REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Thursday August 30, 2007

AN arsenal of weapons, including two semiautomatic assault rifles, were seized at the Tallebudgera Valley home of a bikie gang associate.

Police said they raided the Nancol Drive property after a tipoff and found the guns in the house and a car, and arrested a 49-year-old man who they described as an associate of the Black Uhlans.

The cache included five handguns, 15 rifles and shotguns, two stun guns, a baton, flick knives, ammunition, powder and reloaders.

They add to a massive haul of weapons seized from bikies and other crime figures on the Gold Coast during the previous 18 months.

There were concerns criminals are ‘tooling up’ with guns amid increasing tension in the lucrative Gold Coast and northern NSW drug trade and friction between rival gangs.

The source of the weapons was unclear, however bikies in particular had a history of public gunbattles - including one on the Gold Coast in March 2006 - and there were concerns that an allout war could again put civilians in the firing line.

Underworld sources said the bikie associate, who was known to police, could have been paid to ’mind’ the weapons at the rural property.

“He could be paid a fee to store the weapons and prepare ammo for bikies and keep their homes free of weapons,” said the source.

“Since the shootout between the Finks and Hells Angels at Royal Pines there has been a lot of heat on the bikies and a paid weapons storer makes heaps of sense.”

There were other people at the home when police entered, but only the owner was arrested.