Victorian bikie properties in huge police raid
Police are yet to recover two high-powered assault weapons used in recent drive-by shootings despite raiding Hells Angels clubhouses and homes across Victoria.
Guns, ammunition, drugs and cash were seized and 13 people arrested when more than 700 police, including federal and customs officers swooped on Thursday morning.
All of those arrested have significant roles within the Hells Angels and include office bearers, police say.
So much ammunition was uncovered at one clubhouse that a trailer was needed to remove it.
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Police raid Hells Angel club house at Fairfield. Photo: Laurel Irving @laurelirving7
The raids were the largest operation targeting a single bikie gang in Victorian history.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay is concerned they haven't found the military weapons - a high-powered AK-47 and a M1 carbine assault rifle - which were used in a number of recent drive-by shootings by Hells Angels members at rival clubhouses in Hallam, Dandenong and Clayton South.
He has vowed to track them down and put pressure on the gang.
"We haven't recovered those firearms so we will continue our operation, we will continue our work until we get those guns," he said.
"It is totally unacceptable that criminals have access to these firearms and we'll continue to push and push very hard until we have those firearms in our possession."
Police stand guard outside a Hells Angels fortified club house with a sign saying " NO TRESSPASSING VIOLATORS WILL BE SHOT SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN" in Melbourne, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013. Photo: AAP
Police say the operation is ongoing and they will continue to target bikie gangs.
Mr Lay is also said he was ready to use new anti-fortification laws that came into effect last Sunday.
"We're preparing some affidavits now for a number of premises, we'll progress that matter to court definitely in the next little while and that will see another lot of action by Victoria Police to enforce those laws," he said.
Police swooped on a property with links to Hells Angels at Craigieburn. Photo: Anastasia Salamastrakis @asalamastrakis7
Acting Deputy Commissioner Steve Fontana said they had not met any resistance from club members in the "high-risk operation".
"We've been working on this for a while, we're extremely concerned about these weapons, we're extremely concerned about the intel we've got about the tensions and the intentions of these clubs and so we thought it necessary to make a pretty strong stance here," he said.
Mr Fontana said Victoria Police was starting to work more closely with interstate and national counterparts.
Police search a Hells Angels clubhouse at Fairfield. Photo: 7News
"Victoria's not the only jurisdiction (affected by bikie gangs) and we're getting fed up with it and we're going to take them on," he said.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Tess Walsh rejected suggestions that such a large operation was unnecessary given what police found.
She said the indiscriminate use of firearms over the last fortnight was unacceptable and a swift and serious response was required.
A man was arrested at Hells Angels clubhouse at Thomastown. Photo: 7News
Premier Denis Napthine said there was no place for bikie gangs in Victoria.
"They are a risk to Victorians, as we have seen recently where you have seen drive-by shootings of clubhouses, of businesses that are associated with these gangs," he said.
"These are in neighbourhoods, these are in streets, these are in business parks and there are people in those communities."
At the Thomastown clubhouse, about a dozen police were guarding the premises on Thursday while others searched the building, cars and the property's grounds.
A large steel gate to the property lay bent on the driveway where police forced entry.
Mr Fontana said drugs and a number of firearms, including a revolver and sawn-off shotguns, were seized. There were at least two arrested at the clubhouse.
Police tore down the barrier at the front of the Hells Angels club house at Fairfield. Photo: Laurel Irving @laurelirving7
At the Hells Angels clubhouse on Heidelberg Road in Fairfield, a 46-year-old man was arrested after refusing to open the gate to police.
The gate protecting the clubhouse was torn down by officers and was left lying in the road outside the clubhouse.
A 46-year-old man was arrested at the Hells Angel clubhouse at Fairfield. Photo: Laurel Irving @laurelirving7
Heidelberg Road in Alphington was closed in both directions between The Boulevard and Chandler Highway due to the Fairfield raid.
At Craigieburn, one of the club's most senior members was arrested at his heavy towing business.
Raids have also been carried out in Seaford, Berwick, St Albans, Ballarat, and Campbellfield.
Another arrest at a towing yard at Craigieburn. Photo: Anastasia Salamastrakis @asalamastrakis7
A 27-year-old Campbellfield man was charged with possessing a drug of dependence on Thursday afternoon and has appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Further people are expected to be charged later on Thursday, police say.
