Shops reporting suspicious fuel purchases in bid to curb firebombings

Victorian retail stores are actively monitoring jerry can and fuel purchases and reporting suspicious transactions to investigators, police have revealed.

The alliance comes amid a wave of arson attacks across Melbourne linked to the extortion of business owners by organised crime gangs.

Overnight, a luxury and sports car workshop at Springvale in the city's south-east joined the long list of hospitality, retail and car dealerships to be targeted by offenders.

Police said an alarm alerted the owner of Etuners Motorsports to a fire at his Aspen Circuit premises just before midnight.

"He subsequently called a friend to assist," Detective Inspector in charge of the Arson and Explosives Squad, Chris Murray, said.

"On arrival, the premise was fully engulfed ... I think it took around about an hour to suppress the fire."

The workshop was substantially damaged.

Inspector Murray said police were looking for three people — a driver and two masked offenders wearing hoodies who lit the fire.

He said there was a drive-by shooting at the same business last week.

"It's a reputable, successful business and therefore organised crime, if they are involved, are looking to exploit that," he said.

Inspector Murray said detectives would examine the business's recent client list to see if there were any possible links to the incidents.

Fuel monitoring scheme 'paying dividends'

Inspector Murray said police had made hundreds of arrests in recent months after numerous firebombings across the city.

He said Victoria Police had recently met with representatives from the retail sector, forming an alliance in which stores would actively monitor the sale of jerry cans and fuel.

Any suspicious purchases would be reported to detectives.

"That's paying great dividends for us," he said.

"[Police] have once again raised the stakes and we have increased both overt and covert patrols all around the state.

"My message is, if you want to roll the dice, there's every chance you're going to get caught."

Inspector Murray repeated his warning to young offenders to think carefully before agreeing to carry out an attack for a crime gang.

"The stats are pretty dire at the moment — we've got two individuals currently on life support in the Alfred hospital, we've had 20 offenders with serious injuries as a result of the act of arson and we've had one death," he said.

He also warned that young offenders were finding themselves in situations which they could not easily walk away from.

"We see this time and time again. If they dip their toe in the water and take one of these jobs on, the reality of trying to then remove themselves and say, "I've had enough" is very, very difficult," he said.

"We've had families threatened, we've had individuals threatened."