{"id":12142,"date":"2026-05-11T09:53:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T23:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/?p=12142"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:04:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T00:04:24","slug":"melbournes-alcohol-wars-how-organised-crime-is-targeting-hospitality-venues-across-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/melbournes-alcohol-wars-how-organised-crime-is-targeting-hospitality-venues-across-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne\u2019s Alcohol Wars: How Organised Crime Is Targeting Hospitality Venues Across the City"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\"\"Melbourne\u2019s alcohol wars are now impossible to ignore. Since February 2025, criminals have struck nearly 20 hospitality venues across the city. They have carried out arson attacks, shootings, and attempted kidnappings at popular bars and nightclubs. Small business owners are bearing the brunt of it, and the industry is rattled.<\/span><\/p>

Experts warn the situation echoes the tobacco wars that shook Victoria in recent years. Without a coordinated federal response, they say things will only get worse.<\/p>

Three Arrests Mark a Turning Point<\/strong><\/p>

Police made a rare breakthrough over the weekend. Three individuals were caught during an arson attack on Bar Bambi in AC\/DC Lane in Melbourne\u2019s CBD. Lord Mayor Nick Reece credited the result to a tight partnership between the City of Melbourne\u2019s safe city camera network and Victoria Police.<\/p>

\u201cWe have over 500 cameras monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week,\u201d Reece said. \u201cAt 5am on Saturday morning, we picked up suspicious behaviour in a vehicle in that area. Police made two arrests at the site and a third nearby, literally catching these individuals in the act.\u201d<\/p>

What made the arrests even more alarming was the age of those involved. All three were teenagers aged 16, 17, and 18. Melbourne\u2019s alcohol wars are no longer just an adult criminal enterprise. Young people are now doing the dirty work.<\/p>

Extortion or Illicit Supply? The Two Likely Drivers<\/strong><\/p>

Former Victoria Police Detective Charlie Bazina believes two key motivations are driving the attacks.<\/p>

The first is old-fashioned extortion. Criminal figures approach business owners and demand money. If owners refuse, attackers target their venues. Bazina noted this is not a new concept in Australia.<\/p>

\u201cThat certainly happened back in the 1970s when particular migrant communities introduced standover tactics here,\u201d he said. \u201cBusinesses that criminals never even contacted would also get hit. Those attacks were warnings to everyone else.\u201d<\/p>

The second driver connects organised crime\u2019s attacks on hospitality venues to the same economics behind the tobacco wars. Australia places a heavy excise tax on alcohol, sitting between 50 and 97 per cent depending on the product. Criminal networks that import alcohol from overseas while avoiding that excise can make enormous profits. Venues that refuse to stock or sell their product become targets.<\/p>

Both motives share one common thread: intimidation on a commercial scale.<\/p>

Crime Tasker: Recruiting Teenagers Online<\/strong><\/p>

One of the most disturbing dimensions of Melbourne\u2019s alcohol wars is how criminal networks now recruit their foot soldiers. Lord Mayor Reece described encrypted online platforms that function like a criminal version of Airtasker. Underworld figures post jobs. Teenagers accept them for a few hundred dollars.<\/p>

\u201cFor a couple of hundred dollars, kids will take a payment to undertake an arson attack,\u201d Reece said.<\/p>

This model creates serious problems for investigators. It puts physical and legal distance between the organisers and the crimes themselves. It also pulls in young people who may have no prior criminal history and little understanding of the consequences they face.<\/p>

Parents need to take this seriously. A teenager who torches a bar for $200 faces serious criminal charges, a record that follows them for life, and the very real risk of harming or killing someone in the process.<\/p>

This Needs a Federal Response<\/strong><\/p>

Former detective Bazina was blunt about what state police can and cannot do on their own. \u201cCrime has no borders,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will infiltrate other states and territories. Police need a massive level of support.\u201d<\/p>

He pointed to the tobacco wars as a useful precedent. Border Force and federal agencies joined that fight because the supply chains crossed state and national borders. The same logic applies here.<\/p>

Bazina welcomed the partnership between Melbourne\u2019s CCTV network and Victoria Police but stressed it is only one piece of the puzzle. Victoria Police has not yet publicly confirmed a motive for organised crime\u2019s attacks on hospitality venues. However, investigators are treating the incidents as connected, and the weekend arrests are the most concrete result so far.<\/p>

Melbourne Keeps Moving Forward<\/strong><\/p>

Lord Mayor Reece was careful to put the attacks in context. Over the Anzac Day long weekend, more than 55,000 people attended the dawn service in Melbourne. Pedestrian numbers across the CBD reached record levels.<\/p>

\u201cEvery time a crime occurs, it gets captured on a camera or a phone, and people can develop a disproportionate sense of how unsafe a city is,\u201d Reece said. \u201cMelbourne, Sydney, and other Australian cities remain very safe.\u201d<\/p>

That is true. But Melbourne\u2019s alcohol wars do expose a real vulnerability. Organised crime targets industries with thin margins, limited security, and little political power. Hospitality ticks all three boxes.<\/p>

The message from authorities to venue owners is straightforward. Report any suspicious approaches to police immediately. Do not pay. Do not engage. The community\u2019s role is just as important: keep showing up, keep spending locally, and do not let criminal networks drain the life out of venues that make this city worth living in.<\/p>

(Source: WRD News<\/a><\/strong>)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne\u2019s alcohol wars are now impossible to ignore. Since February 2025, criminals have struck nearly 20 hospitality venues across the city. They have carried out arson attacks, shootings, and attempted kidnappings at popular bars and nightclubs. Small business owners are bearing the brunt of it, and the industry is rattled. Experts warn the situation echoes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dalgorno-monitoring-alcohol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12150,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12142\/revisions\/12150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}