Jury retires to consider bikie brawl verdict

 The jury in the trial of seven men charged over a fatal bikie brawl at Sydney Airport has retired to consider its verdict. Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas died after being bashed and stabbed during a fight between rival bikie clubs at the airport domestic terminal in March 2009. Six Comancheros stood trial for his murder, while a Hells Angels member stood trial for riot and affray. After a four-month trial that heard evidence from airport staff and passengers, Justice Robert Hulme summed up the Crown and defence cases. He directed the jurors to reach a unanimous verdict. The judge told them to be fearless and impartial in reaching it and to make their own assessment of CCTV footage and witnesses. The jurors retired this afternoon and will continue their deliberations in the...

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Posted in Jury retires to consider bikie brawl verdict

GROWING outlaw bikie clubs own sub-machineguns, traffic in illicit drugs and use counter-surveillance equipment.

Guns seized by police in raids on properties owned by outlaw motorcycle club members. Source: SuppliedVictoria Police have seized more than 50 weapons and drugs and cash during more than 52 raids on properties since February.Alarmingly, a mini sub-machinegun, a pistol with a silencer, assault rifles, Tasers and ballistic vests are among the items seized.Police have also revealed there have been several shootings involving patched bikie gang members, including that of Fink enforcer Mick MacPherson several months ago.But intelligence suggests there is no emerging war about to erupt between clubs.Detective Superintendent Doug Fryer said...

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Posted in GROWING outlaw bikie clubs own sub-machineguns , traffic in illicit drugs and use counter-surveillance equipment.

Dunedin gang members arrested following clash

 Armed police have been guarding a residential street in Dunedin overnight after a clash between rival gangs involving baseball bats and guns. Police arrived at the known gang address on Allenby Ave in Pine Hill just after 4pm yesterday after dozens of calls from worried residents. Half an hour later, a gang member was discovered at Dunedin hospital with a gun shot wound to the arm. Ten gang members were taken into custody - five Mongrel Mob members, five Black Pow...

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Posted in Dunedin gang members arrested following clash

Hells Angels and Vagos Motorcycle Gangs Go to War in Nevada Casino

The Hells Angels motorcycle gang is minus one California leader after a wild shootout in a Nevada casino. The Vagos motorcycle gang survived the fight with two members wounded. The violent fight caused the city's Mayor to temporarily declare a state of emergency and stop a biker festival. It wasn't long before a drive-by shooting wounded another biker in retaliation.Friday night at John Ascuaga's Nugget Hotel and Casino in Sparks, Nevada, was the scene of the bloody altercation between the two gangs. Eyewitnesses say a Hells Angels member fired the first shot and a surveillance video clearly shows a biker shooting wildly into the casino crowd....

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Police keep close watch on Ballarat as bikies visit

 POLICE hit Ballarat’s streets in force on Saturday night for a high-visibility public order operation, coinciding with a visit from the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Club. While Victoria Police would not confirm the gathering was a prelude to any increased bikie presence in Ballarat, they said they would continue to maintain increased vigilance over any potential illegal activities. As part of the operation, a Victoria Police marked camera van was parked for extended periods in the northbound lane of Doveton Street, with a clear view down Grainery Lane. Men wearing colours and insignia representing the Finks Motorcycle Club and its supporter...

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Hawi trial nears end

 THE four-month trial of former bikie leader Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi, who is charged with murdering a man at Sydney Airport in 2009, entered its closing phase on Wednesday. Mr Justice Robert Allan Hulme began summing up the case to the jury in Sydney West Trial Courts, Parramatta. Hawi, 31, of Bexley, once one of the heads of this area's Comanchero Motorcycle Club, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Anthony Zervas, whose brother was a Hells Angels member. Justice Hulme was expected to continue his summation of the case until Friday, after which the jury will retire to consider its verdict. Five other Comanchero members or associates are also standing trial co-accused of the same murder. During the trial, medical experts gave evidence that bollards, a pair of scissors and a knife found...

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Gang squad probe car fire-bombing at bikie lawyer's Port Kennedy home

 POLICE say they are yet to establish a firm motive after the overnight firebombing of a car at a Port Kennedy property owned by prominent bikie lawyer Malcolm Ayoub. Police and firefighters were called to the house in San Sebastian Boulevard at 12.25am this morning after reports molotov cocktails had been thrown at the house, damaging a car. The house is co-owned by Mr Ayoub, a criminal lawyer who acts for several Rock Machine bikies, including sergeant-at-arms Brent Reker, 26, and Stefan Pahia Schmidt, 25, who is accused of murder after allegedly throwing a man out from an upstairs window of the Ocean Beach Hotel in May. PerthNow understands the vehicle sustained minor damage. On Friday, Reker and another man were convicted extorting $2000 from two young men they claimed were boasting...

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Posted in Gang squad probe car fire-bombing at bikie lawyer's Port Kennedy home

Ecstasy crime ring smashed,

 highly sophisticated drug ring has been smashed by federal authorities with the seizure of a record haul of a precursor drug capable of producing $70 million worth of ecstasy. Customs intercepted more than 2800 litres of safrole oil (an extract of the sassafras plant) in three shipments from China to Sydney's Port Botany between April and August. The oil was concealed in bottles labelled as shampoo and cleaning products. Advertisement: Story continues below In a joint statement, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said there was enough of the banned chemical to produce almost 235kg of MDMA or 2.3 million ecstasy tablets. Three Australian men were arrested during an operation involving more than 50 Australian Federal Police officers in Sydney on Wednesday morning. If found guilty,...

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'Bikie links' to torched industrial unit

 Police have revealed a property damaged in a suspicious fire in Sydney's west on Sunday night is linked to a motorcycle gang. Emergency services were called to the industrial unit at Mount Druitt about 11:00pm AEST. Police say the blaze caused extensive damage to the ground floor and second-storey office areas. Chief Inspector Bill Pearce says the gangs squad has been called in. "We believe that the premises are owned or leased or rented by persons who are associated with a motorcycle group and as a result of that we're following certain lines of inquiry in relation to the fire which we believe is certainly suspicious," he sa...

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Gangland boss Carl Williams fingers cop Paul Dale from beyond grave

 ON April 24, 2007, deep inside the razor wire of Victoria's Barwon Prison, gangland killer Carl Williams finally decided to tell his story about crooked cops and Melbourne's underworld war. Williams is now dead, but his lurid tale echoed from the grave yesterday as his version of history, made in three statements over two years, was read out to a spellbound audience in the Victorian Supreme Court trial of Williams's alleged murderer, Matthew Charles Johnson. Johnson has pleaded not guilty on the basis of self-defence. According to Williams's statements, his relationship with former policeman Paul Dale began nervously. The gangland killer and the policeman were so "paranoid" about each other that they once met in a swimming pool wearing only bathers so that neither could be "wired"...

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Posted in Gangland boss Carl Williams fingers cop Paul Dale from beyond grave

Explosives, steroids seized in Comancheros bikie raids

  explosives have been uncovered at the home of a Comancheros bikie after police raided two properties in their hunt for a gunman. The raids come after up to five rounds were peppered bullets into a Darch house - where Comancheros bikies live - on Wednesday. Gang Crime Squad detectives today descended on a house in Tangmire Way, Balga where they allegedly discovered 1kg of powergel, an explosive commonly used in the mining industry. Senior police said intelligence suggested the powergel could have had the potential to cause significant damage or even death. ``It's approximately 1kg in weight and could cause extreme damage or loss...

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Posted in Explosives , steroids seized in Comancheros bikie raids

Bikies love to fortify their clubhouses with large gates, reinforced doors and state-of-art electronic security.

 TRADITIONALLY most police don't like working on bikies and for good reason. The gang leaders are usually cunning, ruthless and a little whiffy in the armpit department. The Special Operations Group, on the other hand, always enjoy a good bikie raid as it gives them a chance to use their extremely impressive armoury of boys' toys. Bikies love to fortify their clubhouses with large gates, reinforced doors and state-of-art electronic security. Police have even seen some of them wearing infra-red night goggles while patrolling their compounds. Advertisement: Story continues below Bikies usually need such security to protect themselves from...

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Posted in Bikies love to fortify their clubhouses with large gates , reinforced doors and state-of-art electronic security.

Police probe bikie link in shooting

 A feud between rival bikie gangs was believed to be behind the targeted shooting of a home and car in Perth's northern suburbs overnight. Detectives this morning are investigating the shooting, which occurred at a home in Matlock Heights, Darch, just after midnight. Serious and organised crime Superintendent Charlie Carver told 6PR Radio the shooting was a targeted attack on the property. Advertisement: Story continues below He said the assailants parked their vehicle at the end of the street before walking up to the home and firing five shots into the home and a car parked in the driveway. Three shots were fired into the front lounge room window, one into a window frame and the fifth into the Nissan Coupe. Two men and a woman, who were believed to have links to the Comancheros...

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Puddy in heated call to murder-accused

 The best mate of missing multimillionaire businessman Craig Puddy has told a Perth court of a heated phone conversation between Mr Puddy and the bar manager accused of killing him. Cameron James Mansell, 39, is on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court for the murder of Mr Puddy, 45, who has not been seen since May 3 last year when he was allegedly killed in his $3.5 million Mt Pleasant home. Mr Puddy was part-owner of a bar called Basement On Broadway, in which he had invested $700,000, and Mansell was the manager. Defence lawyer Anthony Eyers has said Mansell fled the state after witnessing a "brutal" attack on Mr Puddy over a drug debt. But Prosecutor Bruno Fiannaca alleges Mr Puddy and his business partner, Martin Rogers, believed Mansell was mismanaging the bar and stealing...

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Police blast bikies' recklessness after shots fired

 Neighbours on a quiet Darch street feared for their lives after shots were fired at the home of a Comanchero bikie gang nominee early yesterday. Det-Supt Charlie Carver said that two men and a woman, aged in their 20s, were watching TV in a back room of their Matlock Heights home just after midnight when three men tried to force their way inside. The trio fired up to five shots at the front door and window and at a car parked outside. "They are co-operating to a certain extent but I will say the code of silence . . . involved in organised crime is prevalent," Det-Supt Carver said. One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she ducked inside her house as the shots were fired. "We heard yelling and screaming, and banging on windows and doors, then we heard one gunshot and three...

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THE Labor Party pub in South Australia that hosted strippers and welcomed bikies has closed and may be sold.

The Colac Hotel in Port Adelaide. The AdvertiserALP state secretary Kyam Maher said the party terminated the lease of the Colac Hotel in Port Adelaide because tenant Goldedge Holdings had failed to pay rent and had not responded to formal notices for payment. He said the pub would remain closed until the party decided what it would do with it."We just don't know what we will do, we will need to get some advice on what all the options are," he said.Mr Maher confirmed the party was considering selling the property but would consider all options under a review that was expected to take "a few months".The legal matters surrounding the eviction...

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Posted in THE Labor Party pub in South Australia that hosted strippers and welcomed bikies has closed and may be sold.

Bikie link to pit bull racket

 HIGHLY organised criminals including bikies are using pit bulls as weapons amid claims of an illegal importation racket in Australia. At least 100 staffies are allowed into the country each year on little more than a promise they're not pit bulls. Police sources say many pit bulls in Victoria are unregistered and owned by criminals. "They use them like weapons," one source said. "Council rangers won't get close to them." An associate of the Bandidos bikie gang is known to keep one. Criminal sources in Victoria have told the Herald Sun of an international importation scheme whereby pit bulls are brought to Australia from the US. The dogs are described by importers on official Customs papers as staffordshire terriers, whose physical characteristics strongly resemble pit bulls.  The...

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Posted in Bikie link to pit bull racket

alleged member of the Notorious outlaw motorcycle gang is due in court tomorrow on charges related to firearms

 alleged member of the Notorious outlaw motorcycle gang is due in court tomorrow on charges related to firearms found at a Castle Hill storage unit earlier this year. Gangs Squad detectives who arrested and charged the 24-year-old man allege he is a high-ranking member of the organised criminal group. He is facing several firearm and possession charges as well as drug charges. The charges relate to a search warrant conducted by police at a storage facility in Castle Hill on March 28. Police allegedly found three firearms, loaded magazines, two silencers and a quantity of ammunition. He is due before Penrith Local Court tomorrow. Strike Force Ventilate comprises detectives from the State Crime Command’s Gangs Squad and was established to investigate a number of alleged violent incidents...

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Posted in alleged member of the Notorious outlaw motorcycle gang is due in court tomorrow on charges related to firearms

Bikie arrested on firearms charge

Crime Gangs Task Force members yesterday afternoon arrested a 30-year-old member of the South Australian Chapter of the Finks Motorcycle Gang at his home address at Paralowie.Police say it is alleged that Crime Gangs Task Force members conducted a search of the man's home where they located a .357 revolver buried in his rear yard.'During the search police also located a quantity of .357 ammunition buried in another location within the rear yard,' police said.'The man was charged with firearms offences including possession of a prescribed firearm and possession of insecure ammunition.'He was bailed to appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court...

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Seventh man charged over alleged attempted extortion - SCC Gangs Squad

 Gangs Squad detectives have charged a seventh man following investigations into an alleged attempted extortion. About 10am today (Thursday 8 September, 2011), a 37-year-old man was arrested by police. Police allege he is an associate of the Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. He was subsequently charged with demand money with menaces and participating in a criminal group. He was granted conditional bail to appear at Burwood Local Court on 28 September. The charges relate to an alleged attempted extortion on 8 July, 2011. Strike Force Embark was established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged theft of vehicles from the Burwood car yard just before 3pm on Thursday 7 July 2011, as well as an attempted extortion on 8 July and an attempted extortion on Monday 11...

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Joshua Leo Johnson, vice-president of the Sonoma County Hells Angels, surrendered to Lake County authorities

 Joshua Leo Johnson, vice-president of the Sonoma County Hells Angels, surrendered to Lake County authorities in connection with the beating of a rival gang member and a companion at Konocti Vista Casino in June, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office. Johnson, 35, an iron worker, remains in jail pending a hearing on his $500,000 bail, officials said Tuesday. Two other Hells Angels — Nicolas Felipe Carillo, 32, and Timothy Robert Bianchi, 33 — were arrested during a warrant sweep in Santa Rosa and Petaluma last week, authorities said. A fourth suspect, David Dabbs 32, remains at large. Dabbs also is being sought on a San Diego no-bail warrant for alleging kidnap and torture, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office. The suspects are charged in the vicious beating of Michael...

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key witness in a case against a Hell's Angels member accused on drug and gun charges is missing

 key witness in a case against a Hell's Angels member accused on drug and gun charges is missing along with two other men, raising the suspicions of relatives and authorities in a western Massachusetts town. Police say 44-year-old David Glasser, 58-year-old Edward Frampton and 47-year-old Robert Chadwell, haven't made any banking or credit card transactions and haven't been in contact with family members since they vanished more than a week ago. The men shared an apartment in Pittsfield. "Three people, all in the same house, missing — yeah, something happened, something tragic," Les Chadwell, brother of Robert Chadwell, told The Berkshire Eagle newspaper. "We'll never hear from them again, and you can quote me on that." Glasser was expected to testify this month in the robbery, assault...

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Libya rendition claims: David Cameron calls for inquiry

 Allegations that MI6 was involved in the rendition of Libyan terror suspects should be examined by an independent inquiry, David Cameron has said. It comes after papers suggesting close ties between MI6, the CIA and the Gaddafi regime were found in Tripoli. An anti-Gaddafi military leader says he wants the UK and US to apologise for organising his 2004 transfer to Libya. An existing inquiry into allegations of UK security agencies' involvement in torture has said it will investigate. Abdel Hakim Belhaj, then a terror suspect but now in charge of the Libyan capital's military forces, says he was tortured after being arrested in Bangkok. He says he was taken to Libya by a CIA and MI6 operation, allegedly confirmed by documents sent to Gaddafi's regime, and sent to prison. The Foreign...

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Blair was 'godfather to Murdoch's daughter'

 Former prime minister Tony Blair is godfather to one of Rupert Murdoch's young children, sources said on Monday, raising fresh questions about British political links to the media mogul's empire. The revelation first emerged in a Vogue magazine interview with Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng, which also contains claims that Blair was present when Murdoch and Deng's two daughters were baptised beside the River Jordan in March last year. A spokesman for Blair's London office and a spokeswoman for Murdoch's US-based News Corporation both refused to comment on the story in Vogue's October UK edition, which is due out on Thursday. But sources close to News Corp confirmed to AFP that Blair was godfather to Grace, aged nine, Murdoch's eldest daughter by third wife Wendi. A source close to Blair also...

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Bail for leader of Hells Angels' Ventura chapter

 longtime leader of the Hells Angels' Ventura County chapter charged in connection with the firebombing of two tattoo parlors has been granted bail. The Ventura County Star ( http://bit.ly/pPC00U) says a judge Friday ordered 64-year-old George Christie Jr. detained at home with an electronic monitoring bracelet. It was unclear early Saturday whether Christie had posted the $200,000 bail. Christie was arrested three weeks ago after being named in a six-count indictment that charges him and four others with conspiracy, extortion and arson. The indictment alleges that Christie, who owns a tattoo shop in Ventura, ordered Hells Angels members to threaten his competitors in an attempt to shut down their businesses. He has pleaded not guil...

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Three members of an Australian motorcycle gang were among 10 people arrested in armed police raids

Three members of an Australian motorcycle gang were among 10 people arrested in armed police raids in New Plymouth yesterday.Police searched 13 New Plymouth properties, one in Otaki, one in Auckland and seven in Northland during Operation Puff, a co-ordinated, multi-district electronic surveillance operation to stop the Rebels gang gaining a foothold in New Zealand.Ten people – eight men and two women – were arrested in New Plymouth, including the three patched Rebels members and two associates.Yesterday, six men and a woman, appeared in the New Plymouth District Court. They face charges from participating in an organised criminal gang, conspiring to supply methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy, and cultivating cannabis, to theft of electricity.They are:Nathan James Couper, in his 30s: participating...

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Posted in Three members of an Australian motorcycle gang were among 10 people arrested in armed police raids