Detective Inspector Damien George said Tasmania Police had identified about 274 members across the Tasmania.

“We have a pretty significant presence per head of population of OMCG members in Tasmania — which is a concern,” he said.

“OMCGs like the Rebels, the Outlaws, the Devil’s Henchmen, the Black Uhlans, the Bandidos and the Nomads are first and foremost organised criminal gangs.

“They would like you to believe that they’re a motorcycle club, but the evidence speaks for itself that they are involved in illicit drug trafficking, they are involved in illicit firearm trafficking, they are involved in money laundering, they are involved in serious violence, threats, and intimidation which impacts members of the community.”

The Bandidos were one of the most recent OMCG groups to enter Tasmania, with police on the front foot in trying to dismantle the group’s presence in Tasmania.

The group has previously claimed that no Bandidos member had engaged in serious criminal activity while being a member of the club in Tasmania, and that distribution, possession, or the use of methamphetamine was totally prohibited by club members.

Tasmania Police said this was not the case.

“They established in Devonport and I’d suggest that out of the numbers or the membership of that group 95 per cent of them have been charged with some significant criminal offences since their establishment,” Det Insp George said.

“They also established a Hobart chapter that then led to the activities down at Dover, so we’ve worked long and hard to disrupt the activities and establishment of the Bandidos and their footprint in Tasmania, to the point where there is no Hobart chapter currently.”

He said it wasn’t lost on police that some of the other OMCG chapters had existed for a long time.

“The Bandidos have probably been the priority in recent times because we’ve achieved some really high success with that, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to move to the other groups.”

Australian Federal Police National Anti-Gang Squad Sergeant Nick Gibson said on a national and international level, the size and influence of OMCGs had expanded over the past decade.

“Since 2017 there’s been about a 50 per cent increase in gang members within Australia as well as offshore,” he said.

“They’re expanding their endeavours throughout different states but also through parts of South-East Asia, through the Middle East, through the United States and using those channels and that control of those areas to commit crimes that ultimately effect Australian citizens.”

He said different clubs were stronger in different areas of the state.

“There’s a couple of larger ones such as the Rebels and the Outlaws who have a large member base so they cover a lot more of the state,” he said.

“Then there’s some smaller ones that might only be centred in Launceston or Devonport or Burnie.”

This is part one of a weekend-long series Tassie’s Motorcycle Outlaws, as the Mercury delves into the world of organised crime in Tasmania, revealing the true impact and spread in our state >>