Feared Victorian Hells Angels bikie club numbers soar
The Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has doubled its number of Australian chapters in the past decade, including by muscling-up in Melbourne.
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The Hells Angels have doubled their number of Australian chapters in the past decade amid a period of unprecedented expansion.
Since 2013, the feared outlaw motorcycle gang has set up 12 new chapters nationwide and now has at least two in every state mainland capital.
That is in line with their strong worldwide penetration, having set up almost 200 new chapters in the past 10 years to have a strong presence in most corners of the globe.
The OMCG has muscled-up in Melbourne where it has opened two chapters, the CBD-based Angel City, led by Luke Moloney, and Darkside, in the past decade.
Victoria has traditionally been the strongest Hells Angels state in Australia.
The gang, founded in the United States, first set up here in 1975 with the Melbourne chapter and its landmark Alphington clubhouse.
Members of that era were heavily involved in amphetamine manufacturing and trafficking.
The Thomastown-based Nomads followed in 1980, before East County started in 2002 and Darkside in 2013.
Worldwide Hells Angels rules stipulate that new chapters must have a minimum of six members.
Sources say the Nomads have recruited heavily in recent years.
However, some members remain under scrutiny over the disappearance of South Australian man Kerry Giakoumis.
Giakoumis, an associate of the North Crew chapter in Adelaide, was last seen alive at the Nomads’ Lipton Drive stronghold and is presumed murdered.
The Hell Angels Motorcycle Club’s own website shows six more chapters have been opened in New South Wales in the past 10 years and that state now has the most branches.
Bayside, based on the Brighton Le Sands area, was set up earlier this year amid initial fears of a turf war with the Comancheros.
Former top Sydney Bandido patched over to the HAs earlier this year.
While the fortunes of other gangs have ebbed and flowed, the Angels are regarded as the “blue chip” outfit.
After a period as an OMCG powerhouse, the Comancheros have been hit hard by the arrests of some of their most senior figures.
They have also been hammered by the Australian Federal Police’s sprawling Ironside operation.
The Mongols grew in influence in recent years but they were damaged last year by an acrimonious split.
Meanwhile, the Angels are suspected of having an increasingly strong hand in international drug trafficking.
Their strength in the United States, Canada and Europe has presented great opportunities and they have moved heavily into building networks in Asia.
Rigid rules and consequences, particularly around talking to law enforcement, are said to be one of the club’s other major strengths.
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