The Black Power Australia motorcycle gang has moved into the Coast. Photo: Facebook
Black Power is actively recruiting Maori and Pacific Islander members and has moved into the drug trade in the south east corner.
The gang is escaping the statewide crackdown because it is not named in Queensland’s tough anti-gang laws.
Anti-gang police squad Taskforce Maxima says it is monitoring Black Power’s activities, but because it is classified as a street gang and not a criminal motorcycle gang, it falls under the dominion of local police.
Black Power has carved significant territory in Beenleigh, taking over what was formerly Hells Angels heartland, and police say it has been causing problems for months.
Last month police intercepted gang members waving blue bandannas outside the windows — a sign used to intimidate and flag rival gangs.
A Black Power Australia motorcycle gang image from Facebook.
A day later at Waitangi Day celebrations at Kingston, 15 Black Power members surrounded police as they spoke to the chapter president.
“Clearly it was an act of intimidation,” a police source said.
“When 15 gang members surround police officers in the course of their duties, it’s not for a friendly chat, is it. This is a very real concern to police.”
Black Power members wear bikie-style patches but do not ride motorcycles, similar to now-defunct street gang Notorious.
Wearing blue and black gang colours, members have proudly announced their presence on social media. “Black Power Australia Black and White … COMING TO AN AUSTRALIAN CITY AND TOWN NEAR YOU!!!” it states on the gang’s Facebook page.
It is understood the gang meets regularly and has elected a president, a 42-year-old man from Logan, but a clubhouse has not yet been established.
The New Zealand Police said the gang is involved “in serious violence, selling and distributing drugs, possessing firearms and offensive weapons, and using intimidation and threatening tactics in pursuit of their criminal activities”.
The criminality and brutality of the gang is well documented in New Zealand.
Its members are Maori and Polynesian, and many have intimidating facial tattoos.
A decades-long rivalry with another feared and largely Maori street gang, Mongrel Mob, has led to many violent clashes in public.
According to police intelligence, Black Power began as the “Black Bulls” around 1970 in response to the rival Mongrel Mob gang and white power-associated gangs.