.
Right. And that task force has made some arrests. So what do we know about who police say are carrying out the attacks?
What we now know is that there is encrypted apps that I guess crime lords, if you like, are using to try and recruit teenagers to actually do their dirty work. So, you know, the teenagers are sort of told, you know, you'll be treated with lightly in the justice system. It's your first offence. You'll probably not really face any real penalty. And they lure them in with those promises as well as the offer of cash and sometimes drugs. And so once they've got these teenagers on the hook, they give them the instruction, we want a firebombing done at this venue. 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.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–1:06
2
What initiated the Melbourne hospitality crime war?
1:06–1:39
3
How have the attacks on Melbourne venues escalated?
1:39–2:36
4
Who is behind the attacks and what is the role of 'The Ghost'?
2:36–11:10
5
What methods are being used in the recent attacks?
11:10–15:28
Speakers
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