Members of the Finks outlaw motorcycle gang were in Ballarat yesterday – the first time the gang has been spotted in town in more than two years.
Wearing full colours, the Finks members were spoken to by members of Ballarat Highway Patrol in Dana Street around 1.30pm.
Members from Ballarat police uniform branch were also in attendance.
Police told The Courier the checks were simply routine and some “minor traffic infringements” were issued as a result.
Members of the Finks outlaw motorcycle club were last spotted in Ballarat in September 2011, when large numbers of Finks members attended a CBD location for a gathering.
Ballarat police also kept a close eye on the visitors that night, stating it was the first time there had been “any activity” from the group in Ballarat.
As part of that operation, a Victoria Police-marked camera van was parked for extended periods in the northbound lane of Doveton Street, with a clear view down Grainery Lane.
Men wearing colours and insignia representing the Finks Motorcycle Club and its supporter groups were seen coming and going from a red-brick building in Grainery Lane during the day and into the night.
Several men bearing the club’s insignia also stood at the entrance to Grainery Lane for much of the night.
It has been revealed recently that members of the Finks nationwide are being “patched over” by US based club The Mongols, the self-proclaimed “baddest bikie gang in the world”.
It has also been reported that The Mongols are “enemies” of the Hells Angels.
Two outlaw motorcycle gangs have clubhouses in Ballarat, the Vikings and Bandidos.
Neither have been aligned to The Finks in the past.
jordan.oliver@fairfaxmedia.com.au