Bandidos MC making bid for Border turf

Albury, NSW, AU (March 20, 2018) BTN — The Bandidos motorcycle club are moving to establish a new chapter in the Albury-Wodonga area, according to police.

The news came to light during a case in Albury Local Court following the formation of a strike force last August. If successful, the motorcycle club would join the Black Uhlans and Gypsy Jokers, which both have local clubhouses.

Bandidos MC members stopped by police

The Albury Drug Squad and members of Strike Force Raptor, which targets bikies, conducted multiple raids against Bandidos members and associates in Albury in November and December.

They had been listening in on members and allegedly seized about 60 grams of ice hidden in a fake gas bottle during a traffic stop.

Police had formed the taskforce to tackle drug manufacturing and supply in the region, which had allegedly involved the purchase of precursor chemicals from Bunnings.

Four people, including a Wangaratta man Danny James Kearney, 26, were arrested.

Kearney, who is either a patched or prospective member of the motorcycle club, pleaded guilty to two charges on Monday.

The court heard the club was trying to establish a Border chapter and that officers had identified local members, which was followed by warrants to conduct surveillance.

The 26-year-old was caught during the phone tap planning an insurance scam worth $8460 after a car crash near Racecourse Road in Lavington on October 16.

He has also pleaded guilty to using a false document, which is linked to the use of fraudulent licences.

Clinton Roy Parkinson was also arrested during the bikie raids and charged with a string of drug supply and other offences.

He also appeared before court on Monday and said the police case was “weak as”.

“It’s got nothing to do with me,” he said.

“I don’t even know why I’m sitting here in jail.”

Solicitor Alina Yousif, who was also charged, appeared before court.

Magistrate Rodney Brender heard there was 300 gigabytes worth of material recorded by the police which had been supplied to her lawyer.

The court heard there had been moves to pin the blame on another co-accused, David Oddy, and shift the blame away from others allegedly involved.

SOURCE: The Border Mail

Source: Biker Trash Network

Hells Angels MC turns 70 years old

Houston, Texas (March 17, 2018) BTN — Founded in 1948, the Hells Angels motorcycle club has been a pop-culture mainstay for decades. Books, television and movies have mythologized them endlessly.

The story began on March 17, 1948, in San Bernardino, California, and the name is most-commonly attributed to the Howard Hughes movie of the same name, about World War II bombers. But that is where the military connection ends.

The Hells Angels website refutes the commonly held story that the group was founded by ex-military misfits and outcasts. Of course, later on, members from various branches of the military would join HAMC but it was not a military club to begin with.

The group's logo, the Death Head, is easily one of the most recognizable brands of the 20th century. It's since been copyrighted in the United States and internationally.

The "Berdoo" chapter is still alive and well to this day. That group's 70th anniversary party is scheduled for this weekend. There are no chapters listed in Texas.

More clubs began popping up soon after in and around California. In 1957 Sonny Barger founded the Oakland chapter. He would end up becoming the face of the club in pop-culture, and to this day remains a cult figure.

Barger's autobiography, "Hell's Angel," was released in 2001 to wide acclaim by motorcycle fans and others interested in the biker subculture.

By 1961 the club had a chapter in Auckland, New Zealand, and by the end of the decade the first of many chapters was founded in Europe. Australia, Africa and Brazil were still to come. Today there are even clubs in Turkey.

Nomad Dave shows off  his Hells Angels tattoo as he attends a Hells Angels rally.

In 1965 LIFE magazine went on the road with the outlaw bikers for a series of photos featuring the group riding and interacting with polite society. Two years later Hunter S. Thompson wrote the non-fiction book "Hell's Angels" about his time riding with the club.

They maintain an allure within mainstream culture, with TV shows like "Sons of Anarchy" adding to the mystique. Barger himself appeared on the show a handful of times. The motorcycle club in the TV show is purely fictional, although it does have some elements of the biker culture.

Deadly encounters between the Angels and other clubs have kept them squarely outside the lines, and the actions of bad apples among them haven't helped matters.

Article by: Craig Hlavaty

SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

High ranking Finks MC member charged

Sydney, Australia (March 15, 2018) BTN  —  A high-ranking Finks bikie has been refused bail after police raids discovered guns, ammunition and drugs with an estimated street value of $4 million. Martin Francis Klein, 35, was arrested while visiting a storage case in a residential carpark in Sydney's north-west on Wednesday.

A day earlier, police had executed a search warrant on the cage at Kellyville Ridge, with officers uncovering more than 17 kilograms of MDA pills, 1.7kg of powder suspected to be cocaine, and more than 67kg of powders believed to be MDA, assorted pre-curser chemicals, two firearms, a silencer and ammunition.

An unknown member of the Finks Motorcycle Club 

Detective Superintendent Deborah Wallace said the amount of drugs uncovered was significant.

"That is capable of producing what we would say conservatively [is] 200,000 individual pills at an estimated street value of $4 million."

Following Mr Klein's arrest, police also seized a revolver, ammunition, encrypted phones, a hydrogen chloride gas cylinder and various documents during raids on a unit at the same complex and a home at Beaumont Hills.

Ammo seized from the raid

Police step up investigation of bikie feud

Detective Superintendent Wallace said the raids were part of ongoing investigations into violent conflicts between outlaw motorcycle gangs across NSW, and in particular, a dispute between the Finks and the Nomads.

"We are always investigating every crime these criminal groups and outlaw motorcycle gangs are involved in, but particularly where we're seeing violent conflicts — when we're seeing the potential of innocent people being harmed through reckless, ad hoc, random shootings — then we step it up," she said.

She said police managed conflicts between outlaw motorcycle gangs by going "straight to the cause of these conflicts which is usually over turf, money owed [or] drugs".

"So by taking out the catalyst for these disputes is often a way of resolving them for the community."

She said police would be alleging that, as a senior member of the Finks, Mr Klein was a "key player" in the drugs distribution network.

She said police were expecting to make more arrests.

"The bottom line is, if you want to get involved in these conflicts and violence then we will throw every resource we can at it."

Mr Klein on Thursday appeared at Blacktown Local Court on charges of commercial drug supply and 15 firearms offences.

He was refused bail and the matter was adjourned to Parramatta Local Court on March 22.

SOURCE: ABC dot net

Source: Biker Trash Network

Police watching MC's in Daytona for Bike Week

Daytona Beach, Florida (March 14, 2018) BTN  — More motorcycle clubs are in town for Bike Week but the Volusia County sheriff said police will come down on them “like white on rice” if they break the law. Sheriff Mike Chitwood said he has seen an increase in motorcycle clubs coming to Bike Week in Daytona Beach.

To prevent violence, the Sheriff’s Office has taken a proactive approach and shifted the focus of its motorcycle theft task force that operated during the event for years. The team now monitors local, national and international motorcycle clubs.

“I would say that it seemed when I first got here in 2006, it was high, and then we hit a period where there was a lull, there was a period where we knocked their club house out of Daytona Beach,” Chitwood said.

In August 2007, Daytona Beach police and FBI raided and busted up the Outlaws motorcycle club’s clubhouse on Beach Street. The Outlaws MC tried making a comeback but Daytona Beach police and code enforcement has made it difficult for them to set up house in other locations in the city.

“Daytona is a national run for most motorcycle clubs during Bike Week,” Capri said. “Meaning that most motorcycle clubs require their members to be here.”

Daytona Beach police detectives have met with several of the motorcycle clubs and laid down the rules of the city to them, Capri said.

“Our number one goal is public safety,” Capri said. “We’ve met with them and told them they can have their fun but we’ve let them know that if they cause problems, we’ll be on them. They’ve been receptive to our rules.”

SOURCE: The Daytona Beach Journal

Source: Biker Trash Network