OFF THE WIRE
One undercover police officer successfully infiltrated one of the most notorious outlaw motorcycle gxxgs in Queensland, bringing down one of its key members, court documents have revealed.
Contained in two boxes of police evidence made public this week are hundreds of pages of transcripts of recorded conversations between the undercover officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and the Finks members he befriended.
On one occasion alleged "nominee Fink" Phillip Bruce Main – unaware he was the target of an undercover operation – warned the officer authorities could sneak into his house and plant bugs in the ceiling and light fixtures.
"Every morning you've gotta get up and gotta do the whole house," Main said.
The undercover officer successfully infiltrated the Gold Coast chapter of the Finks Motorcycle Club as part of Operation Foxtrot Creed in 2009 and became a trusted associate of now-convicted drug dealer Darren James Watson, also known as Tama David Lewis.
Watson has been identified in court documents as a member of the "Finks Terror Team", which had meat cleavers, knives and guns at its disposal.
In one conversation with the undercover officer, Watson boasted about his collection of weapons.
"I've got f---in' everything," Watson said.
"I've got this mad little f---in' like a little Mach 10 with a silencer. Oh this thing's a f---in' killer man ...
"It would be good to have the right to bear arms."
The undercover officer describes arriving at Watson's Gold Coast home in Coombabah in March 2009 to find him heating a purple crystalline substance in a frying pan, before packaging it in several clip-seal bags.
The next month, the officer met with Watson again at his home to arrange the purchase of 3000 ecstasy pills.
On that occasion the officer said Watson picked up a toy magnetic sketcher and wrote "4500" on it. He then wrote $9 on the sketcher, and then deleted that figure and wrote "7 days". The pair struck a deal - 3500 pills for $22,500.
Watson eventually sold the undercover operative 314 grams of methylamphetmine and 989 grams of MDMA for a grand total of $90,670.
In February this year, Watson was convicted of more than seven counts of trafficking and supplying dangerous drugs and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
During his dealings with the undercover operative, Watson told the officer he and his Finks comrades suspected their time as a club was under threat.
"It'll be against the law to be an outlaw bikie no matter what club, whether it be us, Rebels, Angels, anyone," Watson said.
"By the end of the year they'll outlaw us, but then as soon as the first person gets charged that when it will come into effect."
Watson's fears were realised last Friday when Queensland police lodged a formal application in the Supreme Court to have the Gold Coast Finks Motorcycle Club declared a criminal organisation under the state's controversial two-year-old anti-association laws.
As revealed in the 95-page police application – obtained after Seven News applied to the Supreme Court to access the file – the covert Operation Foxtrot Creed went a long way in uncovering the Finks' alleged habitual criminal game.
In the wake of the operation, David Michael Chapman, 27, Phillip Bruce Main, 39, James William Cleave, 26, Kris Spizzirri, 29, and Jason Barry Morrison, 32, were called before the Australian Crime Commission.
Chapman, Main and Morrison were jailed for failing to answer questions before the commission, however Cleave and Spizzirri were released under recognisance.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/finks-court-documents-reveal-undercover-sting-20120605-1ztwz.html
