Police warn bikie recruitment ramp-up will be met with tough approach Bikie gangs are actively recruiting new members in Tasmania, police intelligence suggests. Senior police say the Rebels have opened new clubhouses in Sorell, Kingston, Mornington and New Norfolk in the past two years. Other motorcycle gangs, including the Outlaws and Satans Riders, are also increasing their presence in the state. The expansion has been linked to the spread of the drug ice. Tasmanian Police Commissioner Darren Hine has vowed to take a tough approach. Were obviously targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs and we want to make sure that we not only disrupt them, but dismantle them when theyre into these illegal activities, he said. Police also want to limit clubhouse liquor licences to reduce the ability of gangs to recruit both hardened criminals and young impressionable men. Police said the intelligence suggested the gangs are aggressively recruiting within the state and outlaw motorcycle gangs are carrying the ice epidemic with them. The states top ranking officers said organised criminal networks associated with some gangs were not only smuggling the drug into Tasmania but moving it around the state. Police believe it is no co-incidence towns like Smithton, where new gang chapters have recently been set up, were now in the grip of ice addiction. Bikies set up in the states north, north-west In the north-west, the Rebels have opened up chapters at Smithton and Spreyton in the past few years. The Outlaws have chapters at East Devonport and also South Burnie, while the Black Uhlans are at Stoney Rise. In the north, the Satans Riders, Outlaws and Devils Henchmen all have clubrooms in Launceston. The Rebels have shut up shop and their Launceston clubrooms are boarded up and on the market following a series of police drug raids and arrests. Police concerned about bikies in the south Police said they were most concerned about bikies movements in the south of the state. The Outlaws have clubrooms in both Glenorchy and Bridgewater. The Devils Henchmen are in Moonah. The Rebels main chapters are in North Hobart and Sorell, but new chapters have sprung up in Kingston, Mornington and New Norfolk over the past two years. The Rebels, Outlaws and Black Uhlans are all understood to have connections to the east coast town of St Helens. Commissioner Darren Hine said any new chapter did concern police and would certainly increase police attention. Other states have introduced non-association laws and clubhouse fortification bans in a bid to stop the gangs criminal activities. Well continue to monitor what happens in other states and continue to have discussions with government and well see how successful or unsuccessful they are, he said.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 08:18:42 +0000
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