Police seize loaded guns, drugs, tasers in bikie crackdown in Tasmania
Updated
Loaded guns, drugs and tasers have been seized after bikie-related police raids which included searches of prison cells.
A joint operation between Tasmania Police and the Australia Federal Police (AFP) uncovered 26 firearms and three tasers.
Fourteen people have been arrested and a further 19 summonses issued as a result of the operation which has been running since Tuesday.
Prison cells were searched during the operation which also targeted eight motorcycle gang clubrooms, 30 homes of members and associates, three businesses and several vehicles.
Among the firearms seized were nine handguns, most of which were loaded, police said.
Quantities of prescription and illegal drugs, including ice and speed were found, along with $200,000 in cash.
Police said it is the largest ever operation targeting motorcycle gangs.
The operation also involved other state police forces, the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Immigration, Australian Customs [and Border Protection Service], and the Australian Crime Commission.
Acting Police commissioner Mark Mewis said investigations were continuing and warned outlaw gangs that "their activities were a significant focus".
AFP Detective Superintendent Nigel Ryan said Tasmanian gangs members were part of an organised crime network that stretched across state boundaries.
The AFP will now have an agent permanently embedded in Tasmania's newly formed Serious and Organised Crime Unit.
"These gangs, they do harm to our communities and they have no regard for our society," he said.
"As part of the national anti-gang squad framework a liaison officer from the AFP will now be embedded in Tasmania's Serious and Organised Crime Unit.
"This now completes the AFP footprint nationally as part of the national anti-gangs framework."