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<\/p>\nDrive-by shootings, kidnappings and acts of arson.<\/p>\n
Since early April there have been almost 20 of these attacks committed against Melbourne pubs and clubs.<\/p>\n
Now threatening messages have further stoked fear within the industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fear of being next has kept\u00a0Melbourne strip club owner Michael Trimble\u00a0silent until now.\u00a0He told\u00a07.30 he can no longer sit back and watch the city become a “war zone”.<\/p>\n
“Everyone is hoping that they’re not going to be next. Obviously, it’s a concern for us, but we can’t just hide,” Mr Trimble said.<\/p>\n
“It’s the Wild West out here at the moment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Emergency services were called to a suspicious fire at La Di Da nightclub. (ABC News: Kate Meade)<\/p>\n
“It’s relentless every day. It’s hard to feel like you’re living in a prosperous first world city when you’re turning on the news every day and seeing these kinds of incidents just happening all the time.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know how much worse it has to get before we start taking drastic measures.”<\/p>\n
Mr Trimble is co-owner of Bar 20, located on King Street in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD and across the road from the scene of the latest alleged incident.<\/p>\n
In the early hours of Tuesday morning emergency services were called to a suspicious fire at La Di Da nightclub.<\/a><\/p>\n The venue is located on the corner of King and Little Bourke streets.<\/p>\n “My neighbours got fire-bombed last night,” Mr Trimble told 7.30.<\/p>\n “It’s definitely creating some anxiety for sure. My staff are worried.”<\/p>\n All options on the table for police<\/p>\n Last week, Victoria Police launched Operation Eclipse, tasked with uncovering the organised crime syndicates they allege may be behind the attacks.<\/p>\n Emergency services were called to Bar Bambi in ACDC Lane on April 25. (ABC News)<\/p>\n Bar Bambi had its windows smashed and was set alight.\u00a0 (ABC News: Patrick Rocca)<\/p>\n Police said they were open to a “range of possibilities”, as to motive, including the illegal alcohol trade and drug dealing.<\/p>\n “That’s the million dollar question I suppose that we’d answered and go back to,” Detective Inspector Jason Kelly said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We’d asked for information, but everything is on the table, whether it’s conflict within the industry, whether it’s illicit alcohol, whether it’s stand-over, extortion activities, competitors, nothing is ruled out yet.”<\/p>\n Illicit alcohol generally means alcoholic drinks produced, distributed or sold illegally, bypassing government taxes.<\/p>\n This includes so-called bootleg liquor: low-quality, diluted spirits sold through the black market, which, in some cases, can cause serious health risks.<\/p>\n Police also believe an organised crime syndicate is recruiting young offenders via encrypted messaging app Signal, to carry out the attacks by offering them cash to destroy a business.<\/p>\n “We’ve seen figures bandied around, but it can be as low as $500 to $1,000 \u2014 but up to even as high as $20,000,” Detective Inspector Kelly said.<\/p>\n “Our experiences suggest ‘don’t rule that out’ and that will be one of the complexities of this investigation.”<\/p>\n Police are investigating a fire at Electric Bar in Prahran. (ABC News: Kate Meade)<\/p>\n Mr Trimble said he found it “difficult to believe” that the targeted incidents were related to illicit alcohol sales.<\/p>\n “We’re trying to make sense of what is happening. Is there any kind of pattern? Is there anything that links all these venues up?” Mr Trimble told 7.30.<\/p>\n Messages from ‘The Cartel’<\/p>\n Late last week he was among multiple bar owners to receive a threatening text message via WhatsApp.<\/p>\n A threatening WhatsApp message from “The Cartel”. (Supplied)<\/p>\n The message, sent from a number listed as ‘The Cartel’ and seen by 7.30, reads:<\/p>\n “Hello<\/p>\n If you got this message<\/p>\n Were [sic] after you, your family, your businesses, homes and souls.<\/p>\n We will take it by force if you don’t comply the police can’t help you its inevitable we won’t stop till we get what we want.<\/p>\n Thank you”<\/p>\n At the time, Mr Trimble wasn’t sure whether to panic or dismiss the message<\/p>\n “It wasn’t like an instant panic. I just looked at it and guess I just tried to assess. I had a quick chat with my head of security on that night, sort of thought I could potentially just be nonsense.<\/p>\n “I guess we’re so desensitised to all this madness now living here in Victoria, it’s just like another day of life in Melbourne.”<\/p>\n It’s not just bars and restaurants that have been attacked.\u00a0<\/p>\n On April 23, alcohol company 80 Proof was destroyed in an arson attack, causing $4.5 million of damage.<\/p>\n And with the spate of attacks continuing both police and those in the industry are concerned that innocent people could be caught in the crossfire.<\/p>\n “I acknowledge that this would be concerning for the community,” Detective Inspector Kelly told 7.30.<\/p>\n “But I encourage people to go about their lives as they would, but be alert and contact triple zero if you’re concerned.”<\/p>\n That concern is real just a few streets away from Bar 20, where Josh Collins owns a cocktail bar. His venue has not been targeted but he and his workers are worried.<\/p>\n Cocktail bar owner Josh Collins says the anonymous message is “terrifying”. (ABC News: Andrew Ware)<\/p>\n “We’re nervous,” Mr Collins told 7.30.<\/p>\n “This is an unprecedented levels of attacks.<\/p>\n “You could see the same happening with tobacco businesses where there’s obviously some kind of backside war going on that we don’t know anything about.<\/p>\n “As a hospitality venue, I feel I’m very much in the forefront (and) could potentially be a target to this.”<\/p>\n Unlike Mr Trimble he has not received a threatening message but was shocked when shown it, enough to say that sort of threat may see him leave the industry.<\/p>\n “That’s terrifying,” he said.<\/p>\n “You think you’d get something like that and (if) it did get more persistent, you just throw the rag. There’s no way I’m putting my life on the line.”<\/p>\n Watch 7.30<\/a>, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview<\/a> and ABC TV<\/p>\n Contact 7.30<\/p>\n![\"Fire](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b7867043ddbe0a1cfbafb5977c0f5f8c.jpeg\")
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