Following two recent bikie brawls in the tourist hot spot, Surfer’s Paradise, as well as a siege of Southport police station, the Queensland Police Service has brought 40 police over from Brisbane to help patrol the Glitter Strip, starting tonight.
The police crackdown is part of the Newman Government’s $20 million strategy to tackle the bikie scourge.
In retaliation to the ban on bikie gatherings and other restrictions, the Finks are joining forces with the Mongols, a gang based in the US known for drug dealing, money laundering, robbery, murder, and assault. This move means the bikie gang will become the largest, and arguably most powerful, in the country, with some 400 members, as well as giving them a presence on an international stage.
“This is massive,” police said. “This will elevate the Finks to the international stage and make them the most powerful gang in Australia. It will also give them international links equal to the Hells Angels.”
However, Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie put on a brave front as he said, “This is just a fear and intimidation tactic by the Finks,” adding that it would not scare the government from pushing through with its police presence, particularly in bikie hang outs, and to provide public reassurance.
Talking of the brawls that took place on Friday September 27, in which 26 bikies were arrested, police regional acting Assistant Commissioner Steve Hollands said, “We are getting out there with the blue uniforms and reassuring the public that the Queensland Police Service are there to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Hollands added that another 50 police reinforcements would be deployed to the Coast on Monday and would stay for at least a month until the bikie problem was under control.
