Long-time Mongols associate Harley Kenneth Cranston joins club

Police are warning of an outlaw outfit strengthening numbers as an ex-Bandido convicted over a bust-up with a rival boss at a Gold Coast Bunnings has joined a new gang. FULL STORY.

Harley Kenneth Cranston (centre) allegedly becomes patched member of the Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. Picture: Supplied.

A notorious associate of the Gold Coast Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang has become a full-fledged member as the club continues to strengthen numbers.

In a social media post by a member of the gang’s Surfers Paradise chapter, and obtained via police sources, Harley Kenneth Cranston can be seen wearing his new club colours.

“I wasn’t surprised – he’s been associated with the club for some,” an officer with the Queensland Police Service’s Organised Crime Gangs Group told the Bulletin.

“The Mongols have been working for some time to strengthen their numbers not just here (Gold Coast) but across the country.”

Harley Cranston (centre) leaving the Southport courthouse in 2023 after pleading guilty to affray. Picture: Jessica Paul

Cranston is well known to police – a former member of the Bandidos – he was shot in the leg in broad daylight during an ambush by rival gang members at Logan Hyperdome in February 2019.

In December 2022 – after leaving the Bandidos and associating himself with the Mongols – Cranston was in hot water again – caught on camera bashing former Nomads gang boss Moudi Tajjour during a brawl at Bunnings in Nerang.

He pled guilty to affray in 2023 and was sentenced to nine months jail, wholly suspended for two years. It’s understood he has maintained a low profile since then – quietly becoming a patched member of the Mongols and going into business with one of the gangs most well known members, Harley Barbaro.

The pair launched Upfront Concrete Proprietary Limited in June last year, which drew immediate attention from police and raised concerns about the strength of the state’s consorting laws.

The Comanchero gang are strengthening their numbers on the Gold Coast after establishing a new chapter.

News of Cranston’s patching to the Mongols comes months after the Bulletin revealed their rivals the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang have established their own chapter on the Gold Coast. Convicted killer Nelson Patea is the club’s Sergeant-at-Arms, while notorious club enforcer Paea Langioutu Talakai was the Commander at the time.

Patea was granted parole in January 2019 just 20 months into an eight-year jail term after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Gold Coast man Greg Dufty.

Talakai has been convicted over a number of violent incidents, including a brawl at a Canberra strip club in 2017, during the Comanchero gang’s annual run.

Originally published as Long-time Mongols associate Harley Kenneth Cranston joins club