Gangster’s brother is arrested in raid
Harley Barbaro charged for alleged links to street mob
THE Gold Coast-based brother of murdered Sydney underworld boss Pasquale Barbaro has been charged under new anti-gang laws for associating with a dangerous street gang.
Harley Barbaro, 25, is the first alleged gang member in Queensland to be charged with Habitual Consorting under the new Serious and Organised Crime legislation. He was arrested on the Gold Coast yesterday morning.
Police allege he is a member of the Villains street gang and had previously been issued two official warnings not to consort with recognised offenders.
He faces up to three years in jail if found guilty after police alleged he continued to consort with recognised gang members identified in the previous official warning notices.
He was arrested during a raid on his Gold Coast home. Police also allegedly uncovered steroids and weapons.
Barbaro was released under strict bail conditions from Southport Watch house this afternoon.
Defence lawyer Campbell MacCallum, of Moloney MacCallum Abdelshahied Lawyers, said Barbaro would be fighting the charge.
He swore at a Gold Coast Bulletin reporter and photographer as he exited the watch house.
The younger brother of Pasquale and Rossario Dom Barbaro, who took his own life last year, is expected to front Southport Magistrates Court at a later date.
The Barbaro family has an extremely checkered history that dates back to 1990 when their grandfather, Pasquale, was executed outside his home in Brisbane and then in 2003 their cousin, another Pasquale, was shot dead alongside gangster Jason Moran in a Melbourne gangland “hit” made famous in the Underbelly TV series.
Then in November 2016, Harley’s brother Pasquale Barbaro, 35, was shot five times as he got into his Mercedes-Benz outside of construction boss George Alex’s mother’s home in the Sydney suburb of Earlwood.
It’s understood one gunman jumped out of an Audi four-wheel-drive waiting nearby and opened fire on the underworld figure, killing him in the street.
Pasquale Barbaro was a Sydney crime kingpin and had dealings with the mafia. He was the eighth underworld figure executed during a bloody 18 months in Sydney.
And then last year older brother Rossario Dom Barbaro committed suicide while visiting his mother on the Gold Coast.
It’s believed the 30-yearold was devastated and spiralled out of control following the execution of his older brother seven months earlier.
At the time sources dubbed Rossario as “Pasquale’s shadow”, and said something “snapped in Ross” after his brother’s death.
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