Neighbour suspected target of Sydney student’s mistaken identity killing

A trio of Victorians, including a 16-year-old boy, allegedly shot an innocent Sydney university student dead in his bedroom during a botched attack on an organised crime figure living on the same street.

Detectives believe the group mistakenly killed 23-year-old Marco Tapia after forcing their way into his family’s Glen Alpine home in the early hours of September and are investigating the intended target’s links to Sydney’s criminal underworld.

Homicide squad detectives on Tuesday charged Vaifaalie Tuafuti, 23, Omar Mohamed, 22, and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, with murder, two counts of special aggravated break and enter and committing a serious indictable offence, and possessing an unauthorised prohibited firearm. All three are due to face court on Wednesday.

Detectives believe the group was targeting a man with links to organised crime who lived on the same street as Tapia. They are investigating whether he was being targeted because of his suspected connection to the Coconut Cartel, a criminal group feuding with Sydney’s Alameddine crime family over control of the city’s lucrative illicit drug market. Police have warned the suspected target about threats to his life.

Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi, the commander of NSW Police’s homicide squad, said investigators were yet to identify the alleged gunman.

“Mr Tapia was a completely innocent party,” Doueihi said.

Detectives will allege in court that the trio broke into the Glen Alpine home before shooting Tapia in his bed. One of the trio is alleged to have been armed with a pistol.

The trio was extradited from Victoria on September 18, along with a 26-year-old woman, Amenah Abusud.

Abusud has not been charged with Tapia’s murder, but she has been charged with criminal group and accessory offences.

Police alleged during an extradition hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court this month that the group worked for the Alameddine family.

The trio has been charged over separate attacks, including a home invasion at Hurstville in Sydney’s south, and the shooting of several cars in nearby Turrella the night before Tapia was killed.

Ballistic analysis found discharged cartridge cases at the two scenes were “positively matched” to the Glen Alpine crime scene where a firearm was found, a NSW Police officer testified in court. The gun used in the shooting was seized from Tapia’s bedroom, where one of the assailants dropped it during a struggle with the 23-year-old.

The court was told the Victorians left their Airbnb at Campbelltown, in Sydney’s south-west about 1.50am on September 1 and returned about 4am, “where they appear to be in a rush to collect their belongings before all leaving”.

Two boys, aged 14 and 16, were earlier charged with staging vehicles and providing the weapon. They remain in custody and are due to face court again on November 13.

Doueihi said combatting the increasing involvement of teenagers in organised crime required a combined effort from the NSW government, police and the wider community.

“Crime doesn’t pay,” he said.

“If you are a young person out there, and someone’s trying to entice you into this type of crime or some type of activity, you will be caught. You’re not smarter than the police; we have our capability. We have the expertise.”