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Secret weapon to defeat Qld bikies

Bikies muscling in on the Gold Coast will find their criminal activities under tougher scrutiny as police intensify their focus.

Assistant Commissioner Graham Rynders has put outlaw motorcycle gangs on notice, warning they will be "disrupted and dismantled".

"We will target them in any way we possibly can…This region has the highest concentration of outlaw motorcycle gangs in the state. We’re looking closely at their unlawful activities and we will take every opportunity to prosecute them for any offence whenever we can," Mr Rynders said in an exclusive interview with Seven News.

His comments come after a meeting earlier today of a new senior police management committee established to specifically to target outlaw motorcycle gangs in the South-Eastern police region including the Gold Coast and Logan.

Senior police gather to detail plans to fight bikie related crimes on the Gold Coast.
Senior police gather to detail plans to fight bikie related crimes on the Gold Coast.

The committee - staffed by police and intelligence analysts from Logan, Coomera, Gold Coast, Taskforce Hydra and the South-East Region’s Major and Organised Crime Squad - will meet every two months to discuss strategies and intelligence.

"We’ve got some fairly good intelligence holdings about they’re doing, how they’re trying to legitamise their business operations as OMGC’s have fronts they operate to launder their money, so we’re looking at all of those opportunities," he said.

While it was not illegal to open a bikie clubhouse, Mr Rynders said the police’s role will be to look at their activities to see whether they can "disrupt or dismantle" them.

Police intelligence has identified 308 "patched" members of nine outlaw motorcycle gangs, 39 probationary members and 225 known associates living between Logan and the Gold Coast.

The heightened scrutiny comes as a new outlaw motorcycle gang, which is a feeder club to the Hells Angels set up at Logan, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The Red Devils outlaw motorcycle gang which advertises "Support 81 World" on its website - 81 is the numerical symbol for Hells Angels being the eighth and first letters of the alphabet.

Mr Rynders said police were aware the Red Devils had established a chapter in the Logan region.

"We’re aware that they have some affiliations with some outlaw motorcycle gangs and we’re very, very closely monitoring their activities," he told Seven News.

The gang’s website advertised a "patch party" held at Hillcrest last weekend in an industrial unit occupied by the Celtic Warlocks, a motorcycle club for male and female riders. The unit is only 1.3 kilometres from the Hells Angels Hillcrest clubhouse.

The Red Devils 'Patch Party' advertisement for last weekend.
The Red Devils 'Patch Party' advertisement for last weekend.

Police and bikie sources said the Red Devils were absorbing male members of Celtic Warlocks. They said their arrival in Logan was possibly to help strengthen the Hells Angels who traditionally have a smaller membership.

Seven News contacted the Celtic Warlocks about the takeover but a member said no one from the club or the Red Devils would comment.

The gang have around 11 members in Brisbane including a former Queensland detective.

Bikie sources said while the Hells Angels recruited from the Red Devils, they had a rule prohibiting former police from joining their ranks.

The Red Devil boasts on its website that the gang has 120 chapters worldwide, listing countries Australia including Asia, Belgium, Italy and the United States.

The arrival of the Red Devils brings the number of gangs between the Logan and the Gold Coast to nine with 11 chapters - the highest concentration of bikies in Queensland.

Seven News revealed earlier this month the Hells Angels were opening a fortified clubhouse at Burleigh sparking fears of a turf war with rival clubs. The gang, which has previously and repeatedly failed to expand, currently has around 19 members and prospects on the Gold Coast.

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