The recent spate of brazen shootings across Sydney will be subject to a rigorous new police probe, amid fears the city's gang wars are escalating.
NSW Police announced a specialist task force will investigate links between the shootings and organised crime, after another man was shot dead in Sydney's southwest on Thursday morning.
The unidentified man in his 20s was gunned down on Broughton Street, Canterbury, about 2am, in a scenario with all the hallmarks of an underworld hit.
It is the fifth targeted shooting in the area this week.
The man was found by officers with multiple gunshot wounds. He was treated by paramedics, but died at the scene.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Dave Hudson said the string of tit-for-tat shootings are linked to organised crime networks that are feuding over Sydney's lucrative illicit drug trade.
Taskforce Magnus will examine the links between the shootings, dating back to Alen Moradian's murder in Bondi Junction last month.
Police said they believe most shootings were linked to conflict over the drug supply, particularly in the southwest Sydney area.
Many of the hits are outsourced to lower-level criminal groups.
The latest street execution unfolded after two men had a verbal stoush with the victim.
"We believe two people engaged in conversation with the victim shortly prior to the shooting," Mr Hudson told Sydney radio station 2GB.
Police have since found two burnt-out vehicles they believe were used as getaway cars by the gunmen.
"Police are doing all we can to prevent these shootings ... but the ongoing nature of these incidents is of obvious concern," Mr Hudson said.
"It's escalated over the last several years. Sydney's unfortunately one of the highest consumers of cocaine and methamphetamine in the world."
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the significant operational response was needed to protect the community.
"Public-place shootings are reckless, and criminals carrying out such attacks show a blatant disregard for not only their own safety, but (also) that of the community," she said on Thursday.
"Taskforce Magnus will provide investigating officers a full suite of capabilities and an arsenal of resources to not only find those responsible, but to end this brazen violence on our streets."
Mr Hudson said some of the best minds in policing have been hand-picked to lead the task force.
The latest shooting happened just hours after high-profile criminal lawyer Mahmoud Abbas was gunned down in Greenacre on Wednesday morning.
Mr Abbas, 31, has undergone emergency surgery after a gunman confronted him outside his Greenacre home.
On Sunday, three people were shot at Greenacre, leaving one 25-year-old man critically injured and a 22-year-old man and 19-year-old woman injured.
Sydney's southwestern suburbs are grappling with a gang-linked war involving a number of families. It has claimed at least 11 lives in recent years, and has flared up again in the past few months.
Mr Abbas has represented several high-profile clients, including members of an alleged ISIS-inspired terror cell charged with plotting to destroy Sydney landmarks, and controversial former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer.
In 2021, he appeared for former NRL player Jamil Hopoate on drug charges.
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