GANGS OF THE GLITTER STRIP
CLUBLAND’S MAJOR PLAYERS AND WHAT YOU’RE DOING ABOUT THEM
REBELS
Late last year the country’s biggest bikie gang reportedly had a Nerang base with business interests in Surfers Paradise. A number of Rebels trying to quit the gang have fled Sydney for the Coast, believing it’s safer. The body of Ricky Ciano, was found in his car in a Sydney back road in February. The 35-year-old relocated to the Coast in 2015 after quitting the gang. Det Supt Niland: “They are still over the border at Tweed Heads.” HELLS ANGELS Believed to have a sprawling Coast presence from Burleigh to Broadbeach, out to Varsity Lakes and — as of February — in Main Beach. Authorities swooped on the bluechip suburb’s Tedder Ave restaurant and boutique fashion strip three months ago, making arrests over an alleged major cocaine and ice syndicate linked to the Hells Angels.
Det Supt Niland: “They are problematic, they are a challenge — their links are national and international. But once again actual numbers are low in their regard, too.” MONGOLS Like the Bandidos, police hope the usually Chinderahbased Mongols ranks have been slashed by recent drug busts. The Mongols are largely made up of ex-Finks who patched over in 2013. In late March, police seized $370,000 in cash, drugs, motorbikes and cars and cuffed four Gold Coast men and a woman after busting an alleged joint Comancheros and Mongols drug distribution ring including amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and steroids.
Det Supt Niland: “Many of those members are before the courts on drug trafficking charges. Their strength now is only a handful but we continue to monitor them.” BLACK UHLANS Police believe their ranks are low with just a handful on the Coast. An associate was charged two months ago in relation to an alleged weapons racket, having tried to sell a gun to an undercover cop.
Det Supt Niland: “Burleigh based, once again they have a handful of members. But they’re exactly the same as other OMCG — just generally an OMCG, their one goal is greed. They are heavily involved in trafficking of dangerous drugs.” LONE WOLF The Currumbin crew are described as small but fierce and remain active. Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey flagged the return of Lone Wolf bikies to a clubhouse in a light industrial precinct with easy access to the Pacific Motorway late last year. They hit the headlines last week when CCTV footage emerged of two alleged Lone Wolf members jumping out of a hotel doorway in Coolangatta and blindsiding a man walking, brutally attacking him. They knocked him to the ground and continued to kick and punch him while he was down. Det Supt Niland: “You saw some of them in action — thugs. A number of these persons are facing charges.” COMANCHEROS Police consider only a handful reside on the Coast but they have already generated headlines, with an associate accused of bashing a bus driver in Surfers Paradise and a gunshot incident in Broadbeach.
Det Supt Niland: “They are a nasty, serious organised crime gang (and) have chapters in other states. They have not got an established chapter here. They are in disarray as far as their Gold Coast chapter is concerned.” BANDIDOS The longtime Broadbeachbased Bandidos were largely responsible for the suburb’s infamous 2013 brawl which shocked diners and resulted in a public stand-off with police before bikies circled Southport police station demanding release of those arrested. Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek would later refer to the situation as “anarchy”. It sparked the former Newman Government’s tough anti-bikie laws.
Police alleged it was Bandidos responsible for two drive-by shootings of homes just north of the Gold Coast in late February and early March aimed at intimidating Rebels as part of a turf war.
But on the Gold Coast group, Det Supt Niland says: “They have been decimated. They have a Tweed base, I believe they call themselves the north-end chapter.” NEW ARRIVALS Police say New Zealand’s fearsome Black Power and Mongrel Mob have emerged in a small way just north of the Gold Coast. Back in December, two Black Power members, including one who listed himself on social media as Gold Coast based posed for a photo in full colours, holding a gun.