Hells Angels have had a rough year in California.

 The Hells Angels have had a rough year in California. Three Northern California members have died violently in the last month amid a turf battle with a rival biker gang. And law enforcement officials on both ends of the motorcycle club's home state are pursuing and jailing members, with 26 Angels and their associates arrested recently in San Diego. The violence spilled into public view in the unlikeliest of places two weeks ago when thousands of Harley-Davidsons rolled up to a San Jose cemetery on a sunny Saturday afternoon to bury a Hells Angels leader who was gunned down weeks earlier in a Nevada casino. A Hells Angel allegedly shot and killed a fellow member at the cemetery and fled — the latest sign of the in-fighting and violence that has plagued the gang in recent months. And if...

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Funeral held for Hells Angel killed at fellow biker's burial begins

 The only gunfire at the funeral of Hells Angel Steve Tausan on Saturday came as a salute from the U.S. Marine honor guard. The former Marine, professional boxer and legendary biker was memorialized Saturday morning at Jubilee Christian Church before being buried at Oak Hill Memorial cemetery in San Jose -- exactly two weeks after he was shot and killed at the funeral of another member of the motorcycle club. Although about 1,000 bikers rumbled in from all quarters, there was no trouble, dissension or arrests. There were only bear hugs, tears and memories of the Santa Cruz "enforcer" who called himself Mr. 187, after the penal code for murder. On top of Sunrise Hill they buried his red-and-white casket in the Hells Angels tradition -- by shovel. Sonny Barger, a founding member of the...

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A LARGE crowd of Rebels Motorcycle Club members turned out at St Peter's Cathedral yesterday for the funeral of a member.

Rebels comfort each other outside St Peter's Cathedral. Picture: Dean MartinDozens of motorbikes lined Pennington Tce, North Adelaide, as more than 100 people gathered for the 1.30pm service for James Sean "Pappa" Petterson.Members of rival motorcycle clubs, including the Finks, also attended the service.A convoy of Rebels members on motorcycles were given a police escort to the service and flanked the hearse as it left the cathedral.Uniformed and plainclothes police kept a watchful eye over proceedings from outs...

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Posted in A LARGE crowd of Rebels Motorcycle Club members turned out at St Peter's Cathedral yesterday for the funeral of a member.

Tens of thousands flee as floods sweep Bangkok

 Tens of thousands of Thais are fleeing flood-threatened Bangkok after the city's Governor ordered official evacuations for the first time since the crisis began. Floodwaters bearing down on the city have killed 373 people nationwide since July, causing damage that will cost billions to repair and shutting down Bangkok's second largest airport. Satellite maps of Bangkok last night showed a city almost entirely surrounded by wat...

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Posted in Tens of thousands flee as floods sweep Bangkok

Police seize over $1m in fake designer handbags

 Police are investigating the sale of over $1 million worth of fake designer handbags at a market in Sydney's west. Officers visited a stall at the Parklea markets this morning where they found almost 500 authentic-looking high-end fashion handbags that included brand names such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Burberry and Prada, as well as fake Nike footwear. Investigations then led police to a house in Stanhope Gardens where they found more bags, footwear and accessories. Two women are assisting police with inquiries and investigations are continuing. Detective Inspector Brett Guyatt says stallholders are on notice that police will take action against anyone who is selling fake goods. Detective Inspector Guyatt says the sale of fake fashion items robs legitimate businesses of...

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man was stabbed while trying to stop a fight between a friend and another man in a Kings Cross nightclub.

Police are looking for this man and woman, pictured here right.Police are still searching for two people, after a man was stabbed while trying to stop a fight between a friend and another man in a Kings Cross nightclub.Witnesses have told police that two men started arguing in the nightclub on Kellett Way early on Saturday morning and a 26-year-old man, who was a friend of one of the men, tried to intervene.A fight broke out and the 26-year-old was stabbed in the chest, police sa...

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A CAR has smashed into a Tattoo parlour, then burst into flames in Sydney's south west this morning.

A vehicle exploded after smashing through the front of a Yagoona Tattoo Parlour. Picture: Bill Hearne The Daily TelegraphIt seems the vehicle was deliberately driven straight into Tattoolicious on the Hume Highway, Yagoona causing a major fire inside the shop.The driver of the car was no longer at the scene when fire service arrived to extinguish the blaze.Angus Zhao, 22, from Blacktown was on his way home with a friend at around 2.30am when he noticed the burning shop and stopped his car."My friend and I saw the whole shop on fire," he said. "It was a pretty intense fire, the flames were up to the roof.""The whole place looked...

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Posted in A CAR has smashed into a Tattoo parlour , then burst into flames in Sydney's south west this morning.

Tony Mokbel supergrass set for $1 million reward

 THE drug dealer who dobbed in crime boss Tony Mokbel is likely to be paid Victoria's first $1 million reward. He has already escaped being charged over his prominent role in Mokbel's gang, which included helping Mokbel organise a false passport to flee Australia. But veteran underworld figure Billy Longley yesterday warned the "grass" who fingered Mokbel would have to keep looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. "A lot of people have gone to jail because of him, including Mokbel," Mr Longley said. "Such people have long memories and will want revenge." The previous biggest amount paid out by Victoria Police was a $100,000 reward in 1991. There are nine other $1 million rewards up for grabs at present. The police informer in the Mokbel case, codenamed 3030, was a key...

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top bike-club enforcer nicknamed "Mr. 187'' after the state penal code number for murder was gunned down Saturday in front of stunned spectators.

 Despite a heavy police presence at a Hells Angels funeral Saturday, a top bike-club enforcer nicknamed "Mr. 187'' after the state penal code number for murder was gunned down Saturday in front of stunned spectators. Multiple sources told this newspaper the victim was Steve Tausan, a notorious sergeant-at-arms for the Santa Cruz chapter of the club suspected of killing another biker years ago. Sources said the incident Saturday was an inter-club squabble set off when Tausan punched a fellow biker and the biker retaliated by shooting him. A photographer for this newspaper saw other Hells Angels jump the shooter. Police declined to comment, saying only that there had been a shooting at the Oak Hill Cemetery. The funeral at the cemetery was for fellow Hells Angel Jethro Pettigrew, president...

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Hells Angels and Bandidos club members ''own nightspots in Thailand tourist centres that have become popular haunts for bikies worldwide

 Australian bikies with dubious reputations are now infiltrating Thailand and gang members have opened businesses on Phuket, reports an Australian newspaper. Hells Angels and Bandidos club members ''own nightspots in Thailand tourist centres that have become popular haunts for bikies worldwide,'' reports the Courier-Mail newspaper, which is based in the northern Australian state of Queensland. Members of the Bandidos - who acquired four new chapters in Indonesia during ''Bandidos Bali Bike Week'' earlier this year - are looking to set up business as far afield as Japan, a Queensland police source told the newspaper. Thailand was significant as a source of chemicals for drug manufacture and trafficking and scrutiny of the travels of Gold Coast bikies' travel would show ''a lot of...

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Hells Angel member killed at San Jose funeral for fellow biker

 Hells Angels member was fatally shot Saturday at the San Jose funeral for a fellow biker who was killed last month at a Nevada casino, police said. The victim, who police have not identified, was shot shortly before 1 p.m. and taken to a hospital where he died about an hour later, said San Jose police spokesman Jose Garcia. No suspect has been arrested and the shooting remains under investigation. The shooting occurred at the funeral for Jeffrey Pettigrew, 51, president of the San Jose chapter of the Hells Angels, authorities said. The service was held at the Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park and drew an estimated 4,000 people. Pettigrew was attending a motorcycle festival last month when he was shot four times in the back by a member of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang during...

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Outlaw motorcycle clubs attempting to open clubhouses and tattoo parlours in Brisbane's West End and Fortitude Valley

  Surfers Paradise nightclub had been a target for alleged bikie money laundering amid growing business links between powerful Gold Coast bikies and others interstate and overseas. Read more reports in the print edition of The Courier-Mail or explore the Bikie Inc web of intrigue diagrams or the detailed club profiles in our multimedia specials. But outlaw clubs are also targeting Brisbane, where they have tried to open clubhouses and tattoo parlours in West End and Fortitude Valley. Gold Coast's bikie tsars exposed Two hours and $2000 and a gun is yours Nightclub link to bikie money laundering A nascent chapter of Bandidos whose members do not even ride motorcycles is seeking a Valley clubhouse, according to police sources. The development has echoes of the "Notorious" gang...

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Posted in Outlaw motorcycle clubs attempting to open clubhouses and tattoo parlours in Brisbane's West End and Fortitude Valley

Hells Angel in casino shooting to NV court

 Washoe County prosecutors have agreed to postpone the preliminary hearing for the only member of the Hells Angels arrested in last month's fatal gun battle with a rival motorcycle gang at a Sparks casino. Cesar Villagrana had been scheduled to appear in Sparks Justice Court on Wednesday on three felony charges including assault with a deadly weapon. His new court date is Dec. 7. Police say the 36-year-old Gilroy, Calif., man was with San Jose Hells Angels President Jeff Pettigrew the night he was shot to death at John Ascuaga's Nugget. Police say security video shows Villagrana shooting into the crowd. He's currently free on $150,000 bail. A member of the rival Vagos gang is being held in San Francisco on a warrant for Pettigrew's murd...

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Members of the Bandidos - who acquired four new chapters in Indonesia during "Bandidos Bali Bike Week" earlier this year - are looking to set up business as far afield as Japan

 BIKIE Inc Australia is spreading its wings overseas.Local Hells Angels and Bandidos club members own nightspots in Thailand tourist centres that have become popular haunts for bikies worldwide.Not to be outdone, members of the notorious Gold Coast chapter of the Finks are trying to follow in their footsteps with their own Thai beachhead, according to police.Recommended CoverageMembers of the Bandidos - who acquired four new chapters in Indonesia during "Bandidos Bali Bike Week" earlier this year - are looking to set up business as far afield as Japan, a Queensland police source told The Courier-Mail.Thailand was significant as a source...

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A PLANNED bid for freedom by Melbourne identity Tony Mokbel has been sensationally scrapped.

Tony Mokbel is expected to use a legal loophole to try to beat charges against him. SuppliedMokbel was expected to use a police stuff-up to try to get off drug charges he has already admitted.Police sources yesterday revealed that Mokbel's lawyers would try to use a legal loophole to beat charges against the notorious gangland boss.Mokbel would have been the first of many criminals and suspects hoping to take advantage of a recent admission by Victoria Police that officers routinely failed to swear an oath when signing affidavits.The embarrassing blunder could render any evidence gained from affidavits used to execute search warrants, bug...

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Posted in A PLANNED bid for freedom by Melbourne identity Tony Mokbel has been sensationally scrapped.

IT was a former Icelandic beauty queen who scooped the $A2.1 million reward for tipping off the FBI to the whereabouts of feared Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, it has been revealed.

In this courtroom sketch, James "Whitey" Bulger stands during his initial appearance in a federal courtroom in Boston in June. Source:APBulger, who is charged with 19 murders in the 1970s and '80s in Boston, was arrested in June in Santa Monica, California, where he had been living under an assumed name with long-term girlfriend Catherine Greig.The FBI has steadfastly refused to disclose the identity of the tipster, again declining to comment to AFP, but the Boston Globe says it was Anna Bjornsdottir, a 57-year-old graphic designer and yoga instructor.Bjornsdottir, who was crowned Miss Iceland in 1974 and starred in that year's Miss Universe...

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51-year-old man, who police believe to be a high-ranking member of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang, was questioned

 Firearms, drugs, cash and fireworks have been seized during a raid on the Sydney home of a bikie member, police say. Officers from the NSW Gangs Squad allegedly found three rifles, a shotgun, fireworks, more than $17,000 in cash and a variety of drugs and drug paraphernalia when the they raided the Mt Druitt house in Sydney's west on Monday. A 51-year-old man, who police believe to be a high-ranking member of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang, was questioned on Tuesday nig...

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COVERED in tattoos and hurling bricks at the media after the shooting of his 11-year-old son, bikie Mark Sandery symbolised public fears about outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Mark Sandery. Source: SuppliedEven if his anger at the reckless attack last weekend at Semaphore was understandable, Sandery's violent reaction was frightening.It had all the hallmarks of the anti-social bikie gang member.While the Finks were quick to deny that Sandery was a member, that the shooting had anything to do with bikies, or that they had put a bounty on those responsible, the incident highlighted how the gangs have survived State Government's vows to wipe them out.The Government is now working up a second attempt to smash bikies after the High Court ruled core elements of its controversial anti-association laws invalid.Attorney-General...

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Posted in bikie Mark Sandery symbolised public fears about outlaw motorcycle gangs. , COVERED in tattoos and hurling bricks at the media after the shooting of his 11-year-old son

Police find body in Perth motel car park

 POLICE have found the body of a missing man wrapped in plastic in the back of a four-wheel drive vehicle in Perth, nearly two weeks after he went missing. The body of 38-year-old Mite Naumovski, a convicted drug trafficker, was found early yesterday afternoon in the car park at the Great Eastern Motor Lodge in Rivervale, in Perth's inner east. Police had been seeking the father of one since he failed to return after telling his family he was going for a motorbike ride. Police said several people had been taken into custody and were being questioned by Major Crime Squad detectives. Mr Naumovski's body was found at the same motor lodge where the body of Perth concrete firm owner Peter Davis was found earlier this year, also in the back of a car and wrapped in plastic. A man has been...

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WHOEVER shot the son of Mark Sandery broke "the paramount rule" of outlaw bikies, sources close to the gangs have warned.

 Two men broke into this Semaphore house, smashed windows and shot the son of Finks club member Mark Sandery. Source: Sunday Mail (SA)  A Finks member, right, who was at this Semaphore house where the son, 11, of notorious Fink Mark Sandery was shot on Friday night. Picture: Digitally enhanced imageSource: AdelaideNow  The Advertiser  has been told the shooting of the boy, 11, goes against the core values of bikies."When it comes to dealing with rivals, there are no hard and fast rules except for two," a source said yesterday."You try not to do it in public, and the paramount rule is that you never,...

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