The Spearmint Rhino. Picture: Nicki Connolly Herald Sun
FEARED motorcycle gang, the Hells Angels, have stormed a strip club in the city linked to the leader of rival gang, the Comancheros.
A group of "patched" Hells Angels members and prospects wearing colours were ejected from the Spearmint Rhino in King St, Melbourne, after forcing their way in.
Sources say the Hells Angels performed a "run through" on the strip club on December 3, hitting a bouncer at the door after a member was refused entry to the Comanchero stronghold.
It's believed the bikies were searching the venue when police arrived in numbers. No injuries were recorded and no complaint was filed.
Jailed city gunman and Hells Angel Christopher Wayne Hudson was at Spearmint Rhino when he met Collingwood star Alan Didak in 2007, before firing a gun from his car on CityLink.
The tension between gangs come as two violent bikie clubs have gone on recruiting drives in Melbourne. The gangs, Notorious and Rock Machine, threaten to destabilise Victoria's bikie underworld if they get a foothold here, which has seen a surge in clubs and membership.
The Herald Sun has been told both clubs have been trying to find members in Melbourne and Rock Machine has a temporary base in Melbourne's east.
Acting Inspector Chris Murray, of Victoria Police's anti-bikie taskforce Echo, said they were aware of the clubs recruiting in Melbourne and the incident at Spearmint Rhino.
Rock Machine, which gained international notoriety for its gang war with the Hells Angels over control of the illicit drug market in Quebec, Canada, is believed to have been turfed out of Western Australia and on the lookout for a new chapter.
