Security guards at the funeral of slain drug lord Alen Moradian warned media that his associates were prepared to attack them outside the church as hundreds gathered for his memorial service.
‘Don’t you know who these people are?’ one guard asked a Daily Mail Australia photographer. ‘They will break your f***ing face.’
Moradian was farewelled with the Christian rites of the Assyrian Church of the East at a service in Sydney’s south-west watched on by a small army of about 10 security officers.
Family and friends gathered at St Hurmizd’s Cathedral in Greenfield Park on Wednesday morning, nine days after the gangster was gunned down in the city’s east on his wife Natasha’s birthday.
Mourners were seen comforting Moradian’s widow. Her emotions were hidden behind designer sunglasses as she hugged a loved one who was wearing $1,790 Louis Vuitton Run Away sneakers.
Slain gangster Alen Moradian’s widow Natasha is pictured arriving at her husband’s funeral at St Hurmizd Cathedral in Sydney’s Greenfield park on Wednesday morning
Family and friends gathered at St Hurmizd’s Cathedral on Wednesday morning, nine days after the gangster was gunned down in the city’s east on his wife Natasha’s birthday
The security brigade, hired by Moradian’s family, assembled about an hour before the ceremony began to control two gates at the church’s entrance.
In tense scenes, guards threatened media to back away, warning reporters and photographers could be assaulted by Moradian’s associates.
Two young men were seen handing thick white envelopes to the security detail.
While police were on high alert, there is no suggestion anyone pictured at the funeral made any threats to media or has any criminal affiliations.
Glamorous women and heavily-tattooed men dressed in black hugged as they greeted and comforted each other as they entered the church’s car park.
Several police cars were spotted doing laps around the church in the hours before the service, including riot control, highway patrol, and general duties vehicles.
An unmarked car carrying undercover officers was stationed across the road from the church. One detective could be seen with a camera taking pictures as mourners arrived.
Alen Moradian, left, is pictured with Fares Abounader, who was shot dead outside his home at Panania in September 2020 at the start of Sydney’s latest gang war
Pall bearers carry slain gangster Alen Moradian’s casket into the church on Wednesday
Police in plain clothes strolled back and forth in front of the church, with their pistols clearly visible in holsters strapped to their hips.
Several mourners were pulled over in their cars for random checks as they left the funeral.
Florists began delivering bouquets of flowers about 9.20am on the front steps of the church before the hearse pulled up a short time later.
Natasha Moradian and her sister Tanya were seen driving by the church in separate vehicles about an hour before the service.
Moradian had been sitting in a hired Audi in the underground car park of his Bondi Junction apartment, about to go to the gym, when he was suddenly fired at about 8.30am.
He was shot multiple times in the head at close range, leaving his face almost unrecognisable.
A source said the cocaine kingpin and Comanchero bikie heavyweight had not left a good-looking corpse.
‘He was shot multiple times through the head,’ the source said. ‘Absolutely pulverised.’
Moradian was farewelled with the Christian rites of the Assyrian Church of the East at a service in Sydney’s south-west watched by about 10 security officers
Mourners were seen comforting Moradian’s widow as she arrived at the service, her emotions hidden behind designer sunglasses
The 48-year-old crime boss had also taken bullets to the torso as one of two killers apparently fired every round from a pistol’s magazine into his body.
‘They walked up and emptied a clip into him,’ the source said. ‘He wasn’t going anywhere.’
Police are still hunting the gunmen and have seized two burnt out getaway vehicles which were abandoned a short time after the shooting at Bondi and Zetland.
Moradian’s car was seen to have seven bullet holes through its driver’s side window.
Detectives have traced the Audi – which was not registered under Moradian’s name – to a hire car company from Sydney’s south-west.
One of the getaway cars – a grey Porsche Macan dumped on James St in Bondi – may prove vital to solving the crime after a failed attempt to set it fully alight.
In a major breakthrough, firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, allowing detectives to recover an intact handgun beneath one of the seats.
Moradian was shot dead in a hired Audi in an underground car park below his rented unit at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east on June 27
Several police cars were spotted doing laps around the church in the hours before the service, including riot control, highway patrol, and general duties vehicles
Moradian, dubbed Australia’s ‘Tony Soprano’, pleaded guilty in 2010 to importing 40kg of cocaine, although authorities suspected the haul was up to 100kg.
He was convicted in July 2011 of importing a large commercial quantity of cocaine and sentenced to a minimum ten years and five months in prison.
Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said last week Moradian’s links to the big names in Sydney’s underworld made him a high-value target.
‘He’s a high-level criminal identity… he’s a major player in the organised crime network and also has links to the Comanchero OMCG,’ Detective Superintendent Doherty said hours after Moradian’s death.
‘He obviously had a big target on his back.’
Moradian, who was still on parole when he was executed, sought to flee overseas last August after being told there was a bounty on his head.
He had unsuccessfully sought to have his reporting conditions altered so he could leave the country but was denied permission by authorities.
Daily Mail Australia understands NSW Police refused to confirm to Community Corrections – which supervises parolees – whether they believed his fears were genuine.
Forensic police are pictured outside the block of units in Spring Street, Bondi Junction, where Moradian was shot dead on June 27
The black Audi hire care Alen Moradian was driving when he was shot dead was towed away from the crime scene the day after his execution. Bullet holes are visible in the driver’s window
A source said the underworld figure had instructed lawyers to approach the Community Corrections office at Windsor, north-west of Sydney, about varying his parole conditions.
‘They contacted Community Corrections to get him relieved of his reporting conditions so he could leave the country because he was concerned about there being a target on his back,’ the source said.
‘Community Corrections sought information from the police and they were unwilling to confirm the fact he was genuinely at risk.
‘On that basis Community Corrections couldn’t relieve him of his reporting obligations, so he could not seek refuge overseas.’
Moradian’s lawyers also made contact with the State Crime Command to seek clarification of whether or not police considered his life to be at risk.
‘They wouldn’t confirm or deny that he was at risk of being assassinated,’ the source said.
Discussions took place with Community Corrections about Moradian moving to Melbourne but that would have required Victorian authorities to accept responsibility for his parole.
Another suggestion was made that Moradian could move somewhere else in NSW and report to a different Community Corrections office but that did not proceed.
Any decision to vary Moradian’s parole would ultimately have to have been made by the Commonwealth Parole Office as he had committed federal offences.
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