Secret Darwin meeting of Comanchero top brass could signal new front in Territory drug war

As Territorians went about their daily lives earlier this month, up to 30 presidents, sergeants-at-arms and top Comanchero lieutenants were making their way to the Top End.

In early May, as Territorians went about their day to day lives, one of the nation’s most notorious and dangerous organised crime gangs was conducting a clandestine meeting of its top office bearers right under their noses.

Up to 30 presidents, sergeants-at-arms and senior lieutenants of Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang chapters from around the country were meeting in Darwin, deep in secret discussions police now suspect involved a plan to establish a new offshoot in the Territory.

But while most Top Enders carried on blissfully unaware, a small group of officers from NT Police’s Drug and Organised Crime squad were paying close attention.

Among them was detective Superintendent Lee Morgan, who heads up the division, and says the role OMCGs already play in the Territory’s illicit drug trade made the meeting particularly concerning.

Head of NT Police's Drug and Organised Crime Squad Detective Superintendent Lee Morgan at the force's Peter McAulay Centre headquarters in Knuckey Lagoon. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“OMCGs historically have been heavily involved in the importation and distribution of illicit substances and that’s not changing today,” he said.

“A lot of the OMCGs try to convince people they’re just blokes that ride motorcycles, we know that’s not true, they’re organised crime networks.

“They’re highly sophisticated and they exist to generate profit and they make a lot of money from bringing drugs in and the selling of those drugs”.

Mr Morgan says while his team is still unsure of the exact purpose of the Comanchero meeting, the presence of so many high-ranking bikies made it “likely they were discussing the possibility of opening a chapter in Darwin”.

“We can’t confirm that at this stage but we’ll be doing everything we can to discourage them,” he said.

“They are currently ranked as the third highest risk in organised crime to Australia; the Hells Angels still sit at number one when it comes to organised crime and the risk the community faces.

Head of NT Police's Drug and Organised Crime squad, detective Superintendent Lee Morgan, at the force's Peter McAulay Centre headquarters in Knuckey Lagoon. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“But the Comancheros are significant and we will give them a lot of attention should they choose to open a chapter up here.”

Mr Morgan said the conference could mark a possible turning point in the force’s ongoing war against organised crime, with the Comanchero previously not known to have a presence in the Top End.

“Does that mean they haven’t used the Territory to import stuff covertly?” he says.

“We don’t have any evidence to suggest they have but we’re realistic and understand that the Territory can be a gateway and we’d be foolish to think that people aren’t trying to use the Territory to import stuff to access the rest of the country.”

The veteran detective says in the past, drugs have made their way onto the NT market via the east coast, but the bikie bigwig convention follows a trend towards importation from overseas.

“Of late we do believe that the Territory may be being used as a gateway to bring in larger shipments and that’s something we’re very conscious of and something we’d like to get on top of as soon as possible,” he says.

Mr Morgan says while harder drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine are on the rise, cannabis remains the Territory’s main illicit scourge.

But he says the unit’s focus is squarely on the criminal networks behind the shipments rather than the drugs themselves.

Superintendent Lee Morgan says ‘a police officer and as a parent, I’m passionate about keeping drugs away from kids’. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“Rather than focusing our attention on a specific substance, which we have been guilty of in the past, we are moving into a space where we’re focusing more on criminal networks,” he says.

“If somebody’s making a lot of money, whether that’s through alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine, cocaine – I wont say it’s irrelevant, but it’s secondary.
“We need stop the network and that prevents the harm in the community, so we’re more focused on networks and individuals who are living a good life, making lots of money, and causing significant harm to our communities and to our families.”

On the other side of the coin, the emerging threat of the dark web means while street level dealers are not as active as they once were, users are now able to bypass them completely.

“For me as a police officer and as a parent, I’m passionate about keeping drugs away from kids, and to know they’re accessible on the internet is concerning,” Mr Morgan says.

“It’s not large amounts, it’s the single deals that you can buy over Snapchat or the dark web and we are conscious of it and we’re working towards being able to do more in that space.”