"As soon as these new guys start to see a bit of money they buy a flash car, Louis Vuitton man bag and get a place in Docklands or Port Melbourne," a source said. "They're young, violent, just don't give a shit and post all about it on Facebook." The Sunday Age understands that a drug dealer suspected of committing at least two murders and a string of drug-related standovers moved into a Docklands high-rise amid fears his activities were making him a target for revenge.

Sources say booming profits from the ice and meth trade are funding moves into the area for a new generation of criminals, and the trend is accelerating amid fears about the growing drug-related violence in the northern and western suburbs.

Rocco Arico was arrested in 2015 and convicted of drug trafficking, extortion and weapons offences in 2016 and 2017. Credit:Pat Scala

Docklands is already home to a number of notorious residents including ex-bikie enforcer Toby Mitchell and alleged gangland boss Rocco Arico.

Arico has been charged following an investigation by the Purana anti-gangland taskforce into allegations of extortion and blackmail following a drug deal that went bad. A raid of his Docklands apartment allegedly uncovered a gun, ammunition, drugs and stack of cash.



Mitchell, who has been living in Docklands for nearly three years, was arrested and charged with drug trafficking in September after police stopped his car and a search allegedly uncovered a commercial quantity of ice.



A number of businesses in the precinct have also been linked to known and suspected criminals, including a major western suburbs drug trafficker, members of the Calabrian mafia, and an accused money launderer and loan shark.



Convicted drug trafficker Fadi Haddara is often sighted in the Docklands area and has been photographed on a yacht in the harbour.



A proliferation of short-stay hotels and other fly-by-night accommodation providers is also offering opportunities for illegal sex workers and drug dealers to ply their trades.



Residents have been fighting a legal and planning battle to block apartment owners from temporarily letting out their premises via sites like AirBnB, which they claim have become a magnet for poorly behaved holidaymakers.



But the Docklands Community Association has also told residents Victoria Police are concerned about drug trafficking out of residential buildings in the area. "Police stated that short-stay apartments were main places to watch," the DCA warned.



Law enforcement sources say illegal sex workers have also been using short-stay apartments in the Docklands and CBD to service clients they meet via advertisements on sites like Gumtree.



The latest figures from the Crime Statistics Agency show Docklands has experienced a massive jump in crime, up 58 per cent in the past financial year and nearly double what it was five years ago.



A Victoria police spokeswoman said the crime data should be considered in the context of the large population increase seen in the precinct in the past few years but that drugs remain "ongoing challenge" for police in the Docklands and CBD.



"Police regularly meet with local residents and sit on local community groups, where issues of concern can be discussed," she said.



The precinct has also become a magnet for slum housing operators who target vulnerable tenants such as foreign students and illegal workers, charging them each more than $100 a week to live in a two-bedroom apartment crammed with up to 10 others.



Feeding into the problem is a soaring residential vacancy rate caused by expensive buy-in prices, high rents and a perception the precinct is poorly designed and serviced.



It is estimated nearly a quarter of all apartments and units in Docklands are unoccupied. The vacancy rate could be as high as 33 per cent for investment properties, putting enormous pressure on landlords to get tenants.



University of Melbourne urban geographer Dr Kate Shaw said the high rate of unoccupied units is a direct result of the type of housing being built there. "The building product is explicitly targeted to the investor market," she said.

Ex-bikie enforcer Toby Mitchell. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Dr Shaw said the decision to "let the market" determine the shape of the Docklands was now having "unintended consequences".