400 WA officers target Finks bikies . . . but no arrests
SPECIAL REPORT: Adam Shand, Inside Finks clubhouse
October 24, 2009 06:00pm
SPECIAL REPORT: IT was feared they came to the west for war, but inside the Finks clubhouse it looked much like a typical bikie party.
Not to everyone's taste, but not a threat to law and order.
Groups of Finks and friends from all over Australia were gathered at the bar swapping stories of dealing with WA police, not plotting the demise of rival bikies.
Gallery: Police swarm over WA Finks run
Gallery: Cops swoop as Finks hit town
Nominees (provisional members) were hard at work at the barbecue. A few were playing pool.
Some naked barmaids were moving through the group oblivious to the evening chill.
The clubhouse is a non-descript converted suburban home with murals of the club and its mascot Bung from the Wizard of Id. A marquee is erected in the front yard to accommodate the celebrations.
A dozen members had ridden from Adelaide and their bikes were lined up, each with a yellow defect sticker for non-standard exhaust pipes or mirrors.
They scoffed at reports police were bracing for "a new bikie war". On Friday, Assistant
Commissioner Nick Anticich said the Finks were coming to Perth "to make a statement and potentially to commit offences."
But the mood of the Finks was relaxed. The Finks' presence in Perth is to be tolerated. It's understood there was contact between other clubs and the visiting Finks.
As most of the Finks flew to Perth, they were not calling this a national run, but only a party. They didn't want to give police the chance to say they had succeeded in keeping them off their motorcycles.
At the time of writing, the weekend had been virtually incident-free.
Despite this, WA Police maintained a suffocating dragnet over the Finks all weekend, raising questions about civil liberties and the cost of policing a small group with massive resources.
At 8.45pm on Friday night WA police added this reporter to their database of associates of the Finks.
I had picked up two Fink members arriving at Perth airport for this weekend's party. It was solely their membership of this notorious club that made us persons of interest. Yet none of us had a criminal record.
Undercover officers followed the two bikies out of the domestic terminal to the pick-up zone where they got into my vehicle.
A few hundred metres up the road, we were directed by police to a side street where an extraordinary security operation took place. "Welcome to Western Australia," said one, with an ironic laugh.
"If you f*** up this weekend, there will be no bail," said another.
For the next 20 minutes, 18 officers went through their routine under a blazing portable spotlight. The rental car was thoroughly searched. Luggage was opened. Clothes were carefully sifted through, wallets and bum bags turned inside out.
Two officers with stills cameras snapped our pictures, while a third on a video camera filmed the entire process. An officer took our mobile phones and went through our call lists and private text messages.
We were all body searched. One of the Finks was asked to drop his pants and lift his genitals so police could check for hidden contraband. It was my turn next, but just then officers realised they had a reporter in the net and they backed off.
For the two Finks' members, this was nothing new. But for ordinary citizens who regard free association as a right, this was a challenging moment. In this age of terror, we expect our police to be tough and proactive, but when the system is turned on you, it's a different matter.
Even the Finks were surprised at the intensity of the operation. "This is 10 notches up from what we have experienced elsewhere," said one. Police are reluctant to reveal the cost, but there were at least 35 officers covering the terminal in addition to the 18 on roadblock. One officer said they were working 18-hour shifts over the weekend.
We cleared the roadblock and headed for the Finks new club house, a converted home in Balga in the northern suburbs. Another roadblock with a dozen police vehicles awaited us near the club house. Another posse of officers watched the club house from up the street.
Much later, when we reached our accommodation another pair of sleepy undercover officers was sitting outside in their car.
By 4pm Saturday afternoon the police presence had been scaled back after liaison between the Finks and force command.
A skeleton crew was watching the Finks clubhouse as members gathered last night.
It's said there were nearly 400 officers statewide involved in the visit by the Finks. WA Police is facing a huge overtime bill with precious little to show for it.
Bikie trip put money in police pockets: Finks
CHLOE JOHNSON
October 26, 2009 - 11:47AM
Finks sergeant-at-arms 'Ferret' said his motorcycle club's visit to Perth during the weekend was an excuse for police to "line their pockets with overtime".
More than 100 members of the South Australian motorcycle club flew to Perth for a three-day party at the clubhouse in Balga.
Ferret said their clubhouse, which is at the end of a small cul-de-sac, was constantly surrounded by police who stood around with nothing to do.
"We had 200 and 400 police at all times. Had they not worn police uniform and brought a barbie they could have had a BBQ - they just had nothing to do," Ferret said.
"Every time someone came in and out they had a random breath test and their ID checked. We'd handed over our ID to one officer and because they had nothing to do others would run over and ask for the ID too.
"It was like when Santa comes down the street, everyone wants to be there first and not left behind, they just want to be a part of something."
Ferret said he and another Finks member talked to two high ranked police officers who admitted the operation was overkill and they would be sending officers home.
"It was at the front gate in Balga and he used the word overkill … they said they'd start knocking off guys. There was no police drama because we were no drama," he said.
On Saturday, Ferret visited Coffin Cheater Troy Mercanti in prison, who he has been friends with for 10 years.
"When we turned up 20 police stripped searched us and put the drug dog on us. It was the crummiest dog I've ever seen and they pulled his leash so he would sit down.
"We believe that police wanted to do nothing more than perve on members of the Finks nude.
"It was a non-contact visit for 45 minutes but we only went for 15 minutes because police were always searching us."
Ferret questioned the cost of the police presence.
"How much did that cost the taxpayers? Or if police are saying it was proceeds of crimes asset then we believe police are thieving the assets of crime and lining their pockets with overtime."
WA police spokesperson Ros Weatherall said the operation was funded by the organised crime investigation fund which was set up by the government to provide police with extra money to police organised crime.
"These funds are derived from the confiscated proceeds of crime and are administered by senior members of the serious and organised crime division," Ms Weatherall said.
"The cost to the community would be greater if we did not closely monitor outlaw motorcycle club gang activities."
Ferret said their visit was initially organised as a national run but that status changed three months ago. He also said no members went to the Westdale Rock concert on Saturday night.
"We went to our clubhouse in Balga and had a party from Friday 'till yesterday, then last night most of the Finks went home.
"Some blokes rode over because they wanted to, but if it was a run everyone would have ridden," he said.
Police name 20 Notorious gang members
* By Amy Dale
* From: The Daily Telegraph
* November 04, 2009 12:00AM
POLICE have named 20 people they say are members of Sydney's notorious bikie gang including four Ibrahim family brothers. See the full police list of names
The police list is the most extensive dossier released so far of who the authorities allege are members of the Notorious gang.
The names released by police are:
Ali Akbari
Masood Atai
Imad Barghachoun
Mahmoud Bazzi
Joseph Dersahabian
Ewing Joseph Filipo
Ahmed Ghulamaskhi
Hassib Hassani
Christian Edward
Herrera
Sam Ibrahim
John Ibrahim
Fadi Ibrahim
Michael Ibrahim
Alla Kassoua
Kelepi Kolopeaua
Dan Levi
Sofe Levi (David
Lima)
Uitime Levi
Sam Lutau
Aki Machee
Meanwhile in an incident unrelated to the release of the names, a Sydney family innocently caught up in a bikie gang war have vowed to move after a bullet believed to be meant for the previous tenant narrowly missed a sleeping teenage girl yesterday.
The bullet slammed into the 16-year-old's bedhead during the second of two drive-by shootings in Sydney's southwest about 1am yesterday.
The shootings have been linked to the pseudo-bikie gang Notorious, police sources told The Daily Telegraph.
A couple and their two teenage children were sleeping inside their rented home in Edensor Park when a number of shots were fired through a bedroom window.
The attack came just minutes after another drive-by shooting at a home in Triten Ave, Greenfield Park, less than 2km away.
The family, who did not want to be named, said they had been "horribly" mistaken for another man who used to live in the home.
The father said they had already had "the boys" around, referring to men of Middle Eastern appearance who had turned up at the house looking for the previous tenant.
The previous renter is believed to have been shot several times in the arm in another incident some years ago.
The father said the bullet had missed his daughter by only centimetres and could have killed her.
"It is a case of mistaken identity and we want the people responsible to know that," he said.
"I need to be able to let my daughter know that she can sleep at night.
"They're after a past tenant who used to live here but we still get all his mail and have had a few incidents involving people who thought he was still living here. We've been here two years but we can't stay here any more.
"We've spoken to our landlord and we're going to try to find a new place."
The distraught mother said she now worried for the welfare of her children.
Pointing at the bullet hole in the bedhead, she said: "I'm a mother, that's too close for me.
"My daughter is sitting her school certificate exams next week and I worry about how her and my son will cope with all this."
Inspector Simon Maund said police were continuing to investigate possible links between the two shootings.
Detectives spoke again to the couple at home yesterday and said they would investigate their claims.
Five people were inside the Greenfield Park house when the shots were fired.
A day earlier, police attached to Strike Force Raptor named people they believed are members of Notorious in court documents.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
