Nicole Cox
perthnow.com.au
BIKIE RAIDS: Police display weapons seized during
today's raids. Picture: Supplied Source: PerthNow
CRACKDOWN: Police raid an Attadale house during a crackdown on rival bikie gangs across Perth.
Rival bikie gangs raidedAs tensions continue between rival bikie gangs the Rebels and Rock Machine the WA Police conduct a series of nine raids on the outlaw gangs...
HIGH-POWERED weapons have been uncovered after sweeping raids on nine properties across Perth this morning, as tensions between rival bikie gangs the Rebels and the Rock Machine escalate.
The early morning raids, which extended to the plush riverfront suburbs of Attadale and Bicton to Spearwood, Thornlie and Waikiki, targeted members of the warring Rebels and Rock Machine bikie gangs.
Police today also confirmed they had charged a 30-year-old Rock Machine member with attempted murder over the shooting of Rebels leader Nick Martin outside his Balcatta home on Friday night, which injured his arm.
The man, whose name has been suppressed for legal reasons, has also been charged with possessing an unlicensed firearm and wilfully destroying evidence.
He appeared in Perth Magistrates Court this morning and has been remanded in custody to next appear on April 6.
Assistant Commissioner Nick Anticich said police had seized several hardcore weapons that police believe were to be used in retaliatory acts of violence between the two clubs.
Some were found within arm's reach of bikies as police busted into homes conducting search warrants just after 6.30am.
Items seized included:
•a millitary practise mortar
•a Taser weapon
•101 rounds of 3030 ammunition and 36 rounds of 0.38 calibre ammunition
•a 0.45 semi-automatic pistol, two ammunition magazines, 14 rounds of ammunition
•A martial arts throwing star
Steroids and 1g of methamphetamine have also been confiscated.
Sniffer dogs were also called in to assist police investigations at several properties.
``I believe that (these weapons) have no other purpose other than to assist in the commission of organised crime,'' Mr Anticich said.
``History has shown us that they culminate in some sort of cataclysmic event, serious death and injury to those involved and quite often, as has been in the case overseas, that innocent people have been injured or killed as well.
Mr Anticich said police held grave concerns that innocent bystanders would be caught in the crossfire between the two gangs.
``If you set a bomb off in a domestic situation in a suburb, it will kill anyone in the proximity. It does not identify and kill outlaw motorcycle gang members alone.''
Earlier this week, police raided seven other properties as part of their investigation into the shooting of Rebels bikie boss Nick Martin last Friday.
``Today saw the execution of a second wave of search warrants in WA as they relate to premises occupied by both members of the clubs,'' Mr Anticich said.
``Further waves of similar activity are likely to occur. Our primary objective is to disrupt, deter and hopefully create a hostile environment which will stop these ongoing violent acts between the two clubs.
``The realities are that we are seeing unprecedented organised criminal activity in this state and there is a requirement for the WA Police to be out there and to suppress such activities. If we don't then it will only be greater in terms of risk.''
Two people have been charged over the seizure of weapons.
The dawn raids are the latest flashpoint in an ongoing feud between the two gangs in which the Rebels bikie boss was shot at, a tattoo shop has been firebombed, bikies assaulted and a massive stash of explosives seized in recent months.
While police say the feud relates to a turf war over drug distribution networks, those close to the Rebels say the issue is not drug-related but merely a ``clash of personalities'' between members.
Hostilities flared in July last year, when a former member of the Rebels helped establish the local chapter of the Rock Machine.
At the weekend, Assistant Commissioner Nick Anticich told The Sunday Times police would investigate the Balcatta shooting and were gravely concerned about the escalating conflict between the two gangs.
The Rebels, which has about 50 members and four clubhouses in WA, is Australia's biggest bikie gang.
The Rock Machine, a Canadian-based gang, has about 20 known members and a new clubhouse in Myaree.
The Rock Machine, which has links to the Bandidos, is notorious for a violent turf war with the Hells Angels in Canada between 1994 and 2001, which left 162 people dead, including an 11-year-old boy who was killed by a car bomb.
REBELS v ROCK MACHINE
March 24, 2011
Gang Crime police conduct early morning raids on properties across Perth in a bid to quell tensions between feuding gangs, the Rebels and the Rock Machine.
March 18, 2011
Rebels president Nick Martin is shot in the elbow outside his house in Attra St, Balcatta. He presents at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and undergoes surgery. The injuries are not life-threatening.
February 25, 2011
Powerful high-grade explosives are seized from the Rock Machine's Myaree clubhouse.
Police say they confiscated enough explosive detonators and industrial-strength powergel to demolish a small building, including some secreted in a roof cavity.
Police say the quantity of explosives had the potential to cause ``extreme loss of life''.
February 12, 2011
Four Rock Machine members search for Rebels bikies at the Pink Duck Bar in Rockingham. A manager locks himself in an office to escape.
February 3, 2011
Police maintain a heavy presence at the Perth District Court after reports that Rebels bikies were in close proximity to the Rock Machine during a court appearance by a Rock Machine member. A Rebels member was arrested for disorderly conduct outside the court.
January 24, 2011
Police drive an armoured vehicle through the front gate of the Rebels Osborne Park headquarters, destroying the clubhouse's mezzanine level of the industrial unit as part of their investigation into dealings between the two gangs.
Tactical Response Group officers use an angle grinder to cut through a security gate and threw stun grenades into the building to gain access.
Police say officers found nothing during the search. Rebels president Nick Martin demands police pay for the damage to the clubhouse.
January 23, 2011
Spearwood tattoo parlour, Lost Tattoo, which is linked to a member of the Rock Machine is ransacked by a group of bikies. The manager is assaulted and the office trashed.
January 22, 2011
Rebels and Rock Machine members were involved in a fight at The Clink nightclub in Fremantle.
November 29, 2010
A Rock Machine bikie , David Anthony Bentley, is charged after police uncover a cache of powerful guns in a ute during a traffic stop on Mounts Bay Rd, Crawley.
At the time, police said they had uncovered a homemade semi-automatic pistol, fashioned from several other weapons, under the driver's seat, while two other guns - a 12 gauge sawn-off shotgun and a stolen .44 magnum lever-action rifle - were found in a toolbox on the tray of the ute.
November 26, 2010
A Rebels bikie and two members of the rival Rock Machine gang are charged over a fight in near the Royal Fremantle Golf Club in East Fremantle.
Senior Rebels bikie Mark Charles Rodgers, who was allegedly attacked with a big torch and pepper spray, was later acquitted.
November 21, 2010
A southern suburbs house of a Rebels member is ransacked, suffering extensive damage, vandalism and graffiti.
November 19, 2010
A vehicle owned by an ex-Rebels bikie is firebombed.
November 16, 2010
Bibra Lake tattoo parlour, Ink Assault, which is owned by a Rebels bikie, is firebombed at 2.40am .
Police and firefighters uncovered the crude remains of two Molotov cocktails inside the fire ravaged shop.
November 12, 2010
Fifteen Rebels roam Fremantle’s entertainment precincts looking to stage assaults on members of the Rock Machine.
November 5, 2010
Brawl between Rebels and Rock Machine bikies at a fight night event at Joondalup Arena.
October 20, 2010
Car owned by a Rebels bikie is firebombed in Shelley .
July 10, 2010
Altercation at Metropolis nightclub with punches thrown between the Rock Machine and Rebels bikies.
December 2009
Police announce that the Rock Machine, one of the world's most violent and notorious bikie gangs, has set up in Perth, initially using a Kardinya gym as their clubhouse.
More to come.