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Founded | 1990s |
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Founding location | Perth, Western Australia |
Territory | Perth, Western Australia |
Ethnicity | Lebanese Australians |
Activities | Drug trafficking |
Sword Boys is a street gang in Perth, Western Australia, consisting mostly of Lebanese Australians, [1] [2] that has been known to authorities since mid-1990s. [3] [4] Gang members have been reported to wear a miniature gold scimitar on a chain around their necks. [5] [6]
Sword Boys has been responsible for amphetamine and ecstasy distribution in Western Australia, [7] and has also been linked to car rebirthing by Western Sydney gangs, where stolen cars are stripped and reassembled. [2]
In 2014 brothers Ziad Jneid and Rabih Jneid were arrested and charged as part of a drug syndicate coordinating the distribution of drugs (4 kg [8.8 lb] of crystal methamphetamine) across the Perth metropolitan area. They were charged with conspiracy to sell or supply a prohibited drug. Two other men also charged with supplying a prohibited drug. [8] [9] Ziad Jneid has repeatedly denied any role in a Lebanese mafia operating in Perth called the Sword Boys. [10]
On 31 August 2016, Ziad Jneid and Rabih Jneid were convicted and sentenced by the Perth District Court after both pleading guilty before trial for their roles in the supply of almost 2 kg (4.4 lb) and almost 1 kg (2.2 lb), respectively, of methylamphetamine in 2014. Ziad Jneid received fourteen-and-a-half years' imprisonment and Rabih Jneid received 15 years' imprisonment. Both were described as being upper-echelon drug suppliers motivated by greed. The brothers have links to a notorious Perth Asian street gang jailed for their involvement in the 2013 extortion of a karaoke bar. [11] [12]