Comanchero City Crew president, Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi, yesterday said the level of violence in the airport attack was "extreme".

Comanchero City Crew president, Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi, yesterday said the level of violence in the airport attack was "extreme". About 150 statements have been made to police from people who witnessed the incident, the court was told.One witness on the aircraft that was carrying some of the bikies allegedly involved described watching Hawi make a gesture to the Hells Angels Sydney Chapter president, Derek Wainohu, who was seated several rows ahead of him."[A] witness observed [Hawi] call out something to Derek Wainohu," the document stated."[They] observed Wainohu turn around and [Hawi] then put his left hand up to his face and pull the skin under his eye down slightly with his finger to reveal the pink of his eye … He then pointed to his eyeball with another finger on the same hand."The document also stated Hawi held a man on the ground while another man kicked the pinned person. Hawi will now apply for bail on Thursday week. He will remain on remand until then.

Comanchero member was arrested at his Hurstville home last night and charged with supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine

Comanchero member was arrested at his Hurstville home last night and charged with supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine. He will face Sutherland Local Court today.Police also uncovered an amphetamine factory in a Batemans Bay house that was allegedly linked to the Rebels. Three people, two men and a woman, were arrested at the house and were being questioned.Simultaneous raids were also carried out on homes and businesses in Taren Point, Sutherland, Arncliffe, Oatley, Hurlstone Park, Dulwich Hill and Leppington in a search for drugs and firearms. The Taren Point raid was on the Cronulla Chapter of the Rebels club while the Sutherland raid was on a tattoo shop, police said.As investigations into a fatal brawl at Sydney Airport continued, the Hells Angel member who was shot eight times in an assassination attempt has walked out of hospital after only a week and waved away police offers of protection.Peter Zervas, 35, left St George Public Hospital on Monday night, only days after being operated on for bullet wounds to his right shoulder, torso, hip and foot. He still has several bullets inside him.Detectives investigating the death of his brother, Anthony Zervas, during the brawl at Sydney Airport last month spoke to him during his hospital stay, but he is understood to have consistently refused to give a statement about the shooting.

Armed police arrested six people to break up what they said was a cocaine and amphetamine syndicate linked to the Comanchero and Rebels bikie

Armed police arrested six people to break up what they said was a cocaine and amphetamine syndicate linked to the Comanchero and Rebels bikie clubs. Eight properties in Sydney and the South Coast, including the Taren Point clubhouse of the Rebels Cronulla chapter, were raided simultaneously.Two men linked to the Rebels, aged 22 and 23, were arrested at a St Peters McDonald's. Police allegedly found a large amount of drugs and charged the men with supplying a commercial quantity of drugs.Both men will face Newtown Local Court today.

Jayme Russell alleged leader of the local chapter of the Independent Soldiers is expected to return to a Kamloops courtroom

alleged leader of the local chapter of the Independent Soldiers is expected to return to a Kamloops courtroom today to be sentenced after he was convicted earlier this year of drug trafficking.Jayme Russell’s sentencing comes days after another high-ranking Independent Soldier — Kelowna resident Donald Lyons — was handed more than eight years in prison for his part in another drug-trafficking ring.On Jan. 20, a judge found Russell, 27, guilty of conspiring to sell a kilogram of cocaine to a pair of undercover Mounties in 2007.At trial, the man Kamloops RCMP have called the leader of the local cell of the Independent Soldiers said he had no idea where to get drugs, and was joking when he agreed to sell a kilogram for $35,000.B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Powers called Russell’s story “simply incredible” and refused to accept his evidence.Lyons, 36, pleaded guilty in Winnipeg Friday to trafficking cocaine to undercover cops in a separate investigation, and was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison.
Lawyers there have said the Independent Soldiers are connected with the Hells Angels in B.C., citing wire-tapped phone calls in which a high-ranking Hells Angels member in Kelowna said the two gangs “look after” each other.Lester Jones, the vice-president of the Kelowna Hells Angels chapter, was close friends with Lyons, and was sentenced last summer to 10 years in jail for his part in the dope-dealing scheme.
Russell had been free on bail since last spring, when attempted murder charges against him were stayed after witnesses refused to testify against him and he was released from custody.However, he was arrested March 10 at the conclusion of another undercover RCMP investigation and is now facing four new charges — three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance and a lone possession for the purpose of trafficking charge.At a press conference the following day, Kamloops Mounties said they seized three kilograms of cocaine, a loaded handgun, body armour, three vehicles and thousands of dollars in cash in connection with the sting.Russell is not expected to seek bail.

Five members or associates of the Gypsy Jokers were arrested and charged with various offences.

Five members or associates of the Gypsy Jokers were arrested and charged with various offences.A 34-year-old club member was charged with 13 offences including illegally possessing a firearm, possessing prohibited weapons and possessing equipment to make amphetamines.The 34-year-old was charged following the discovery of a locked trunk at Peterborough in the state's mid-north which contained an arsenal of weapons including pistols, sawn-off shotguns, rifles, swords, other knives, ammunition and recipes for making bombs, police said.A separate raid at Carpenter Rocks in the state's southeast resulted in a 51-year-old man being charged with drugs offences after a search of his house discovered 11 pounds of cannabis and another 12 cannabis plants growing hydroponically.

Ernie Dew was arrested in February 2006 after being double-crossed by Atanasovic, who agreed to infiltrate the outlaw motorcycle gang

Ernie Dew appeared before the Court of Appeal today, seeking a new trial based on alleged errors made by the judge last year. If he loses that argument, Dew wants his 13-year prison sentence reduced on the grounds it is harsh and excessive.The province’s highest court has reserved its decision.Dew, 49, was caught in an elaborate undercover sting operation doing four separate kilogram-level cocaine deals with his former friend turned police agent Franco Atanasovic. They were captured on audio and video surveillance.
Dew had asked for a sentence between seven and eight years. He also agreed to serve an additional year behind bars if he doesn't pay a $31,000 fine and will forfeit his home in St. Andrews, where some of the drug deals went downDew was arrested in February 2006 after being double-crossed by Atanasovic, who agreed to infiltrate the outlaw motorcycle gang and work undercover as a police agent. Police arrested a dozen other targets as part of "Project Defence."

President of the Santa Barbara Hells Angels pleaded not guilty Wednesday to allegations that he brandished a firearm at a motorcyclist

President of the Santa Barbara Hells Angels pleaded not guilty Wednesday to allegations that he brandished a firearm at a motorcyclist in the Ojai Valley in January.Archie Schaffer, who is out of jail on $160,000 bail, is charged with making criminal threats, street terrorism, reckless driving and committing a crime for the benefit of the Hells Angels. He is also accused of using a firearm in the commission of a crime.Investigators say Schaffer, 35, was in a pickup truck heading north on Highway 33 at Casitas Springs on Jan. 17, when he began tailgating a group of motorcyclists. He allegedly forced one motorcycle into oncoming traffic and brandished a firearm at two other motorcyclists, according to investigators.He was arrested Jan. 30.Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Young set a preliminary hearing for April 21.“These allegations against Archie are preposterous,” Schaffer’s lawyer, Anthony Zinnanti of Santa Clarita, said in an interview.He told the judge that he wants a hearing because he plans to file a legal petition asking a judge to stop the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department from conducting a series of searches at his client’s house in Ojai, including pointing guns at young children, the attorney said.Outside the courtroom, Zinnanti accused sheriff’s deputies of misconduct by knocking down doors, frightening the family, destroying property and what he called “trophy taking” during four searches that were conducted in April 2008, twice in January and once in March.Schaffer’s father, Archie Schaffer Sr., said the children and a baby sitter were in the house when one of the search warrants was executed.
Asked for a response, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Capt. Ross Bonfiglio expressed skepticism. “I tend to doubt (the allegations),” Bonfiglio said, adding that he knows of no complaint filed against the Sheriff’s Department by anyone in connection with the case. “We get a complaint, we investigate,” he said.Zinnanti said the deputies took office equipment, including the top of a printer and a fax machine, along with a leather vest, miscellaneous papers and drawings, a Hells Angel calendar and other items. He said no guns or drugs were found at Schaffer’s residence — “nothing incriminating,” he said.“The club ain’t going to take this lying down. This is a legal war,” said Zinnanti, calling the search warrants extremely abusive.

Michael Paul Uzzell,was arrested in March after a bikie-related shooting at Blair Athol.

Michael Paul Uzzell, 49, has been released on bail by Holden Hill Magistrates Court in Adelaide.He is still facing several firearms offences and will appear in court again in June.The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions would not comment on why the attempted murder charge was dropped.Uzzell was arrested in March after a bikie-related shooting at Blair Athol.

Torture and brutality in the Bandidos Motorcycle Club murder trial.

Six gang members or associates are now on trial in Ontario Superior Court here in connection with the deaths of eight fellow Bandidos in April three years ago. All of the accused men face eight counts each of first-degree murder and all are pleading not guilty.Since the discovery of the bodies, stuffed into four vehicles abandoned on a country road southwest of London, the deaths have been widely described as execution-style killings, a term which evokes a picture of crisp if not merciful efficiency.Earlier this week, for instance,

Elgin County Crown attorney Kevin Gowdey told the jurors in his opening statement that most of the men died of gunshot wounds to the head, most delivered at close range. And a day later, jurors saw for the first time close-up photographs of the men's bloody and fatal head wounds. But what they learned yesterday was that one of the victims, Luis (Chopper) Raposo also had his right middle finger amputated and that another, John (Boxer) Muscedere, the supposed Canadian president of the Bandidos, was not only shot three times, but also suffered multiple fractured teeth and severe abrasions to both knees, the reasonable inference that he had been forced to kneel at some point.As well, another victim, 28-year-old George (Crash) Kriarkis was shot no fewer than seven times - four times in the face or head and once each in the shoulder, chest and abdomen.

Mr. Kriarkis's mother was in court yesterday when Ontario Provincial Police Constable Ross Stuart, the main forensic identification officer on the case, was describing the men's injuries as the jurors watched a slide show of pictures documenting them. She fell weeping into the arms of friends and once cried aloud, "Why?"Another victim, Frank (Bam Bam) Salerno, was shot at no fewer than nine times.Five of the shots connected - one to the bridge of his nose, another to his right cheek, another to his right ear, one to his right hand and one to the right thigh. Three more grazed his lower right leg, another grazed the top of his right hand.In total, not counting any that may have missed the mark, 33 shots were fired at the eight victims.In addition to gunshot wounds, Constable Stuart said, many of the men suffered other lacerations or abrasions, several to their wrists or hands, sometimes interpreted as wounds incurred when people try to defend themselves. Other injuries, such as the laceration to the top of Jamie (Goldberg) Flanz's head, may have been inflicted by the alleged ringleader of the plot, Wayne (Wiener) Kellestine, whom Mr. Gowdey described as having kicked one victim in the face and hit another, all the while dancing and singing bizarrely.According to the prosecutor, all the victims were members or associates of the tiny Toronto Bandidos branch called the No Surrender Crew.
With the Toronto branch on the outs with the group's head office in Texas, and also embroiled in an internal battle for control with a probationary Bandidos group in Winnipeg, the decision was made to "pull the patches" of the Toronto crew, leaving Winnipeg as the only Canadian chapter.Mr. Kellestine, who reportedly had aligned himself with the Winnipeg group, is alleged to have lured his Toronto colleagues to his farm, located just 14 kilometres from the site where the vehicles crammed with bodies were later found.
He and his five co-accused - Michael (Taz) Sandham, Dwight (Dee) Mushey and Marcello Aravena, all from Winnipeg, and Frank Mather from Toronto - allegedly donned gloves and armed themselves in preparation for the patch-pulling, with Mr. Sandham, a former police officer and soldier, allegedly hiding in the loft of the barn where the meeting was held.After a brief exchange of gunfire between Mr. Raposo and Mr. Sandham - it left the former bleeding from the neck and chest and the latter complaining his bulletproof vest had been hit - Mr. Gowdey said the rest of the Toronto Bandidos were searched and held at gunpoint."In the hours that followed," Mr. Gowdey told the jurors, the remaining men "were taken outside, unarmed, and shot one by one in their vehicles ... Not everyone [who is accused] actually shot and killed, but everyone participated and contributed ... People who deliberately help or encourage killing may be equally guilty as those who pulled the trigger."The revelations of the apparent cruelty of the men's deaths came late yesterday, and could not have contrasted more with the testimony of the morning.These early witnesses - several OPP officers who were first on the scene, a paramedic who had the unenviable task of checking the bodies for signs of life and who found instead in some the onset of rigor mortis - included a gentle woman named Mary Steele.She lives with her husband on the Stafford Line, near where the abandoned cars were found on April 8, 2006. Retired dairy farmers, the Steeles learned that there were cars on and near their property when at the breakfast table they got a call from a neighbour, an older man who every morning brought the day's newspaper over.She described this man, Forbes Oldham, as one of the retired farmers who, used to the early hours of rural life, routinely keep boredom at bay by going on "crop tours" of the area.
Eventually, the Steeles went to check out the cars themselves, albeit from a distance because, as Mrs. Steele said, "My husband and I watch CSI. We decided we weren't going to touch anything."
They phoned the police - twice, in fact - and were on the road when they heard the first officer cry that he'd found a body and learned that CSI was at their doorstep.

Cedric Baxter Smith, one of 17 full-patch members of the Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels, has not been heard from since May 2008

Cedric Baxter Smith, one of 17 full-patch members of the Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels, has not been heard from since the 2008 May long weekend.His last credit card transaction was May 21, and there has been no activity in his bank accounts or cellphone. He is presumed to have been killed, perhaps by Hells Angels associates, after Smith fell for the ruse of an undercover RCMP officer in a covert drug operation. Dubbed Project Essen, it led to the arrests of 10 gang members in 2005, including Smith and Norman Krogstad, president of the Vancouver chapter.Smith's beloved car collection, possibly worth more than $1 million, will be auctioned off in Calgary on April 24 and 25. Among them is a 1937 Cadillac Fleetwood that was used at the ceremonial opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. As befitting a Hells Angels biker, many of Smith's 11 vehicles are Al Capone-era "gangster" cars, including a black 1936 Cadillac, a dark maroon 1936 Lincoln and a dark blue 1938 Buick.Smith's vehicles will be sold along with 26 more antique autos from two other estates. The 37 vehicles represent what Car Crazy auction house owner Harold Heninger says might be "the finest collection of vintage autos ever offered for sale in Alberta."Heninger says Smith's vehicles could sell for between $50,000 and $100,000 each.
But he is uncertain what they might fetch in the current economy.
"There is no reserve. They will all be sold," he says.Heninger, whose auction service (www.carcrazy.ca) has been operating for 20 years, previously sold Smith's 1934 Pierce Arrow-- "the Bonnie and Clyde car" -- for $100,000. Another Pierce Arrow is available at the auction. Mark Smith, who was in Calgary this month, said he has no idea what happened to his brother and won't speculate. The family, he said, had no choice but to sell Cedric's cars, even though his brother cannot be declared legally dead under B.C. law until seven years after his disappearance.Cedric, who never married and had no children, did not own the property where the cars were housed and the family had to clear them out, says Mark. Cedric's three siblings say they plan to put the proceeds from the auction into an account in their brother's name and hope that one day he shows up.Mark says Cedric was a skilled auto body repairman who built his car collection for more than 30 years. The family says they do not condone his Hells Angels affiliation and were shocked to learn of his arrest in 2005 at age 55 for drug trafficking. When arrested, police found $73,000 in cash at his home.Smith was cultivated by the RCMP undercover agent for two years, beginning in 2003, who was soon buying kilos of cocaine from the senior Hells Angel member. Smith was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail. Released early on good behaviour, he had been out of jail for about year when spotted by his Hells Angels brethren. A chapter member phoned RCMP to say that Smith had met "with foul play."
Before his disappearance, Smith had taken responsibility for his crimes and knew he could not go back to selling drugs, Mark says.
Heninger says it is obvious from the condition of the vehicles that Smith was meticulous about his restoration work."He apparently took all the door locks apart, polished all the screws, and put them back together. His buddies say he was crazy about it. When he was working on a project, he'd live on nothing but Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts until he finished. He was a bit obsessive."

Peter Zervas, 32, underwent emergency surgery after being shot in the right shoulder, hip, foot and chest as the Hells Angel motorcycle gang member sa

Peter Zervas, 32, underwent emergency surgery after being shot in the right shoulder, hip, foot and chest as the Hells Angel motorcycle gang member sat in his car in the driveway of his Lakemba unit about 11.30pm (AEDT) on Sunday.Hells Angel bikie gunned down outside his home may have been a key witness to the Sydney airport bashing murder of his brother, but a Comancheros lawyer says that doesn't mean the Comancheros shot him.An unidentified man with shoulder-length dark hair was seen running from the scene."It is an extraordinary level of violence (for) someone to be shot in their driveway, in their car," Superintendent Peter Lennon of Campsie police told reporters."He's very lucky to be alive."It is the latest incident in an escalation of bikie violence that has prompted the formation of a 75-strong police taskforce and plans for tough new anti-association laws targeting gang members. Zervas was in a stable condition in Sydney's St George Hospital on Monday, with his parents and senior Hells Angels - including president Derek Wainohu - spending time at his bedside.Supt Lennon said officers had already spoken to the victim, whom they have not publicly named, and they expected that he and his family would cooperate.He would not be drawn on whether the victim had been offered protection prior to the shooting, but in Sydney's Central Local Court on Monday police indicated he "may have been a potential witness" in the affray case against five members of the Comancheros, a rival outlaw motorcycle gang.The Comancheros and Hells Angels clashed violently at Sydney airport on March 22 in front of hundreds of passengers, leaving 29-year-old Anthony Zervas with "blunt force and sharp force injuries" that proved fatal.Peter Zervas was with his brother as he died. His family buried him on Friday in a funeral attended also by Bandidos gang members.

"Every person is going to think logically that the number one suspect (in the shooting) is somebody said to be associated with the Comancheros," the gang's barrister John Korn said.

But he said he was sure every police officer "who has turned his mind to the matter, would also conclude that there are other people, other groups, who would have a significant in the matter as well"."The president of the Comancheros wants peace and somebody takes action to ensure that can't happen - doesn't that seem to you slightly incongruous?" he asked of reporters.Mr Korn was speaking outside Sydney's Central Local Court after a bail application for Christian Menzies was adjourned until Wednesday.
Menzies, 26, of Matraville, on Friday became the fifth Comanchero refused bail on an affray charge following the airport brawl.The shooting is the third attack on the Hells Angels in two months, taking into account the airport brawl and the February 4 bombing of the Hells Angel's Petersham clubhouse.NSW Premier Nathan Rees was meeting on Monday with his cabinet to discuss planned laws allowing police to prohibit bikies associating with each other.Applications would have to be made in the Supreme Court and would not need to be based on known criminal behaviour.

Bikie war has never stopped.

Bikie war has never stopped. Since the Milperra massacre in Sydney a quarter of a century ago, it has seethed in the underworld of our main cities, with only a few dumped corpses and bombings occasionally surfacing in the news pages. This is also not the first time bikies have brawled on our streets. In one celebrated clash a few years back, two bikie gangs slugged it out on the steps of the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney as police and court officials watched on. bikie culture has changed dramatically from the old romantic notion of bikers as big-hearted, big drinking Harley-Davidson lovers who do the odd charity drive for children's hospitals and enjoy the odd bit of biff. While there are still a few of the old-guard bikers who stay away from crime, he says bikie gangs have morphed into highly sophisticated fronts for organised crime and the violent clashes being waged between them for dominance are likely to get worse.

"It's a new violence," he says.
"In the old days the rule was: 'Never at work, never at home, never in front of women and children.' "Nowadays they don't give a shit. They will do it anywhere."

Much was made this week of how the president of the Comancheros bikie gang, Mick Hawi, had banned all his members from wearing their distinctive gang colours or patches or riding their bikes.
This was spun as a conciliatory gesture to ease public fears.
But in the outlaw motorcycle gang fraternity, another explanation was circulating. Talk was that members of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang had issued a "shoot to kill" order on any Comancheros. "This is a declaration of war," the gang insider says. "All other gang members have been told to keep their heads down or face the consequences." Much of the present bikie wars is a simple battle for dominance between gangs, sparked partly by the entrance on to the local drug dealing scene of a self-styled Middle Eastern bikie gang calling itself Notorious. One factor fuelling this conflict is racial anger among traditional bikies at the "Leb boys" muscling in on their patch. But, as always, it is mostly about the money. As Sunday Night revealed a few weeks ago (despite government claims the trade was now impossible) bikies are still buying huge quantities of over-the-counter cough medicines containing pseudoephedrine and turning them into hugely lucrative speed or ice.

A former methamphetamine cook, Stevan Utah, now on the run from the Bandidos, told how $1000 of cough medicine could earn up to $250,000 "deal for deal" on the street.

Now Notorious wants a piece of the action that bikie gangs have been quietly controlling for years because the money to be made is huge.
"I've been in houses where every room is full of money wrapped up in bundles," the gang insider tells Sunday Night. "They couldn't move it. They need laundromats for the money." The view among the traditional bikie gang fraternity is that Notorious is not a genuine motorcycle gang at all but a criminal gang that is using the brand value of being a bikie gang to add cachet and fear to their efforts to muscle in on to the Sydney drug scene. They have even created their own patch and its publication in one Sydney newspaper served only to enhance the desired feared reputation. What Notorious has learned is what bikie gangs in Australia have known for years: police are reluctant to confront bikies.
"The cops are scared of them," the gang insider says. "They have lost control. Gang members are caught with guns, drugs or shooting people, and they get a bit of community service. It's a pussyfoot approach. Anybody else would get the book thrown at them but these guys get away with it." This week, one self-styled gang expert proclaimed that police and politicians should bring gang leaders together to broker a peace before a feud escalates. The same academic also naively suggested in the pages of another Sydney newspaper that outlaw motorcycle gangs "perform an invaluable social service by keeping some ofthe most disturbed and unstable members of society in check through rigid internal structures".

Gang insiders laugh at such claims. They say that to dignify the gangs' inflated sense of their own importance by brokering some implicit peace deal through them is precisely what is wrong with present policing approaches. Whatever any gang leader ever told the police, he would do anything to stay dominant. And even if gangs are banned by the proposed new laws, the killings will continue on behind the scenes as they have done for decades. The only way to nip the gangs in the bud is to harass their control of the drugs trade with the sort of anti-racketeering laws used in the US that target the money that drives the crime. One of the reasons Notorious's entrance on to the bikie scene is so threatening is because, as the money rolls in, they are wooing Middle Eastern gang members from other gangs, such as the Hell's Angels, Comancheros and Bandidos.

This is a direct threat to the institutional control of the main gangs because most "full-patched" gang members know too much about the gang's dealer network and protection rackets to be allowed to leave. To be inside the gang is all too often to be privy to a major criminal enterprise. "Nobody can walk away," the gang insider says. "You can retire or step back but never walk away. If they go to another club, they give all the club secrets away, all the areas they deal. Many of the shootings in recent weeks are a case of: 'You steal our f--ing drugs and this is what happens."'

Anzac Day is traditionally a big day on the bikie calendar and this year it is likely to be a flashpoint for further violence. The speculation is that the Hell's Angels will not brook anything less than complete capitulation by the Comancheros as a sub-club of the Angels. Anything else would be bad for business.

Tony Sobey local president of the Gypsy Jokers is a keeper of secrets

Tony Sobey.The former bikie gang leader bought the lemon-coloured split-level in 2002 for $383,000 and settled in with wife Tracey and the kids. The family has now moved out after the property sold last month for $880,000. Skye is a preserve of quiet privilege in the Adelaide foothills, which would have suited Sobey down to the ground. He has come a long way since he was local president of the Gypsy Jokers, one of the country's most notorious outlaw motorcycle outfits, and a target of the crackdown in South Australia that gained national traction this week after the rampage by bikies through Sydney Airport left 29-year-old Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas dead. Sobey is a keeper of secrets. His leathers to riches story is a case study in how bikies, far from being marginalised by anti-social gang behaviour, have prospered. If South Australian Police Commissioner Mal Hyde gets his way, Sobey and others prominent in bikie circles may have some explaining to do. Mr Hyde says the state police are seeking additional powers to make bikies and ex-bikies account for "unexplained wealth". "Everyone knows the person who doesn't work and has a two-storey mansion in the street, and everyone wonders what in the world this guy does for an income," Mr Hyde told The Weekend Australian. "So one of the things we are looking at is ... unexplained wealth. What that means, basically, is if a criminal has more wealth then their income would allow, they have to explain where it came from ... if you can't show you legitimately acquired it, then you lose it." The idea, Mr Hyde said, was to disrupt the business of being a bikie. Nationally, there are about 4000 bikie gang members. Their illegal dealings are said to run to drugs -- especially amphetamines -- stolen cars, prostitution and extortion. The proceeds have been laundered through legitimately-established front companies. "There is no single answer here in terms of what you do to deal with them," Mr Hyde said. "What you have to do is really think about them being in business ... and how you actually deal with disabling or disrupting that business."

Determining exactly what Sobey, 53, does for a living is certainly a challenge. One former neighbour in Skye was surprised he drove a top-of-the-range Mercedes when he had "no obvious form of employment".

Company records show Sobey is the director of a number of companies, some of which are now in the throes of being liquidated. The name of one of them, Simple Loan Pty Ltd, gives away a line of business he has been into. Sobey told the Federal Court in 2006 he was collecting commissions on $7 million in funds from other investors he had directed into a seemingly high-yield scheme run by Adelaide businessman Giuseppe Mercorella, which was in fact a giant pyramid scam. The initially juicy returns were coming from new investors, not investment income. By the time Mercorella's house of cards came tumbling down in 2005 Sobey said he had also pumped in $2million of his own cash. All up, an estimated $94 million in investors' funds went down with the fraudster, who was jailed for five years. There is no indication in corporate or court records of impropriety concerning Simple Loan, and The Weekend Australian does not suggest this was the case. But asked in the Federal Court, as part of an examination by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission into the Mercorella debacle, to detail where he had obtained the $2 million he sank into the investment scheme, Sobey said in February 2006 he could not recall details of his numerous business dealings. Pressed on the point, he said he earned money from share trading, gambling on horses and the commission he had received on putting other investors into the Mercorella scheme. The 4 per cent per month Mercorella returned, before the fund went bust, was "average" compared to what he could have earned lending money, Sobey said. Another area of known interest for bikies is the nightclub scene, and Sobey was into that, too. In March 2006, the Licensing Court of South Australia found he had part of deal involving "deliberate flouting" of licensing laws for a Adelaide nightclub called Heaven. District Court judge Paul Rice described how Sobey and another former Gypsy Joker, convicted Melbourne cocaine dealer Paul Pavlovski, effectively took control of the nightclub from licensee John Richard Pike through a corporate play. Pike had started associating with Sobey in November 2002, about six months after the latter had moved up to Skye. In 2004, Pike restructured his company, Adelaide City Entertainment Pty Ltd. Sobey's company, Sobey Pty Ltd, was issued 10 per cent of the holding shares. Pike later complained that the deal was "forced upon him" by Pavlovski, landlord of the hotel in which the club operated. He and Sobey often turned up at the hotel together, Pike told the Licensing Court. For two years, Pavlovski skimmed $5000 a week in cash from the club, money he had "no right to take", the court found. While Sobey had set his wife up as sole director and shareholder of Sobey Pty Ltd, there was no doubt who had control. "Mrs Sobey was, in reality, no more than a front for Mr Sobey and the Gypsy Jokers," the judge found. Judge Rice said it was open to infer that Pike, in knowing "Sobey was involved with the Gypsy Jokers Club ... was allowing and permitting an element of organised crime to infiltrate the ownership and management" of the nightclub. Pike was declared unfit to hold a liquor licence, and the nightclub folded. It has since reopened with a new name and under new management. In a sense, the Licensing Court proceedings marked a turning point for Sobey, who was well acquainted with the courts in Adelaide. In 2002, he had been charged with possessing a controlled substance, but the case was dropped by the prosecution within months. Two years later, he was charged with intentionally making a false statement and importing prohibited goods. After the false statement count was withdrawn, he pleaded guilty to the importation charge, and was fined $2000. In 2005, he was charged with a minor assault charge, but this prosecution was discontinued in 2007. By then, Sobey had other problems. He was fighting legal battles on a number of fronts. Having claimed security of $17.4 million over what was left of Mercorella's assets, Sobey was hit with a bill from the Taxation Office of $1,519,607.87 for unpaid income tax and interest, mainly on the commission and interest he had earned from the pyramid scheme ahead of its implosion. Sobey decided to wheel in the heavy legal artillery, and engaged top-drawer Melbourne barrister, Peter Hayes QC, to prosecute his claim to the Mercorella assets. The two men evidently hit it off personally. Hayes flew to Adelaide on May 10, 2007, for a hearing in the Federal Court; that night, he had dinner at Skye with Sobey, Tracey and their six children. Next morning, after Hayes failed to meet him as arranged, Sobey found the lawyer unconscious in his hotel room. Hayes had overdosed on a cocktail of illegal drugs allegedly provided by one of a number of prostitutes who were in his room; nearly two years on, the South Australian coroner is still weighing whether to order an inquest into his death, according to the state's Courts Administration Authority. Sobey, meanwhile, has dropped his claim over the Mercorella assets in what has been described as a "favourable" settlement with the scheme's liquidators. He remains in dispute with the tax office, which issued a bankruptcy notice in the Federal Court against him in 2007. The bankruptcy notice has since been set aside by consent and Sobey is now challenging the assessment of his income.

Mark Edward Walker was a full-patch member of the motorcycle gang, The Outlaws.arrested

Arrested Mark Edward Walker and Margaret Rose Berg-teed.
Participating in the raid were 13 members of the Missouri State Water Patrol S.W.A.T. Team, two Deputy U.S. Marshals, two members of the Mid-Mo Drug Task Force, eight Morgan County Sheriff’s Office S.W.A.T Team members and Sheriff Jim Petty.
Walker, 42, of Florida had a warrant from Marion County, Fla. for Attempted Second Degree Murder with a Firearm. This stems from an incident in the city of Ocala, Fla., that occurred in August 2008.
The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force received information that Mark Walker was living in Ivy Bend with his brother, Andrew David Walker, 47. Andrew Walker has been in the Morgan County Detention Center since Feb. 14, 2009 for an unrelated charge of Driving While Revoked.
Margaret Rose Berg-teed, 56, of Missouri was also arrested Tuesday.
Mark Walker was arrested without incident and is currently being held in the Morgan County Jail without bond. Charges on Margaret Rose Berg-teed are pending, and she is also being held at this time in the Morgan County Jail without bond.
Information received by the Morgan County Sheriff's Office indicated, and was later confirmed by deputies, that Mark Edward Walker was a full-patch member of the motorcycle gang, The Outlaws.

Brandon Cheville is believed to be a member of the Mongols motorcycle gang.

Brandon Cheville was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and violations of federal racketeering statutes.Authorities said Cheville is believed to be a member of the Mongols motorcycle gang. He was featured on the Fox show America's Most Wanted in November.Authorities said he eluded capture during a nationwide crackdown on the Mongols gang in October.U.S. Marshals Southern Iowa Fugitive Task Force made the arrest after learning Cheville had been living and working in Boone. Officials said he did not resist arrest. They said he was working as a tattoo artist.Cheville is being held in the Polk County Jail pending extradition and court hearings.

Double murder in Canberra is a dramatic escalation of bikie violence

Double murder in Canberra is a dramatic escalation of bikie violence, triggered by an increasingly brutal turf war on the eastern seaboard.Hours after police locked up high-ranking Sydney bikie Mahmoud Dib, emergency services crews were called to a southern Canberra home near where two men had been fatally shot. ACT Police would not confirm or deny media reports that the shooting at the house in Couchman Crescent, Chisholm, was linked to bikie gangs. "We are looking at all possible circumstances surrounding this incident and that will include any possible associations that these persons may have had with any groups," a spokeswoman said.
One man was found dead from gunshot wounds in the front yard of the home; another was discovered in a rear yard. A gun was recovered from the scene. A man was arrested and taken to Tuggeranong police station for questioning. One of the residents, who was too scared to be identified, said the home was clearly a drug house and was always full of young people. But he had not seen motorbikes parked outside. "It's definitely drug-related, there are always a lot of cars there, people turning up all the time," he said. Another resident said her 10-year-old daughter heard the gunfire and was terrified. "The police told us not to leave the house, and we've been stuck ever since," she said. Residents believed there could be two homes in the street occupied by bikies or their affiliates. They were concerned about possible connections between yesterday's shootings and the alleged killing by Comancheros of a Hell's Angels associate at Sydney airport on Sunday. Mr Dib was arrested at his western Sydney home on firearms offences by police investigating a string of drive-by shootings. The sergeant-at-arms of the Bandidos' Parramatta chapter was taken into custody after a pre-dawn raid by heavily armed police on his home at Auburn. The arrest followed the 11th drive-by shooting in western Sydney in the past six days, including attacks on Mr Dib's Park Street home on Monday and on the home of a relative of his in nearby Pine Road. Mr Dib, 27, was charged with six firearms offences over a loaded gun police found in his car last Monday.
Acting Superintendent Angelo Memmolo, from the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad, said Mr Dib was not in the car when police found the .45 calibre semi-automatic pistol -- loaded with seven bullets -- but had been in the area. No drugs or weapons were found in the 6am raid on Mr Dib's home, but police seized two Harley-Davidson motorcycles they believe may have been stolen. Anthony Zervas -- the 29-year-old brother of a Hell's Angels member -- was bashed to death at Sydney airport on Sunday with metal bollards. Police have not ruled out that bikies were behind a western Sydney drive-by shooting on Monday targeting a Merrylands home containing two adults and three children. Yesterday, Mr Dib sat silently throughout his brief appearance at Burwood Local Court. Magistrate Michael Dakin agreed to a request for an adjournment from Mr Dib's lawyer, Mohammed Masri, for a bail hearing until Friday and formally refused bail.

Family members of Notorious may have been targeted in one of two drive-by shootings in Sydney's west.

Family members of Notorious may have been targeted in one of two drive-by shootings in Sydney's west. An elderly couple, believed to be closely related to Notorious's sergeant-at-arms, were asleep when several bullets tore through the front of their home in Doonside about midnight, narrowly missing the pair.Minutes later several bullets were fired into the front of a house at nearby Prospect. Six people, including a 15-year-old and a four-month-old, were inside but escaped injury.Police said the homes might have been targeted because of the occupants' links to Notorious. "We believe there may be links between the two locations and … the Notorious criminal group," said the commander of the Gangs Squad, Detective Superintendent Mal Lanyon, mother of Notorious's sergeant-at-arms is the owner of the Doonside home.The attacks may be retaliation for a drive-by shooting at the house of a senior member of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club's Blacktown chapter early on Monday. Notorious is suspected of being behind that shooting, as well as attacks on the Nomads' clubhouse in Marrickville and the Hells Angels' clubhouse in Petersham in recent months.

Notorious, thought to have been formed in 2007, is run by a Lebanese-Australian Christian with longstanding links to one of Sydney's most well-known underworld families. Police and underworld sources have indicated that Notorious is relying heavily on "Islander muscle" and has opened a clubhouse in Kings Cross - an area traditionally treated as neutral by the older clubs.

"Since Notorious have been around things have been getting hotter and hotter," an underworld source told the Herald.

Hells Angel in Australia was killed Saturday afternoon

Hells Angel in Australia was killed Saturday afternoon during a 10-man brawl involving bikers of his group and members of a rival motorcycle gang inside the Sydney Airport.Police arrested four men involved in the melee that killed an unnamed 29-year-old man from southwestern Sydney. The man died in a hospital after his head was repeatedly smashed with metal posts by men of the Comanchero club, according to police.Other suspects escaped from the terminal by riding on taxis.An investigation in under way to determine what caused the deadly brawl witnessed by many travelers at the airport's domestic terminal.

REBELS bikie accused of bashing patrons and staff during two pub brawls has been arrested

REBELS bikie accused of bashing patrons and staff during two pub brawls has been arrested despite fearful victims who refused to press charges.Crime Gangs Task Force officers arrested the 22-year-old bikie this morning over bashings in two southern suburbs hotels last month. He was refused bail and appeared in the Christies Beach Magistrates Court this afternoon.Police claim the man entered the Aldinga Hotel on February 26 and kicked and punched four people, including staff members.They claim two days later he and three accomplices stormed the Victory Hotel at Sellicks Hill and punched and kicked an unidentified person to the ground.In each case the victims could either not be located or "were fearful of retribution " and refused to press charges, police said.Recent legislative changes which created the offences of `affray' and engaging in violent disorder enabled police to take action despite the victims' silence.Affray carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Offenders can be jailed for two years for engaging in violent disorder.The bikie has also been barred from the two hotels under new powers handed to police by changes to the Liquor Licensing Act.Detective Superintendent Des Bray said pub violence perpetrated by outlaw motorcycle gangs was "of major concern" to police.He also called on all victims of gang violence to report the incidents to police. "In the absence of victim and witness statements, police can now rely on the contents of security vision to prosecute offenders for the recently created offences," Det Supt Bray said.
"Remember, you can remain anonymous."

Kings Cross-based Notorious are embroiled in a gang war with the Hell's Angels and Rebels

Kings Cross-based Notorious are embroiled in a gang war with the Hell's Angels and Rebels over ethnic and territorial disputes.Neighbours in Taworri Rd said yesterday the home at the centre of the drive-by had been raided by police about a year ago.
But the elderly couple at the home during the drive-by said the shooting was a case of mistaken identity."I heard this bang, bang, bang more than I could count and I thought that it was an electrical problem with an appliance, maybe the stove," the 64-year-old man said."Then I felt pain in my leg and it was glass from the windows.
"(The room) was filled with haze, smoke. I've never experienced anything like this before."His 63-year-old wife escaped being shot in the head by about 15cm.
"If I had sat up in bed I would have been killed," she said.The Range Rover believed to have been used in the shootings - stolen from Waterloo on March 7 - was found burning in Blacktown.Premier Nathan Rees said yesterday he would consider changing the law to help police catch and prosecute people involved in drive-by shootings.

Paul "Stepchild" Iorio, 44, last known address 343 E. Ridge St., Nanticoke, is charged with one count of solicitation to deliver cocaine

Paul "Stepchild" Iorio, 44, last known address 343 E. Ridge St., Nanticoke, is charged with one count of solicitation to deliver cocaine, one count of possession of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility

Robert Muntz, 42, 195 West Green St., Nanticoke, is charged with one count of delivery of methamphetamine

Robert Muntz, 42, 195 West Green St., Nanticoke, is charged with one count of delivery of methamphetamine, one count of manufacturing of methamphetamine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

Mitch "Buddah" Miller, 48, 15 Bank St., Wilkes-Barre, is charged with one count of criminal solicitation to deliver cocaine

Mitch "Buddah" Miller, 48, 15 Bank St., Wilkes-Barre, is charged with one count of criminal solicitation to deliver cocaine, one count of possession of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

Nineteen of the defendants will be prosecuted in Luzerne County

Lazaro Salavarria, 43, 200 Park View Circle, Apt. 4101, Wilkes-Barre, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Michael Brostoski, 46, 39 Nicole Drive, Wilkes-Barre, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Kevin "K Dog" Nowakowski, 33, last known address 65 Fort St., Forty-Fort, is charged with three counts of delivery of cocaine, one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Francis Buracewski, 37, 2 Mill St., Wilkes-Barre, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Michael Scavone, 43, 246A Lake Drive, Harveys Lake, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Larry "Doctor" Gwynn, 54, 14 Allenberry Drive, Hanover Township, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Michelle Adams, 41, 12 Beech Lane, Harveys Lake, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Kenneth Koonrad, 25, 79 Grove St., Wilkes-Barre, is charged with one count ofcorrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Melissa "Missy" McEvoy, 34, 115 North Main St., Ashley, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
John Macking, 37, 9 Everhart St., Hanover Township, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Michael "Kick Start" Bafile, 38, 719 Sycamore St., Berwick, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Paul Czerniakowski, 44, 223 Brown St., Wilkes-Barre, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

Patrick Brown III, 39, 39 Fern St., Dallas, is charged with one count corrupt organizations

Patrick Brown III, 39, 39 Fern St., Dallas, is charged with one count corrupt organizations, one count conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count of delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

Michelle Ulitchney, 47, 212 Farmhouse Lane, Wapwallopen, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations

Michelle Ulitchney, 47, 212 Farmhouse Lane, Wapwallopen, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

Joseph "Skidmark" Janick, 44, 115 N. Main St., Ashley, is charged with one count corrupt organizations

Joseph "Skidmark" Janick, 44, 115 N. Main St., Ashley, is charged with one count corrupt organizations, one count conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine, one count criminal use of a communications facility and one count prohibited offensive weapon.

John "G Unit" Gonda, 38, 224 Fern Ridge Road, White Haven, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations

John "G Unit" Gonda, 38, 224 Fern Ridge Road, White Haven, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine, one count delivery of marijuana and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

Anthony Manchio Jr., 49, 212 Farmhouse Lane, Wapwallopen, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations

Anthony Manchio Jr., 49, 212 Farmhouse Lane, Wapwallopen, is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count delivery of cocaine and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.

John "J Bone" Ricci, 36, 52 Diamond Ave., Hanover Township, is charged with nine counts of delivery of cocaine

John "J Bone" Ricci, 36, 52 Diamond Ave., Hanover Township, is charged with nine counts of delivery of cocaine, one count of corrupt organizations, one count of conspiracy to deliver cocaine, one count of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine, one count of delivery of marijuana, and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.