Outlawed Satudarah bikie gang from the Netherlands starts SA chapter

The Satudarah, which is based in the Netherlands, is in the process of recruiting members in Adelaide, Brisbane and in rural New South Wales.

The gang, which has a reputation for extreme violence, is not one of the 10 gangs whose members are now subject to strict association restrictions under new anti-bikie laws.

Australian Crime Commission chief executive Chris Dawson on Friday said the organisation, through the Australian Gangs Intelligence Coordination Centre, was “aware of the Satudarah outlaw motorcycle gang and its recent presence in some Australian states’’.

“Outlaw motorcycle gangs are not harmless motorcycle clubs. They are well

organised criminal gangs causing harm and disruption across our country,’’ he said.

“The crime commission is working closely with its law enforcement and regulatory partners to monitor and collect intelligence on outlaw motorcycle gangs, as well as new and emerging trends’’

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said on Friday that Crime Gangs detectives would monitor the gang and their activities would determine any future action.

 

 

Under the anti-bikie laws, police can apply to Attorney-General John Rau to have any new gang declared a criminal organisation, but police would have to demonstrate that gang members were involved in serious and organised criminal activities in this state.

“It would not simply be because we become aware there is a new group here. We would have to be satisfied their behaviour warranted that application being made,’’ he said.

Under the new laws, which came into force on August 6, 10 bikie gangs have been declared criminal organisations, making it illegal for members to meet in public and enter hotels wearing colours. The laws also name 15 locations identified as bikie clubrooms at which gang members are banned from attending.

So far, two bikie clubrooms had already been vacated — those of the Rebels at Edinburgh and the Comancheros at Salisbury — and another two at Whyalla and two in the city were being dismantled.

Mr Stevens said police had so far not charged any gang member with breaching any of the laws, but one gang nominee had been cautioned for wearing gang paraphernalia in a bar.

He said the laws were affecting gang activities, with the Rebels cancelling a planned national run through SA — freeing up considerable police resources that would have otherwise been used policing it.

“This is one of the points we made in terms of the benefit of the legislation. We do not have to find those significant numbers of police we deploy to manage these major OMCG events,’’ he said.

Mr Stevens said while the overt activities of the gangs had diminished, he expected gang members would continue committing crime in a covert fashion and the laws would not affect any police investigations into this activity.

“What we have done is see a dramatic improvement in the threat to public safety because no longer can they be in public in large groups and present that level of intimidation that causes fear,’’ he said.

Mr Rau said the initial results “vindicated’’ the view of police the legislation was needed to control their overt activities and he was not surprised there had been no breaches.

“Why risk imprisonment when you can be compliant,’’ he said.