Mongol outlaw motorcycle gang members converge on Melbourne to party
- Herald Sun
- November 15, 2014
More than 100 members of the outlaw motorcycle gang are on the roads to Melbourne for a party at their Port Melbourne clubhouse tonight.
Although it is not clear whether this is the Mongols’ annual national run or a reunion to mark a new Victorian president, there are fears more Mongols want to call Melbourne home.
The Mongols are relatively new to Australia, having conducted a national “patch over” of longstanding outlaw club the Finks two years ago. The Mongols were founded by Hispanic bikers in southern California decades ago.
PREVIOUSLY: Bikies tell why they were lured into outlaw gangs
Enforcer Shane Bowden — the bikie who shot Hells Angel Christopher Wayne Hudson at the infamous ``ballroom blitz’’ in Cararra — is believed to be a frontrunner for the state presidency after key Melbourne member and tattoo parlour owner Mark James Graham was jailed this month.
Graham was sentenced to 12 years for his reckless shooting of Bandido Jacques Teamo and a bystander Kathy Devitt at a shopping centre in Queensland in 2012.
Bowden — who is an associate of former bikie Toby Mitchell — shot Hudson in 2006 because he defected from the Finks to the Hells Angels.
A year later, in 2007, the ice-fuelled Hudson would shoot three people during a rampage in Melbourne’s CBD.
Bowden, from Queensland, moved to Victoria about two years ago after the national ``patch-over’’ of Finks.
The senior bikie was once part of a club cell dubbed the ``Terror Team’’ which became infamous for its violent standover tactics.
Victoria Police’s Echo taskforce is aware of the ``run’’ to Melbourne and has spotted a convoy riding along the Western Hwy. The Mongols, unlike other outlaw clubs, do not engage in dialogue with police regarding their national runs.
The Herald Sun understands the club has posed a significant problem for police in the past two years. Sources say former president Frank Dieni left after he refused to trade in the deadly drug ice — and was lured to Sydney to be confronted over the issue.
Authorities are concerned Victoria is now attractive to bikie gangs because of tough laws in other states, particularly Queensland and New South Wales.
Victoria also has consorting and anti-gang crime legislation which has not been used because of strict parameters. Police here are yet to launch a case to ban a bikie gang due to the high standard of proof required to declare an outlaw club a criminal organisation.
anthony.dowsley@ news.com.au