Beefed-up Raptor Squad to target Illawarra crime rings, bikie gangs

The group was announced on Sunday as the southern contingent for the NSW Police Force's Raptor Squad, which would also see a northern expansion with a Hunter Valley contingent.

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The squad is to comprise of investigators, Operations Support Group operatives and Traffic and Highway Patrol officers, to build on NSW's crackdown on organised crime and criminal networks.

On Sunday, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the extra resources would target dangerous outlaw motorcycle gangs and criminal networks in the north and south of the state that "jeopardise the safety and lives of innocent members of our community".

"Every resident of our state deserves to feel safe in their communities and their homes," Mr Perrottet said.

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The new regional Raptor squads will work with the Sydney unit and other agencies including the NSW Crime Commission.

Strike Force Raptor was established in 2009 before becoming the standalone Raptor Squad in 2021.

State Crime Commander, Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said the Raptor Squad had made more than 7,500 arrests across the state and laid almost 20,000 charges for a variety of offences, ranging from the most serious and violent through to traffic and consorting.

He said officers had seized almost 3,000 firearms, and close to 1,500 knives, swords, tasers and other dangerous weapons, as well as more than $20 million in cash, hundreds of kilos of drugs, and other proceeds of crime.

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