US bikie gang, Mongols, will cause havoc for Australian police, says US crime expert

Updated

The Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang will cause havoc for Australian police, a former organised crime investigator in the United States has warned.

Richard Valdemar, who retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department, says Australians should be worried about the arrival of the Mongols on Australian soil.

"Whatever they can do in a criminal enterprise that produces income that can be fed back to the mother chapter, that's what's going to happen," he said.

The Mongols have shot to fame in Australia since their dramatic takeover of the home-grown Finks outlaw motorcycle gang in a so-called "patch-over".

For two years the Mongols have been slowly establishing a presence in Australia and until last week's shock patch-over they had largely escaped attention.

The head of the NSW Gangs Squad, Detective Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis, says the mass conversion caught police by surprise.

"Law enforcement agencies at the time were not aware of the patch over... it certainly came as a surprise."

"Now they’re one of the biggest outlaw motorcycle clubs in Australia."

The bigger they are, the more international they are, the more powerful they are Richard Valdemar, retired Los Angeles County Sheriff Department detective

The Mongols' polished US website now boasts new Australian chapters in Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and three in New South Wales.

Former LA detective Mr Valdemar says those former Finks chapters are now part of a global criminal network.

"The bigger they are, the more international they are, the more powerful they are," he said.

Mr Valdemar says the gang's formal structure dictates regular communication between the local Australian chapters and the "mother chapter" in California.

"I would imagine that the American Mongols would soon be in Australia to watch over their neophyte chapter."

Mr Katsogiannis says the mass conversion is a win for both the Finks and the Mongols.

"What it means now is that they get that international expansion... it also allows them to grow at a faster rate and gain more power.

"On the other hand, it also allows the Mongols to get a strong foothold here in Australia," he said.

Some believe the move is designed to get around a Supreme Court move in Queensland to declare the Finks a criminal organisation.

"From the intelligence we have at hand at the moment, that about 90 per cent of the Finks have patched over... we do believe that the entire Finks in South Australia, Western Australia, and Queensland have all patched over to the Mongols," Mr Katsogiannis said.

"In New South Wales, there's still a number of chapters that have not patched over,"

Long history of bikie gang warfare

The Mongols were founded in California after the Vietnam War, originally because the Hells Angels would not accept Hispanics.

Mr Valdemar says the two gangs have been involved in a bloody war of attrition ever since.

"Many, many murders occurred," he said.

"Bombings, huge fights, and they're not afraid to take on law enforcement as well."

Qld anti-bikie laws include: Extra powers for Qld's Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC)

Bikie-only prison at Woodford, north of Brisbane

Mandatory sentences of 15 years for serious crimes committed as part of gang activity, on top of the normal penalty

Club office bearers will be sentenced to another 10 years in jail, and parole will only be granted if the offender cooperates with police

Convicted bikies subjected to strict drug tests and searches in prison

Bikie criminals in other state prisons to be transferred to Woodford

Introducing a licensing regime for tattoo parlours and artists, banning bikie gang members

Motorcycles to be crushed as punishment for certain crimes

Mr Valdemar is a 30-year veteran of the war against Californian organised crime.

He says while most gangs think they are the most dangerous of all the clubs, the Mongols actually have a legitimate claim to the title.

In 2008, a grand jury indictment named more than 60 Mongols as part of an undercover federal investigation into the gang's criminal activities.

Agents from the federal Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agency infiltrated the Mongols and gathered detailed accounts of their dealings.

It described how the Mongols tortured a man for three hours by breaking his knuckles with a pair of pliers, breaking his knee with a metal pipe and kicking him with steel capped boots as he tried to escape.

The gang engaged in hate crimes against African-Americans and a bizarre sexual reward game where members would perform specific sexual acts at events called wings parties.

The wings would indicate various sexual practices that members had performed in the presence of other members who could verify them.

Members were given a red, purple or green coloured wings patch that corresponded to each act.

The acts included having sex with a female who was menstruating, sex with a corpse or sex with a woman who had venereal disease.

Anti-bikie measures ramped up

In states across Australia, law enforcement is ramping up anti-bikie measures to meet the new threat.

South Australian Attorney-General John Rau wants any foreign Mongols stopped at the border.

He says he will seek assistance from the Australian Federal Police and Immigration Department to ensure people with Mongol links are not able to gain easy access into Australia through immigration.

"The greater the association is between the groups in Australia, and other groups I've read about in the United States, the greater ground for concern," he said.

Early Wednesday morning, three new laws were rushed through Queensland's Parliament which mean a bikie convicted of any offence will be handed an extra 15 years on top their sentence.

Queensland is even considering a dedicated jail for bikies.

"We are not joking: it's time to resign, hand in your colours, and get an honest job because it's over," said Queensland Premier Campbell Newman.

The laws have been condemned by civil libertarians and will no doubt be challenged in the courts.

The bikie gangs have already succeeded in having several similar laws overturned.

Council of Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman says the laws go too far.

"These laws really are beyond belief... they really reduce Supreme Court judges to nothing more than cardboard cut outs sitting on a bench wearing wigs," he said.

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, laws, australia, qld, united-states

First posted