A MAN has been arrested in connection with the 2011 murder of convicted drug dealer and crime figure Saso Ristevski.
Ristevski, 37, was shot dead at point blank range outside his parents’ home in Lake Heights in the NSW Illawarra region after a confrontation with three men. A 37-year-old man arrested at Warrawong, in Wollongong, on Friday morning is expected to be charged with being accessory before the fact to armed robbery with wounding.
Late last year, Sydney police linked Ristevski’s murder to a Melbourne organised crime figure.
Investigators believe his death was likely the catalyst for a number of other organised crime-related incidents in the Illawarra — including the murders of two other drug dealers.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Laidlaw said while the initial investigation centred on people of Balkan background, it had expanded to people of Pacific Islander and caucasian appearance. “We also have information there are links to an organised crime figure from Melbourne,” he said in a statement at the time.
Police said two search warrants were executed at homes in Warrawong and Barrack Heights, where a number of items were seized for examination.
An arrest warrant is expected to be served on an inmate at a correctional facility for the offence of murder.
“That includes links between the firearm used to shoot Mr Ristevski, which we believe was sourced in the Illawarra region, and a firearm seized by police in Victoria later that year.” Police also appealed for information about a silver VS Holden Commodore captured on CCTV footage on the night of Ristevski’s murder.
A month after his September 2011 death, the burnt out car of 35-year-old Goran Nikolovski was found at Macquarie Pass.
Detectives believe Nikolovski, a known associate of Ristevski, was murdered but have never found a body.
Both killings are thought to be linked to that of Darko Janceski, shot dead in front of his Berkeley home in April 2012.
Insp Laidlaw is expected to address the media on the latest breakthrough on Friday afternoon.
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