Bikies recruiting kids as young as 10 for serious crimes

Victorian bikie gangs are recruiting vulnerable kids as young as 10 to carry out violent crimes on their behalf, including armed robberies and stealing cars.

Bikies and organised crime syndicates are recruiting violent kids as young as 10 years old to carry out serious crimes on their behalf.

Investigators across Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs are probing direct links between outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) and some of Victoria’s most violent young criminals who are known youth gang members.

Teenage gang members and vulnerable kids aged between 10 and 17 years old are becoming popular recruits for street gangs, with new crime data showing that one in three youth gang arrests results in that child being bailed.

It comes as the Victorian government has committed to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027.

Police are probing links between bikie gangs and youth gang members. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Last week, officers swarmed Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia in a three-day blitz designed to break up communication between organised crime syndicates and young criminals, arresting 26 people and seizing nine guns, including a sawn-off shotgun, three imitation rifles and five fake handguns.

Police also uncovered a taser, pepper spray and an illegal baton and stashes of MDMA, meth, cannabis and steroids, as well as three stolen cars during the operation, which monitors nearly 600 of the most serious offenders on a watchlist.

Police arrested several known youth gang members during a three-day operation across Melbourne's southeastern suburbs. Picture: Victoria Police

Inspector Andrew McKee, who co-ordinated the crackdown as part of Operation Alliance, said young kids represented a small portion of criminals, but the types of crimes they were committing for bikies and organised crime figures “really concern police”.

“These kids are vulnerable. They’re young. It’s sophisticated crime,” he said.

Inspector McKee said the types of crimes committed by young people were steadily becoming more serious.

“It used to be things like shopsteal, and graffiti. Now we’re seeing them coming in as robberies, theft of motor cars and aggravated burglaries at times to get those cars,” he said.

Police raid a home in Springvale South. Picture: Victoria Police

“When the offending is robberies against people, aggravated burglary, sneaking into houses, stealing cars. 14-year-olds driving cars, it’s very problematic for us. We’ll do whatever we can to disrupt it and stop it from happening.

“We have unfortunately arrested kids who are younger than that.”

Among those arrested was an 18-year-old youth gang member from Hampton Park, who has been charged with aggravated burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.

A 19-year-old gang member from Dandenong was arrested for allegedly breaching bail and theft of a motor vehicle and was released pending further inquiries.

Local police and detectives worked with the VIPER Taskforce, Canine Unit, Airwing and the Drone Unit during the raids.

Investigators have broken up four youth gangs since April this year, with another 44 on their radar across Victoria.

There are 84 youth gang members who have been arrested more than 10 times each in the past year alone.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs and other crime syndicates are increasingly exploiting vulnerable children. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Police believe criminals are taking advantage of vulnerable children, many of whom are in the care of the state.

Inspector McKee’s message for kids considering crossing into a life of crime and working for hardened criminals was simple: “Don't”.

“We want them to be children, basically. But we’ve struggled to do that when these interactions take place,” he said.

“They’re (young people) making decisions, which are not in their own best interests, but they’ve been guided by people with ill intent.

“They’re bringing him into risky sort of behaviour, wrong sort of lifestyle that generally ends in some form of grief.”