Sydney raids: Police storm Merrylands home of man suspected of supplying gun to Farhad Jabar

Updated 10.08am AEDT

New South Wales police under the powers of firearms prohibition orders raided two homes in Merrylands early Wednesday morning.

According to authorities, the search came after a suspected threat against a Sydney police station involving a firearm. No items of interest were found during the raids, but investigations are ongoing.

One of the homes in Sydney’s West, on Lockwood Street, was previously raided in October following the shooting of Parramatta police worker Curtis Cheng by teenager Farhad Jabar.

A 22-year-old, Talal Alameddine, was arrested in the October raids, and a week later charged with supplying the gun Jabar had possessed and used to kill Cheng. He is suspected of handing a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver to 18-year-old Raban Alou between 1:40 p.m. and 2:55 p.m. at Merrylands on Oct 2, the day of the Parramatta shooting, before Alou allegedly passed on the handgun to Jabar at the Parramatta mosque.

Alameddine is due to appear in court in a week, and was denied bail last month. Alou was also charged with aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring the commission of a terrorist act.

The second home raided Wednesday morning on Blackwood Street belongs to the Haouchar family, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Osman Haouchar, 26, was last week detained by the AFP upon returning from the Turkey-Syria border, where he said he was doing humanitarian work in Turkey. He was later released.

State Crime Commander, Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins said Wednesday's operation was about ensuring the safety of police and the community.

“Any threat to police officers or police premises is of major concern and taken extremely seriously, as demonstrated by the operation we undertook today,” he said.

“We will continue to take every precaution necessary to protect our officers and the safety of the wider community, and will respond swiftly to any specific threats that are received."

The matter remains under investigation, but police are urging anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/.

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