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Mongrel Mob members sent home from WA to New Zealand as part of new crackdown by state and federal authorities
Taylor and Gabrielle Knowles | The West Australian
Saturday, 10 March 2018 2:00AM

Notorious New Zealand gang Mongrel Mob may be trying to establish itself in Western Australia.

At least five members of New Zealand’s notoriously violent Mongrel Mob street gang have been booted out of WA in the past year as part of a State and Federal crackdown designed to stop the club gaining a foothold in Perth.

The Weekend West can reveal that the gang has been attempting to grow its presence in WA for the past two years by parachuting members into the State from other Australian chapters or directly from New Zealand.

But State and Federal authorities have been pushing back hard, working together to identify members who are not Australian citizens who can be targeted for deportation.

Among the Mob members who have been sent packing was senior leader Joe Edmonds, who was caught last year at Perth Airport attempting to bring gang uniforms into the State in his luggage.

He was placed in immigration detention while his visa was cancelled on “character” grounds, before authorities put him back on a plane to New Zealand.

Section 501 of the Migration Act allows for any non-citizen who has a serious criminal record or is a member of an organised criminal gang to be sent back to their country of origin.

Mongrel Mob Australian members.Picture: Facebook

Australian Border Force WA Regional Commander Rod O’Donnell said about 40 WA-based gang members and their associates had fallen foul of the laws since they were toughened by the Federal Government in 2014.

“We know these gangs are violent and our officers are committed to protecting our community by working collaboratively at the border to prevent potential non-citizen gang members arriving into Australia as well as cancelling the visa of those who do the wrong thing while in this country,” he said

“There is no doubt that the enforcement of the Section 501 character provisions by the ABF, which commenced in 2014, are having a real and significant disruption effect on OMCG members and their criminal operations”.

Despite the deportations of Mob members, several remain in WA and police say they are monitoring their activities closely.

“The WA Police Force is aware of the presence in Western Australia of a small number of people with links to the Mongrel Mob street gang,” a spokesperson said.

“Through the gang crime squad we are actively monitoring those people.”

Mongrel Mob member Joe Edmonds was put in a detention centre before being placed on a plane bound for NZ.Picture:Facebook

The Mongrel Mob is the fourth gang to try to spread its tentacles into WA in the past two years, prompting calls from the Opposition for the State Government to move quickly to strengthen bikie laws amid concerns WA is viewed as a soft target.

“This Government has been in power for 12 months and they just always say they’re ‘working on it’, 12 months is plenty of time to come up with something,” shadow police minister Peter Katsambanis said.

“We call on them to stop talking and start acting.

“As a responsible Opposition we will look at any proposals they put up, examine them and if they do what they say they’re going to do and help us combat organised crime better, then we will happily support them.”

The Mongrel Mob is the fourth gang to try to force its way into WA in recent years.Picture: Facebook

Attorney-General John Quigley said plans were well advanced to introduce NSW-style anti-consorting laws which would give police power to prevent gang members associating with one another, making it unlawful for them to meet in public or privately.

“This week I have had a preliminary discussion with the Police Commissioner Chris Dawson about what he thinks about these laws and he said they will be very helpful,” Mr Quigley said.

He said he hoped the laws could be in place by the end of the year.

Susan Usher l Media Liaison Officer

Police Media l WA Police Force

Police Headquarters l Ground Floor, 2 Adelaide Terrace, East Perth

Ph: (08) 9222 1011

 

https://www.om.nl/@101443/bandidos-motorcycle/

Motorcycle Gang Case Law

For the good of the order, this is a running document of OMG specific case law.

Officer Dan Michener

St Paul Police, Criminal Proceeds Unit/US Secret Service Task Force.

After years on the drawing board, a submission calling for every state and territory to have the same anti-bikie laws is expected to be made to state attorneys-general next year.

The plan, to be modelled on operations such as Raptor in NSW and Task Force Maxima in Queensland, will highlight the most effective laws that have helped to curtail bikie activity.

The move is partly in response to bikies moving into Tasmania and the ACT, where laws are more lax than their neighbours, after crackdowns in other states.

“Recent events in Tasmania and Victoria have provided the impetus for a submission to be made,” one law enforcement official said.

The plan is still in its infancy and there was work to be done to get every police agency on board, ­another source said.

Strike Force Raptor broke the ­bikies in NSW by creating a hostile environment in which officers used everything, from minor vehicle ­defects to restricted premises legislation, to keep the pressure on the ­bikies’ way of life. It forced many club members to hang up their colours or take their business to more comfortable jurisdictions.

But inconsistencies between organised crime laws across the country have unwittingly created havens for outlaw gangs.

While bikies can be charged for associating with criminals in NSW and Queensland, they can mingle with whomever they please in Tasmania. As a result, the state is facing increasing gang ­activity, with the Bandidos trying to establish a foothold in Devonport.

About 200 club members will ­descend on Tasmania in a fortnight for the club’s national run.

Last month, more than 400 Rebels members held a ride in Tasmania, finishing up in Hobart to mark the chapter’s 20th anniversary.

Police, with help from interstate gang squad officers, greeted the bikies as the Spirit of Tasmania sailed into Devonport. Even the Australian Taxation Office turned up to hand assessment notices to 12 bikies.

“We had the Outlaws in October last year, the Rebels in October this year and Bandidos coming later this month,” Serious Organised Crime division Detective Inspector Greg Ball said.

“We haven’t had this number of national-type runs this close together before.”

Insp Ball said Tasmanian police were looking at what organised crime laws had worked elsewhere to build their own case to the State Government for tougher legislation.

Without states and territories ­referring their powers to the Commonwealth, the Federal Government cannot legislate criminal organisation laws, such as consorting or firearm prohibition orders.

A “nationally consistent app­roach” may mean governments can implement the same anti-gang laws.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the Government supported any effort to develop stronger legislative responses to the bikie gang threat.