In an escalation of Sydney's increasingly brazen gangland wars, NSW Police on Tuesday pounced on a so-called "kill team" driving through Revesby in Sydney's southwest.
The three men, now charged with conspiracy to murder, were allegedly trying to intercept and kill their target as he picked up a child at a daycare centre.
Assistant Commissioner Scott Cook stressed the public wasn't in danger because the trio, who were travelling in separate cars, were under tight surveillance and contingencies were in place.
"They were never going to be allowed to make it to a (daycare) centre - the collateral damage would have been far too great," he told reporters on Wednesday.
The intended victim's identity hasn't been revealed.
The plot was believed to have been driven by "an internal matter" with the target allegedly chosen due to a dispute within an organised crime network, police said.
The targeted man is known to police and is co-operating with authorities. The three charged were well known to police but aren't believed to be high-ranking members of an organised crime group, but rather junior guns for hire.
They are not thought to have had any personal relationship with the alleged intended target.
Two teens, aged 18 and 19, were arrested in one car on The River Road in Revesby and a 26-year-old man was arrested in a second car nearby.
Three guns, balaclavas, body-worn cameras, and jerry cans containing fuel were seized during searches of the two cars and a property linked to the men.
The cars in which the "kill team" were travelling were stolen and had cloned number plates, police allege.
The trio's behaviour during routine surveillance indicated they were going to do "something of a serious nature", Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said.
"And it was clear that, once we arrested these people, what these cowards were actually going to," he said.
The teens have been charged with multiple offences, including conspiracy to commit murder, possessing an unauthorised pistol, participating in a criminal group and breaching bail.
The 26-year-old was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and participating in a criminal group.
They were refused bail to appear in Bankstown Local Court on Wednesday.
The alleged plot was uncovered during a routine surveillance operation in the Condell Park area, carried out under Strike Force Flodine.
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