Hells Angels clubhouse raided in Seaford, in Melbourne's southeast

At least 8 police cars and 20 officers descended on the scene about 10.30am.

By 11am club members began arriving.

Police issued a statement confirming details of the raid just after midday,

"Detectives from the Razon and Echo Taskforces, in conjunction with the Operations Response Unit, have executed a warrant at a premises in Seaford.

"A quantity of alcohol has been seized.

"The warrant relates to ongoing investigations as part Operation Resound, which was set up in March to manage ongoing conflict between OMCGs.

 

"As the investigation is ongoing, it's not appropriate to provide further comment, Victoria Police spokeswoman Leonie Johnson said in the prepared statement.

 

The raid comes the day before a planned celebration by the Hells Angels for the new Darkside chapter, amid rising tensions between rival bikie gangs.

The same clubhouse was targeted in a shooting a fortnight ago, prompting bikies in colours to attempt to confront rival Bandidos.

The Hells Angels plan an opening party for the Darkside chapter tomorrow with its feeder club the Red Devils to officially mark its turf on the Mornington Peninsula.

Darkside will be the Hells Angels' fourth Victorian chapter.

Victoria Police knew about the June 29 party, which was expected likely to attract hundreds of bikies and associates from Victoria and across the nation.

The force had flagged “a large presence” on the night to monitor the outlaw bikies, which is set to include members from other affiliated clubs.

The Angels have been on a recruiting drive and Darkside has several prospects yet to get their “colours”.

It will be Australia's 19th Hells Angels chapter and the first opened in Victoria since East County in Campbellfield in 2003.

But the HQ has already been the focus of trouble with up to 30 rounds were fired into the Hells Angels' newest Melbourne clubhouse in a feared escalation of an emerging bikie war.

A machine gun or semi-automatic weapon was used in the attack on the Angels' Nomads chapter in Seaford some time before 2.30am on Friday, June 14, just months after the clubhouse was established.

It is believed no one was injured.

It is a sign tensions remain high between outlaw bikie gangs after the Bandidos were ambushed by Hells Angels in Melton on March 1, wounding national office bearer Toby Mitchell and another member.

A call was made to triple 0 but no official complaint was made to police by the Hells Angels about the shooting.

Victoria Police is investigating the pre-dawn shooting and has involved its anti-bikie Echo Taskforce.

An in another disturbing incident, a potentially violent confrontation was thwarted by police after dozens of Hells Angels descended on an inner-city Bandidos-linked nightspot in a suspected bid to find the culprits who shot up their new clubhouse.

The Herald Sun understands between 30 and 50 Hells Angels wearing colours arrived at a Fitzroy nightclub last month, less than 48 hours after the HQ of their new Darkside chapter in Seaford was riddled bullets, fired from a high-calibre weapon.

But urgent calls from the public almost certainly thwarted a brutal “run through” of the club.

At the time police sources said there were suspicions the Angels were looking for Bandidos boss Toby Mitchell, who himself was searched in the Melbourne CBD yesterday.

The Echo Taskforce is now investigating both incidents, clear signs that tensions remain high between the gangs in the aftermath of an ambush on Bandidos by Hells Angels in Melton on March 1, leaving Mitchell and another member with bullet wounds.

The opening of the Seaford chapter is part of a massive expansion of all major outlaw clubs.

The Angels set up a feeder club -- the Red Devils -- near Frankston over summer, with a gangland figure identified as a prospective member of the club.

The Mornington Peninsula has previously been free of bikie clubs, although the Outlaws have long had a chapter in Hastings, on Westernport Bay.

The Bandidos have opened up chapters in Melton and Dandenong, which are now both hotbeds for outlaw clubs.

Outlaw motorcycle club the Comancheros have a chapter in Hallam, while the nation's largest club, the Rebels, is also nearby.

The Outlaws, Immortals and Coffin Cheaters are part of the growing number of gangs in Melbourne's east.

with Anthony Dowsley