| In | Carlton, Victoria |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1970s−Present |
| Territory | Carlton and surrounding areas |
| Ethnicity | Italians |
| Membership | 50−100 |
| Criminal activities | Murder, Conspiracy, weapon trafficking, Drug trafficking, Racketeering, Witness intimidation, Extortion and Gambling |
The Carlton Crew is an Italian-Australian criminal organisation based in Melbourne, Victoria. It is so called because the members commonly met in Lygon St, Carlton, commonly called "Little Italy".
It was formed in the late 1970s by gangster Alphonse Gangitano and named after the Melbourne suburb in which it is based. The organisation had a strong rivalry with the Honoured Society and the Calabrese Family, both of which were Calabrian 'Ndrangheta groups also based in Melbourne. The Carlton Crew had a strong role in the infamous Melbourne gangland killings.
The group was formed by Alphonse Gangitano and included convicted criminals Graham Kinniburgh, Mick Gatto and Jason Moran.[1] Gangitano had logged several minor arrests in the late 1970s and early 1980s while building a reputation as "The black prince of Lygon Street". Gangitano recruited a score of thugs (mainly of Italian origin) who installed jukeboxes and vending machines in local bars and nightclubs under the threat of violence, then reinvested their profits in drug trafficking.
In 1995, Melbourne police suspected Gangitano in two murders: those of small-time crook Greg Workman (killed at Wando Grove while celebrating a friend's release from prison) and prostitute Deborah Boundy (whose clients included Carlton Crew hitman Christopher Flannery).
On 19 December 1995, Gangitano engaged in a wild melee with Jason Moran and Mark McNamara at a Melbourne nightclub. Prosecutors were still debating various charges against him, when Gangitano's wife found him dead in the laundry room of their Templestowe home on 16 January 1998. Gangitano had been shot several times in the head.
Mick Gatto succeeded Gangitano as head of the group. In June 1999, he was charged with deception for placing 39 bets with a bookie under the pseudonym ('Mick Delgado'). In February 2002, a Royal Commission investigated Gatto on suspicion of accepting $250,000 to 'mediate' labour disputes with the Australian Workers Union.
On 13 December 2003, Kinniburgh was murdered outside his home in Kew.
Carlton Crew member Mario Condello boasted a record of convictions for arson, fraud and drug trafficking. Police also suspected him for multiple murders. In 2005 he was charged with plotting to murder crime boss Carl Williams, who also faced charges of scheming to ambush Condello. A trial for that case was pending when unknown gunmen murdered Condello outside his Brighton home on 6 February 2006. Six hundred mourners attended his funeral, with Mick Gatto serving as a pallbearer.
The Carlton Crew still operates today in Melbourne, and there has been speculation that Mick Gatto still leads it to this day.