The Mongols emerge as a dangerous bikie gang
For years the Comancheros have caused chaos with drive-by shootings, drug trafficking and other illegal activity, but in the past year, the Mongols have emerged as a powerful criminal force.
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Over the past five years the Comancheros have dominated the outlaw motorcycle gang scene in Melbourne.
They have kept detectives from the anti-bikie Echo Taskforce busy by carrying out drive-by shootings, assaults, extortion and drug trafficking.
But in the past year or so, the Mongols have emerged as a force to be reckoned with.
Mongols Aaron Ong and Josh Rider were charged over the murder of Paul Virgona on EastLink in November last year.
It was the culmination of a steady stream of activity that brought the bikie gang to the attention of police.
The gang was established in Los Angeles on December 5, 1969, and named after the Mongol Empire founded by Genghis Khan.
Last April the Herald Sun revealed key underworld figure Toby Mitchell had joined the club after leaving the rival Bandidos bikie club in 2013.
At the time some outlaw motorcycle gang experts doubted that the controversial gangster would ever become a “patched” member of another outlaw bikie club, considering that he had been the national sergeant-at-arms of the Bandidos.
Mitchell, who has survived two shooting attempts on his life, has been among the most infamous crime figures in Melbourne in the past decade.
He has not been charged and is not a suspect in relation to the murder of Mr Virgona.
But he has come under the spotlight over several incidents and court appearances since he was last released from prison in 2017.
The Mongols established a chapter in Melbourne following a national “patch-over’’ of Australian-based club the Finks.
The majority of the latter’s members crossed over to the US-based international club in 2013.
Mitchell was shot outside Doherty’s Gym in Brunswick in November 2011.
He was hit five times and almost died.
Police investigated two underworld heavies over the shooting, which took place in broad daylight, but no charges were laid.
Nabil Maghnie, who was murdered in Melbourne’s northern suburbs this month, was one of the men investigated over the attempted hit on Mitchell.
In 2013, Mitchell survived another shooting after he and other Bandidos members were ambushed by Hells Angels in Melton.
The Mongols are the sworn enemies of the Hells Angels.
They formed in California at the end of the 1960s when Hispanic bikies, refused entry to the Hells Angels because of their race, decided to form their own club.
The clubs’ rivalry turned deadly during a confrontation in Nevada in 2002 that left three bikies — two Angels and one Mongol — dead.