Melbourne Hells Angels Darkside president Andrew Fepuleai to be deported
A senior Hells Angels bikie who was jailed over a strip club brawl is facing deportation to New Zealand.
Police & Courts
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A senior Melbourne Hells Angels bikie will be banished from Australia after police linked him to drug dealing and firearms offending.
Andrew Fepuleai — the president of the gang’s Darkside affiliate chapter — has become the latest in a long line of top bikies to be sent back to New Zealand.
The Federal Government has been moving to purge outlaw motorcycle gang ranks by deporting those without Australian citizenship.
Fepuleai has few convictions, the most significant relating to a three-month jail term over a strip club brawl in which he and other Hells Angels bashed a man.
But former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been sending OMCGs back to their country of origin under character provisions contained in section 501 of the Migration Act.
The Act allows for the Minister to cancel someone’s visa on grounds they are of bad character, in particular if they have a criminal record.
Bikies sent back to New Zealand from Australia are commonly known in that country as “501s”.
They have become a significant organised crime issue across the Tasman, where a large number of Comanchero and other OMCGs have been sent in recent years.
Fepuleai, who has spent nine years in Australia, took the reins at Darkside last year after a stint as the gang’s sergeant-at-arms, which is an enforcer role.
The Victoria Police report provided to Mr Dutton stated he was now in the position of directing the sergeant-of-arms to commit acts of violence and maintain order within Darkside.
It stated he associated with members of another affiliate, the Red Devils, and with senior office-bearers of other chapters.
The police report also said his influence extended into other Australian states.
“ (Mr Fepuleai) uses members of his OMCG as a way for him to avoid detection and any links to illegal activity and to make money for himself and the club,” the report said.
Another section of the document said Darkside’s business interests included drug dealing, trafficking stolen goods, guns, extortion and prostitution.
The outfit is based in Melbourne’s southern suburbs.
In making his decision, Mr Dutton, who changed to defence Minister on March 31, said: “He has primary responsibility for the operation and expansion of the Hells Angels OMCG Darkside chapter and … he has a degree of influence over the criminal activities of the club’s members.”
Mr Dutton’s visa cancellation on Mr Fepuleai was last month upheld at appeal by the Federal Court of Australia.
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