GANGLAND 2

SIMMERING tension between rival bikie gangs exploded on the Gold Coast yesterday with the drive-by shooting of a tattoo parlour in the heart of Bandidos territory. Police fear the attack could be a push for territory by the Hells Angels as the outlaw gang seeks a toehold on the lucrative Glitter Strip. Less than 24 hours after police commissioner Bob Atkinson told the Bulletin that bikie gangs were "one of the greatest challenges to face law enforcement", the Bandido-protected Mermaid Beach tattoo shop was hit by at least four shots in the early hours of yesterday morning.  High-ranking police yesterday said it was "inevitable" that the violence that has plagued Sydney would eventually spill across the border. "We do not believe it is directly connected to the war between the Hells Angels and the Nomads that has been unfolding in New South Wales," said police. "But it is a similar style of attack. "We know the Hells Angels have been pushing to establish a chapter on the Gold Coast -- that push is coming from Sydney. "Tradelink Drive is not their most profitable chapter." While detectives have attempted to play down the shooting, police say there is "no doubt" it was intended as a warning. The Bandidos are the largest and one of the most secretive bikie gangs on the Gold Coast. The club has gained strength as its main rival -- the Finks -- have been severely weakened with so many senior members behind bars and Bandido territory stretches south from Broadbeach. Police said last month's Hells Angels National Run was intended as a direct message to all gangs on the Gold Coast. More than 200 patched gang members descended on Surfers Paradise for the run. "These clubs are so well organised, they do nothing without a reason," police said. "You can bet they had some purpose in coming to the Gold Coast. "They taunted the Finks and nothing happened, now the Bandidos tattoo shop is shot up in the same way the gym controlled by the Hells Angels was hit a few months ago. "You join the dots." The shop is owned by a senior member of the outlaw gang who has been a patched member of the Bandidos "for years", police say. In an exclusive interview with the Bulletin, Mr Atkinson said the danger of bikie gangs was "under-rated" by the community. "The outlaw motorcycle gangs nationally present one of the greatest challenges to police. "I think the degree of that challenge and the risk they present to our society is underrated." The Gold Coast has one of the highest populations of bikie gangs in the country. Mr Atkinson said he would not be surprised if the Hells Angels were not considering a move closer to the Glitter Strip. "They are businesses, they look for opportunity so that wouldn't be a surprise," he said. "They market themselves as a group of mature men who have a love and interest in motorbikes and they do that very cleverly. The reality is they are highly sophisticated, well organised criminal enterprises that pose a genuine risk to the community and many are well represented by the finest and best lawyers who they retain to represent them." South East Region Assistant Commissioner Graham Rynders said the gangs were constantly looking to expand. "One of things about OMCGs is they look for opportunity for criminal enterprise," Mr Rynders said. "Throughout Queensland, throughout the country, probably throughout the world they are looking to expand. It is obviously dictated to by territory, depending on who or what other groups exist in what areas."

 The New South Wales Government will ban bikie colours in licensed premises in Sydney's Kings Cross as part of a range of measures targeting outlaw bikie gangs. Bikies will also be banned from working in tattoo parlours, with legislative changes set to give the police commissioner the final say on whether a particular person can own the business. The proposed changes to the Criminal Organisations Act will see police given the power to use drug and ballistics dogs to search tattoo parlours without warrant. The measures are aimed at stifling the growing feud between rival bikie gangs the Hells Angels and the Nomads, who are believed to be behind a spate of Sydney shootings. Police believe the Hells Angels were behind two drive-by shootings in Sydney's north-west on Thursday night, and authorities are bracing for a further escalation in the gang war. Authorities say the overnight shootings are related to five others over the past week. Premier Barry O'Farrell says the director-general of the Department of Trade and Industry has agreed to pass regulations that will see 23 bikie gangs banned from wearing colours at 58 Kings Cross venues. He says the new laws will give police the tools they need to tackle the "shooting spree" that is affecting Sydney. "This is about sending a clear message that if you're wearing bikie colours, it doesn't make you beyond the reach of the law," he said. "Wearing bikie colours doesn't make you a super hero that protects you from the long arm of the law." Greater presence Commissioner Andrew Scipione says police will be making good use of the laws banning colours as soon as they become available next Friday. Mr Scipione says police are also looking forward to the changes in the Criminal Organisations Act which will give them a greater presence in tattoo parlours. The parlours will be listed a prescribed organisation, which will prevent gang members working in them. Bikie members are also banned from working in the tow truck industry, in security and in casinos. "This will allow us to get out there and do our job particularly in certain locations," he said. "This is also about assisting licensees when it comes to outlaw motorcycle gang members harassing or intimidating people - not only staff - patrons as well. "It gives the police the authority to go down there when these people have been told to leave and they refuse to quit, arrest them and if need be charge them." Mr O'Farrell says the legislation regarding tattoo parlours will be taken to cabinet on Monday. But state opposition leader John Robertson says the new measures have not been thought out properly. He says if the Premier is serious about cracking down on outlaw bikie gangs he should put more police on the streets. "This Premier needs to be sitting down with senior law enforcement officers and drawing up a plan and a strategy to bring this gun crime to an end," he said. "Yesterday we saw two shootings occur and we saw these gangs set fire to a police vehicle. "Law and order is now being run by the bikies instead of the Government in New South Wales."

Adelaide bikie gang boss Vince Focarelli has mental health issues as a result of being held in appalling circumstances and being refused permission to attend his murdered son's funeral, his lawyer says. Focarelli, 37, is confined to a cell 23 hours a day in a maximum security prison wing, on remand for bail breaches and alleged drug offences despite the presumption of innocence, his lawyer David Edwardson, QC, says. Mr Edwardson said Focarelli had been in custody for two months but his lawyers had received "not a single piece of paper" in support of the charges that were laid against his client as he lay in hospital in February, recovering from gunshot wounds he received in an ambush that killed his son, Giovanni, 22. Giovanni last month had a big, teary send-off from family, friends, bikies and hundreds of regulars at Friday prayers at his local mosque. Focarelli was denied bail because of authorities' concerns about the risk of attacks that could put the public and him at risk. Focarelli was also shot in December and before that was the target of a failed bomb attack by two men linked to the Hells Angels - both of whom died when the bomb exploded early. In court on Friday, Mr Edwardson asked magistrate Paul Foley to order two reports ahead of a fresh bail application. He sought one report into Focarelli's mental health and one into the circumstances of his detention. "It is, quite frankly, appalling," Mr Edwardson said. Mr Edwardson said Focarelli was allowed only three supervised, 25-minute visits a week, making it impossible to have legally privileged conversations. Mr Foley said the circumstances for refusing bail in the first place had not changed. He said he would not order the reports or hear a bail application. Police allegedly found 413 grams of the liquid drug butanediol in Focarelli's car after he and Giovanni were shot. They arrested him in hospital, where he stayed for four weeks until he was moved to Yatala prison. Focarelli refused to cooperate with police investigating the shooting and, before his hospital arrest, had spurned offers of police protection.

An undercover operation involving the Avengers Motorcycle Gang in Raleigh County ends in a shot fired at State Troopers and four arrests. It happened Wednesday afternoon on Route 3 near the town of Harper. Three plain-clothed troopers assigned to the the Criminal Investigation Bureau had several members of the Avengers gang under surveillance. The troopers were following behind the bikers when the trouble started. "Four of the gang members ended up getting behind the troopers' vehicles and started making gestures that they had guns. And one even displayed a gun," according to State Police Sgt. Mike Baylous. The troopers were able to get out ahead of the gang members and pulled over to the side of the road. They got out of their cars and showed their department issue badge and I.D. "As the gang members went by them, one of them turned around and fired a shot off at the troopers. That gang member then proceeded to wreck his motorcycle and jumped up and got on one of the other motorcycles and they took off," said Baylous. The troopers did not have time to pull their weapons. No one was injured. A few minutes later when they were looking at the crashed motorcycle that was left behind, the troopers came face to face with the bikers again. "Two of those members came back through the scene in a pick-up truck. And at that point they were apprehended," says Baylous. The other two gang members were rounded up a short time later. Those arrested include: Delmar Kozart of Beckley who's charged with accessory after the fact, wanton endangerment and felon in possession of a firearm, Clyde Frank of Harper who's facing accessory after the fact and wanton endangerment, James Morris Jr. of Echols who was booked for accessory after the fact, wanton endangerment, possession of a concealed weapon and fleeing on a vehicle. The alleged shooter has been identified as Thomas Speck (pictured at right) of Lapeer, MI. He's charged with felon in possession of a firearm, fleeing on a vehicle, a fugitive from justice and three counts of wanton endangerment. He's being held in the Southern Regional Jail. Baylous could not disclose why the troopers had the gang members under surveillance.