HANDS OFF OUR CAFES

SWIFT action must be taken against criminals and outlaw motorcycle gang members using any kind of business as a front for their illegal activities.

Over the years these thugs have targeted tattoo parlours, towing companies, nightclubs and bars.

Now, police have confirmed, cafes are the new front of choice, a move that could see more of the general public exposed to the Glitter Strip’s seedy underbelly.

The main problem with these “fronts”, is the attention it attracts from rival underworld figures.

In April 2012 a Mermaid Beach tattoo parlour, believed to have Bandidos links, was sprayed with bullets in a drive-by shooting.

Imagine arriving at your local cafe for your morning flat white and seeing bullet holes and shattered glass.

The Gold Coast hospitality scene is doing it tough enough as it is, already 50 restaurants or cafes have closed in the past four months.

The last thing hard-working small business owners need is another reason for people to stop coming through the door.

But if people don’t feel safe taking their family to a local cafe, that could be the fallout.

Police must do whatever it takes to shut this down.

Every time outlaw motorcycle gang members raise their heads in this town our police force need to be ready and waiting to smack them back down.

Any foothold bikies gain on the Gold Coast is a problem.

No one wants to see a return to the days of the Broadbeach bikie brawl in 2013, bikie shootings at Robina in 2012 or the ballroom blitz brawl at Royal Pines in 2006.

In the past five years we have reclaimed our city, and we need it to stay that way.

The message is simple – if you’re not a legitimate hard-working business owner, you’re not welcome here.