OFF THE WIRE
Police in Australia say outlaw motorcycle gxxgs are looking to expand overseas, with at least one Victorian-based gang setting up a branch in Thailand.
Victoria Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Doug Fryer says the expansion is to obtain amphetamines and the precursor chemicals needed to make them, which are easier to obtain in south-east Asia.
The growth of outlawed motorcycle clubs overseas was one of the topics addressed at a conference in Victoria this week where law-enforcement agencies discussed organised crime trends.
Over the past 18 months, bodies such as state police, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Crime Commission and Customs have been advocating the need for greater co-operation to keep pace with the evolution of organised crime groups such as bikies.
University of Queensland Law School professor Andreas Schloenhardt spoke with Radio Australia's Asia Pacific.
"This is a business operation, designed to bring drugs and procure the chemicals used in drug production to Australia, South East Asia is the main source of many of these substances which often originate in India and China and are then trafficked through the region," he said.
Professor Schloenhardt said Australian police have not named the bikie gxxg involved, but he said bikie gxxgs do have a history of involvement in South East Asia.
"It is perhaps not entirely surprising given one that many of the biker gxxgs have sort of international element to them, they originated in the United States and Canada.
They started 20, 30 years ago and the spread particularly across Western countries.
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201203/3454651.htm?desktop
