BN- THE state’s most successful crimebuster wants curfews on teenagers to stop them being recruited by criminal bikie gangs to push drugs t...
BN- THE state’s most successful crimebuster wants curfews on teenagers to stop them being recruited by criminal bikie gangs to push drugs to schoolchildren.
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Mail, Superintendent Jim Keogh said he was deeply concerned that at least four teenage gangs on the Gold Coast had become “feeder clubs” to outlaw motorcycle gangs. There was proof criminal bikie gangs had supplied highly-addictive drugs such as pills, cocaine and methamphetamines for sale to children aged 14 to 17, with deals often negotiated at high schools.
“If parents can’t or won’t manage this serious problem it might be something the courts should act upon,” Supt Keogh said.
“We have gone hoarse pleading with parents to supervise their children, especially at night. I think a curfew would be appropriate.”
While the courts did in some cases have the power to order curfews, they rarely did.
And those curfews were difficult to enforce.
Supt Keogh was the Gold Coast’s Rapid Action Patrol commander until a recent transfer to Brisbane. In just 21 months his team arrested 7175 people on 10,311 charges.
Supt Keogh said although bikie crime had been curtailed and 41 clubhouses shut in Queensland, criminal motorcycle gangs had not been eliminated. He said the four feeder clubs had their own territory and loose connections to bikie gangs.
He named them as the Gold Coast Brotherhood of Palm Beach; Southside Soldiers from Currumbin; Mexican Soldiers from Broadbeach to Carrara and Coomie Cubs from Coolangatta to Kingscliff.
They had informal links to Nomads, Bandidos, Mongols and the Lone Wolf gang.
“The kids get up to mischief because they are too often left to their own devices,” Supt Keogh said.
“The rise of social media means they communicate quickly. They can be on the streets in a heartbeat.”
Children were selling drugs to children, he said.
Many had a worrying disrespect for authority. And they thought they owned the streets at night, he said.
“It can only happen on the Gold Coast,” Supt Keogh said. “I’ve looked long and hard at the gang culture down there, but it is still alive, despite the efforts to contain it.”
There were “homebake” amphetamine labs providing drugs; while some cocaine had arrived via Colombian drug cartels.
A trial against three men is due to begin in Brisbane this month following the seizure of $160 million worth of South American cocaine discovered on a yacht at Scarborough marina.
More: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/police-chief-suggests-curfew-the-only-way-to-deal-with-teen-gangs-dealing-drugs-for-bikies/story-fnn8dlfs-1227428572285
