Bikie turf war fear: Outlaws set up chapter in WA
By TREVOR PADDENBURG
12feb06
POLICE fear a bloody turf war as one of the world's most notorious bikie gangs moves in on WA.

A chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club – long-associated with murder, drug running and organised crime in the US and Europe – is operating in Perth.

Police are bracing for "war" as WA's five existing gangs prepare to defend their territory.

Organised Crime Squad chief Insp Rick Scupham said up to seven Outlaws members were in Perth and had established a clubhouse in Malaga.

He expected the Outlaws to be recruiting members and said police were monitoring the situation closely.

"Unless they reach an agreement (with other gangs), which I doubt will be the case, I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of war over turf," Insp Scupham said.

"With criminal groups, either they agree to get along or there's potential for conflict. They make peace or there's trouble.

"It's happened before. That's what happens when gangs become involved in a dispute."

Asked if this would result in bloodshed or open warfare, Insp Scupham said: "I won't go into scaremongering or speculation. We don't know the full extent at this stage."

It would not be the first incidence of a violent gang conflict in WA.

New Zealand street gang the Mongrel Mob tried to muscle into WA in 1989, but the chapter's leader was shot and his business firebombed by WA bikies.

In 1998, a feud between the Coffin Cheaters and Club Deroes culminated in the shooting murder of Cheater Marc Chabriere in Welshpool.

The Outlaws' WA chapter is on "probation", but will become operational once it is approved by the national president. This could be in weeks.

City of Swan chief executive Eric Lumsden confirmed the Outlaws were renting an industrial unit in Malaga. He said it would not be shut down unless building and zoning laws were breached.

Police are powerless to stop the Outlaws' move West unless a crime is committed.

Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan vowed to keep the pressure on bikies.

"Our focus is to keep the pressure on these people and to charge them and disrupt their activities by whatever means," he said.

The club has 200 chapters in the US, Canada, Australia, Asia and Europe.

The International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association has compared the gang to a multinational corporation – specialising in organised crime.