Bikies in Adelaide using encrypted phones to get around laws that ban communication

ADELAIDE’S outlawed bikie gang members are banned from communicating with each other — but that hasn’t stopped them coming up with a way to try to thwart the laws.

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ADELAIDE’S outlawed bikie gang members are using encrypted communications to thwart new laws banning them from communicating with each other.

They are spending thousands of dollars on hi-tech mobile devices equipped with sophisticated encryption that police cannot penetrate.

The devices are for sale online, legal to own and operate in Australia, and enable the operators to send messages encrypted by military-grade technology to others with the same device without the possibility of being monitored by police using traditional interception methods.

Police and legal sources said devices such as the Phantom Secure BlackBerry, produced in Canada, are now being used by high-profile members of the Mongols, along with Hells Angels and Comancheros members in Adelaide.

They cost up to $2000 per unit and incur a service fee of several thousand dollars per month. If seized by police, they cannot be opened unless a code of up to 12 digits is successfully entered.

“They have certainly taken things to the next level,’’ a legal source said.

“While they were being used by a few knowledgeable people prior to last year, they are far more widespread now because of the legislation. It is simply evolution and they are perfectly legal.’’

Australian Crime Commission national manager of investigations Richard Grant said it was not just bikie gang members taking advantage of encrypted communications devices, but many organised crime groups.

Bikies in Adelaide are getting around strict bans on communication with encrypted phones and covert technology.

“We are aware of the issue of encryption and the use by organised crime of encrypted devices for quite some time and we have been doing a fair bit of work in that space,’’ he said.

“Certainly the mobile phones have made it much more difficult for law enforcement.

“It is not just South Australian bikies, it is a much more broader issue for law enforcement throughout the globe.’’

Mr Grant likened the situation to an “arms race’’ that had been playing out since mobile phones became common 25 years ago. Law enforcement agencies are continually adapting both technology and legislation to enable the communications to be legally monitored.

“The challenge for law enforcement is how you keep up in this arms race,’’ he said.

“Criminals have to communicate, they need to communicate to progress their endeavours. This is a constant battle that is getting more sophisticated.’’

He said the encrypted devices were becoming “far more pervasive’’ in Australia and the ACC had “not seen a legitimate use’’ for them.

“Maybe five years ago, it was very much a closed shop. More lately, in the last year or two, it has become far more pervasive and more out there. This is the new normal.

“Somebody is pulled over with a significant amount of money in their possession or drugs and they will have several phones — the burner phone, the overt phone and a couple of covert phones. That is not unusual.’’

Mr Grant said the encrypted BlackBerry was just one of the “many’’ products on the market and there had been diversification on a range of different platforms and IT solutions available. Others included snapchat and the Wickr messaging service.

He said one solution being employed was law enforcement agencies combining their resources and intelligence so that they became less reliant on intercepting the communications of criminals to tackle them. Other methods included a “larger emphasis’’ on the use of human sources in major investigations and operations to gain crucial evidence of illegal activity.

And while he would not elaborate, Mr Grant confirmed the ACC had engaged with the Attorney-General’s Department over policy and regulatory responses.

“Government is certainly aware of the issues. There have been a number of classified briefings given,’’ he said.

A spokesman for Justice Minister Michael Keenan said significant efforts had been made “to combat the ever-evolving nature of serious and organised crime, including outlaw motorcycle gangs”.

“We have provided our law enforcement agencies with the legislation and resources they require to keep Australians safe, and we continue to take advice from our agencies on the best ways to detect, deter and disrupt crooks that seek to do our communities harm,” the spokesman said.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said encrypted communications “is a challenge for law enforcement not just in Australia, but internationally’’.

“It is one of those things that we are working on to ensure we can maintain an effective policing focus on organised crime,’’ he said.

He would not elaborate on any moves SAPOL was making to counteract their use locally, but said the organisation had a presence on a range of national boards and committees that “are considering the issue of encrypted communications’’ along with other aspects of organised crime.

“We have always been adaptive, taking into account changes in the use of technology, the practices of organised crime and the nature of criminality itself. We have always had to be watching the landscape and ensuring our enforcement focus is consistent with those changing trends.’’

Gangs beat a retreat as member numbers fall

BIKIE gang membership in SA has slumped since harsh anti-association laws were introduced last August.

Police figures show that on August 6 there were 306 patched members, but as of this week, there were 276 members.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said he believed it was “too early’’ to suggest the new laws were entirely responsible for the drop in numbers.

“We would certainly think it was a contributing factor, but there are a range of other factors that may influence that,’’ he said.

However, he said the sharp decrease in the number of overt incidents involving gang members was an indicator of the success of the laws so far.

“There has been an absence of violence, of intimidatory behaviour by OMCG members in public places,’’ he said.

“It is not unreasonable to say people would feel safer in our entertainment precincts because of the absence of this overt presence.’’

Mr Stevens said while police were aware gang members were now meeting and communicating covertly, he would not disclose the tactics now being used to disrupt this.

“We always expected they would meet covertly and they always have met covertly in order to further their criminal activities,’’ he said.

“We have methodologies that give us some capacity to maintain an understanding of the activities but I am not going to disclose those.’’

In late December, police charged five Hells Angels gang members with breaching the association laws and a week ago, a Gypsy Jokers member was charged with another new offence under the law — wearing gang colours in a licensed premises.

— Nigel Hunt