A TEENAGER is behind bars after he was arrested by organised crime detectives for his alleged involvement in hatching a murder plot.
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Police investigating a conspiracy to kill a 30-year-old man raided a home at Gorokan on the Central Coast and arrested 18-year-old Jacob Wilson on March 1.
The State Crime Command's Organised Crime Squad launched an operation - codenamed Strike Force Barralier - in December 2023 to piece together an alleged $400,000 plot to kill the Sydney man.
The investigation discovered three men were allegedly involved in the conspiracy to murder the underworld figure and two were charged in January.
They remain before the courts.
In another significant breakthrough, strike force detectives homed in on the the third man they allege was involved.
Officers - backed by the Public Order and Riot Squad - arrested Wilson at Gorokan at about 9am on Friday.
A nearby home was then raided and detectives "seized items relevant to the investigation", police said.
The teenager was taken to Wyong Police Station and charged with conspiracy to murder and participating in a criminal group.
He faced an out-of-sessions court hearing in Newcastle on Saturday after his arrest and spent the weekend behind bars before fronting a magistrate on Monday.
He made no application for bail in Sydney Downing Centre Local Court and it was formally refused.
His was not required to enter pleas to the two charges and his case was adjourned to May.
Detectives alleged the two men that were arrested in January, aged 18 and 30, had been conducting surveillance while "waiting for the right opportunity to murder the victim".
Investigators alleged the pair had taken out a contract to kill the intended victim.
- With AAP
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald. Email: afalkenmire@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald. Email: afalkenmire@austcommunitymedia.com.au
