Australia declares war on biker gangs, tears up visas
They are accused of drug dealing, extortion, money laundering, and the distribution of firearms and explosives with turf wars often leading to brazen violence
Australia declared war on outlaw motorcycle gangs on Friday, with the visas of more than 80 foreign nationals torn up in a crackdown on drug-dealing, extortion and gun-smuggling, which officials said was causing misery.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton revealed 81 biker gang members have had their visas cancelled or refused since mid-2014 with 27 of them already kicked out of the country. The rest are in prison or immigration detention.
The government said they were from countries including New Zealand, Britain, Bosnia, Albania, Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.
“Our government is very happy to declare war on outlaw motorcycle gang members,” said Dutton.
He added that they were “causing misery and pain to thousands of Australians” and “this government is determined to work to make sure that we can cancel visas of people who are non-citizens who are committing crimes in our country”.
“I have no doubt these visa refusals or cancellations are disrupting the operations of these criminal organisations by removing key individuals from the hierarchies of the gangs along with their associates,” Dutton said.