Satudarah - are Here !

When it comes to violent bikie gangs the biggest on a world wide basis is the " Hell's Angels ", but a relative newcomer now establishing in Australia is feared because it surpasses all others in using extreme violence to achieve it's ends.

Satudarah - which means " One Blood " - was formed in the Netherlands in 1990 and was originally composed of former residents of the Dutch Moluccas,  which is now a part of Indonesia.  It has grown to forty-four chapters in nineteen countries and has a membership in excess of two thousand - and it is still growing fast !

Interpol warned Australia that Satudarah planned to establish a beachhead here and late last year embryonic chapters were established in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide - and for the first time the gangs " colours " appeared on our streets.  The police have established a task force with the intent of closing them down and raids on a clubhouse netted drugs and resulted in the arrest and charges laid against some Sydney members.

Satudarah have learned from Islamic State to use social media for recruitment.  They have a reputation that would appeal to those kicked out of other bikie groups for unacceptable behaviour  and it seems obvious that they are going to go after a share of the lucrative drug trade. That is likely to increase the degree of gun violence as they try and wrest control from other bikie groups who control drug " territories " across the city.

What is so frightening is the reality that peaceful Australia is each year slipping deeper into the tentacles of " organised crime ".  In the United States it is known as " the Mob " and many years ago it spawned the infamous " Murder Incorporated ", which contracted killings - for a price !  A tight web of " families " control crime in many American cities - and wield enormous power that has high levels of political protection.

Then there are crime groups with national identities.   Italy has long been the home of the Mafia and that came to Australia in the migrant surge that followed the end of the second world war.  The Mafia established it's marijuana drug capital in Griffith - and even gained representation in Federal parliament.  It continues it's machinations virtually unnoticed !

The " Triads " are the face of Asian organised crime. The Japanese Yakuzzi rule a vast empire and individual Triad groups originate from Vietnam, China - and a sub group in Hong Kong.  They are intellectual and clannish and tend to operate discreetly out of sight, but they exert a heavy influence on the crime scene.

Bikie gangs are the exception to the publicity rule.   They swagger and strut their stuff publicly and make no secret of their criminality.  They are constantly at war with one another - and with the police. We have a virtual criminal army wearing a distinctive uniform operating openly from what they term " club houses " but which in reality are heavily defended fortresses that are distribution centres for drugs and other contraband.

We are a country that prides itself on " rule of law " and that means the police must catch a criminal in the act to gain a prosecution.    This new bikie gang can come here openly with criminal intent and remain untouched - until each individual can be put before a court and convicted of a crime - and even then the remainder are free to continue their activities without hindrance.

Perhaps time for a law change - to make being a member or having an association with a prescribed organization a crime in it's own right.    Such an ordinance was useful during the war years - and it seems we are fighting new wars on many fronts.   The law needs to be appropriate to our battle needs !