Young hot-heads pour petrol on simmering bikie feud in Qld
Police fear an all-out bikie war could be about to erupt in Queensland, triggered by a volatile new breed of hot-headed gang members.
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POLICE fear an all-out bikie war could be about to erupt in Queensland, triggered by a volatile new breed of hot-headed young gang members.
Sources say a war is brewing after two shootings linked to rival gangs the Rebels and Bandidos, and the firebombing of a tattoo shop owned by Rebels member ‘Little Mick’ Kosenko. They say the tattoo parlour firebombing — the first in years in Queensland — marks a dangerous escalation in bikie gang hostilities.
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Senior police have moved to play down the concerns but some frontline officers believe simmering tensions are about to boil over.
“Of particular concern is that outlaw motorcycle gangs are flush with new, young members, some of whom were not around to see the Newman government era crackdown on the bikies,’’ one source said.
Kosenko’s Koolsville Tattoo Studio at Brendale on Brisbane’s northside was last week hit in an attack police believe is linked to ructions between Rebels and Bandidos.
It followed the shooting of a machete-wielding Bandidos gang associate at the Logan Hyperdome on February 4, in an alleged confrontation with Rebels bikies.
Last week, Rebels member and MMA fighter Gokhan ‘Pitbull’ Turkyilmaz was shot eight times in the legs and groin by a group of masked intruders who stormed his Upper Coomera home.
Police believe the attack was payback for the Hyperdome incident and are hunting Bandidos members suspected of being involved.
After being released from hospital late last week, Turkyilmaz took to social media to taunt his shooters.
“Shot eight times, will take more than that to put me away,” he posted. “I’ve had harder sparring sessions. I’m alive and well.’’
His younger brother Emrah vowed revenge, posting on Facebook: “One by one, I’m coming.’’
Emrah was last week arrested and charged with affray in conncetion with the Hyperdome incident. Gokhan was charged this week with both affray and grievous bodily harm. Both are out on bail.
Kosenko also took to Facebook to vent his anger at the “two boys” he said had firebombed his tattoo parlour.
“Real men deal with issues face-to-face and don’t destroy other people’s property,” he posted this week.
Bikie expert Mark Lauchs said the current bikie tensions were a potential powderkeg.
“Once vengeance starts, the vendetta often doesn’t stop,’’ said Dr Lauchs, associate professor of criminology at Queensland University of Technology. “The one in the (NSW) Hunter Valley hasn’t stopped for three years. You do a drive-by (shooting), burn down someone’s tattoo parlour or set fire to their car and it’s tit-for-tat — it goes on and on.’’
Dr Lauchs said the tensions between the Rebels and Bandidos could be a turf war or a feud over a defecting gang member. That was the spark for the infamous “Ballroom Blitz” at a kickboxing tournament at the Gold Coast’s Royal Pines Resort in 2006, when Finks and Hells Angels fought a pitched battle with guns, knives and furniture.
“It (the Rebels v Bandidos feud) may not be one gang trying to move in on the other’s turf,’’ he said. “It could be some ‘dirty bastard’ trying to leave one of the clubs without handing in all their gear.’’
While the Bandidos were at the centre of the 2013 Broadbeach bikie brawl, Dr Lauchs said the Rebels preferred to settle differences out of the public eye — but he said if public attacks were directed at the Rebels, “I’m sure they will respond”.
Dr Lauchs said whereas the Newman government’s VLAD laws had been effective in smashing the outlaw gangs, the Palaszczuk Government’s anti-consorting laws were not targeting bikies.
“The public perception is that there’s less being done (against the bikies),” he said.
Bond University criminologist and former senior Gold Coast detective Terry Goldsworthy agreed.
“We’ve seen in the last 12 months or so a relaxation in the targeting of the criminal element of the bikies,’’ Dr Goldsworthy said. “There’s been a big focus on consorting laws … but people with no criminal histories are being targeted with (consorting warning) notices. It’s essentially just window-dressing.
“Over 1000 notices have been issued and that involves a lot of time and police resources that could be better invested targeting bikies … actually committing criminal acts.’’
Dr Goldsworthy said police anti-bikie squad Taskforce Maxima had been stripped of resources and officers moved out of the Surfers Paradise party precinct to Coomera.
He said the bikie-busting Rapid Action Patrol squad, set up in the wake of the Broadbeach brawl, had also been split and weakened.
But Detective Inspector Glen Donaldson, of the Organised Crime Gangs Group, said police were applying “relentless pressure” on bikies.
He said the gangs group, which includes Taskforce Maxima, arrested 1179 people on 3665 charges last year — the most arrests in any year since Taskforce Maxima first started in 2013. Police forensic accountants have restrained $12.2 million in assets from criminal organisations since 2015.
Det Insp Donaldson said 45 people have been charged with wearing prohibited items, such as club patches, in public.
A further 101 people have been charged with a crimes that carry a mandatory seven year jail term because of their links to a criminal gang.
Police have also served 1140 consorting warning notices with 11 people charged for habitual consulting.
“As a result of the relentless pressure applied to outlaw motorcycle gangs by the Queensland Police Service a total of 210 patched (bikies) have disaffiliated from their club’s,” Det Insp Donaldson said. “The Queensland Police Service takes … community safety very seriously and public displays of violence, particularly those involving criminal gangs will not be tolerated.”
RECENT HOSTILITIES
Feb 28, 2019: Brendale tattoo parlour owned by Rebel‘Little Mick’ Kosenko firebombed in overnight attack. Police investigating links to Feb 4 Logan shooting.
Feb 26, 2019:Rebels member and MMA fighter Gokhan ‘Pitbull’ Turkyilmazshot eight times when masked intruders storm his Upper Coomera home. Police believe it was payback for a Feb 4 Hyperdome shooting.
Feb 4, 2019: Machete-wielding Bandidos bikie Harley Cranston shot in the leg at Logan Hyperdome in alleged attack by Rebels gang members.
BAD BLOOD
Sep 27, 2013: Broadbeach bikie brawl erupts when about 60 Bandidos bikies storm the Aura Tapas and Loungebar, hunting gang rival Jason ‘JT’ Trouchet over a ‘love triangle’ feud with Bandidos enforcer Jacques Teamo. Restaurant patrons cower in terror and frightened police draw tasers as bikies brawl on the footpath, sending furniture flying. Bandidos later lay siege to Southport police station. Brawl ushers in the Newman government’s controversial VLAD laws.
Apr 28, 2012:Terrified Saturday afternoon shoppers at Robina Town Centre caught in the crossfire as Finks bikieMark Graham pulls gun from his bum bag and shoots a knife-wielding Jacques Teamo who was shopping with his family. One shopper is also shot. Graham jailed for 12 years for attempted murder of Teamo and unlawful wounding of the shopper.
Mar 18, 2006: The ‘Ballroom Blitz’. Finks and Hells Angels wage war with guns, knives and furniture at a kickboxing tournament in the ballroom of the five-star Royal Pines Resort at Ashmore. The violence is sparked when Finks ‘Terror Team’ member Nick ‘The Knife’ Forbes punches gang defector Christopher Hudson, who is now in jail over a drug-fuelled shooting in Melbourne’s CBD which left one man dead and two people seriously injured.
Nov 9, 1996: Two Black Uhlans bikies shot at a motorcycle show at Tugun Leagues Club. One bikie is left a paraplegic. Angry bikies chase and attack TV crews covering the story.
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