Bikies linked to huge international meth deals

The Comanchero motorcycle gang had suspected links to a 1.2-tonne methamphetamine haul seized in WA, federal police say.

The Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang had suspected links to a 1.2-tonne shipment of methamphetamine seized in Western Australia and to a separate haul in the US of 1.7 tonnes of the drug bound for Australia, federal police say.

The Hells Angels have also been connected to the West Australian bust, worth about $1 billion, with the gangs’ members suspected of providing funds and being linked to the intended distribution of the drugs.

Australian Federal Police’s manager of organised crime, Peter Bodel, said the cases were “two ­examples of where (bikies) are getting involved in all areas of large-scale drug importations”.

“They’re putting money in, they’re distributing it, they’re helping arrange with their contacts the sourcing of it,” he said.

Latest figures show Australia has 39 outlaw motorcycle gangs, 4760 patched members, ­almost 1000 “prospects” and more than 4500 associates.

Acting Commander Bodel said the numbers were “fairly stagnant”, but “one of our primary focuses at the moment is dealing with Australian criminal motorcycle gang expansion overseas”. Australian-based gangs had expanded from about eight to about 30 overseas chapters since 2011.

“The criminal motorcycle gangs basically are setting themselves up overseas so they can source more easily their drugs and launder money,” he said.

“We are working very closely with foreign law enforcement to deal with them overseas and to try and curtail their expansion over there. They’re organised crime groups. They need to be looked at as a serious threat to Australia.”

The NSW Crime Commission’s latest annual report says it is “highly likely that senior members of the Hells Angels, Comancheros and Lone Wolf (gangs) are among the main entrepreneurs involved in sourcing, importing and distributing a large portion of the illicit drug market operating in Australia”.

“Many members and associates of these groups now reside offshore in places such as Dubai, Istanbul, Athens, Thailand and Indonesia, from where they conspire with offshore associates to source drugs and remotely ­arrange for receipt, storage and subsequent distribution,” the report says. AFP deputy commissioner Neil Gaughan told a Senate estimates committee last month that “(gangs) across the country are still the main distributor of illicit drugs throughout the community”.

“It’s an ongoing challenge for law enforcement across the country to ensure that we keep them in check,” he said.

Task Force Morpheus, which targets the gangs and is made up of state and federal law enforcement agencies, was involved in more than 2000 arrests and more than 5000 charges last financial year. Hundreds of kilograms of illicit drugs and 378 firearms were seized.

“This argument they are not involved in criminality falls away,” Commander Bodel said. The seizure of 1.2 tonnes of methamphetamine in Geraldton, 400km north of Perth, after a fishing vessel brought the drugs to shore from a “mothership” in December 2017 was the nation’s biggest meth bust. It was surpassed by the 1.7-tonne seizure in the US in January, worth $1.29bn.