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Bikie stabbings ‘catastrophic’ as Gold Coast readies to welcome back tourists

Police are dampening fears of a renewed flare up of bikie violence at the Gold Coast after a “catastrophic” spate of stabbing attacks over the weekend linked to gang power struggles.

Nov 01, 2021, updated Nov 01, 2021

As tourists flooded back to the coast during the Brisbane long weekend, a total of 11 people were stabbed, shot or injured in four separate bikie-linked incidents within 48 hours.

Police today will step up efforts to quell the shock violence under new taskforce Operation Tango Grey.

Gold Coast police Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said five men had been charged over one incident and two each from two separate incidents. The details around another man being shot in the arm remain a mystery.

He said the community was not at risk at the increase in tensions over “internal matters” involving the Mongols, Bandidos and Comancheros outlaw motorcycle gangs. “A taskforce has been set up around this group of incidents to find out exactly what occurred,” Wildman said.

“This caught us by surprise. We’ve taken up with the presidents of these clubs and we’ll continue that engagement around preventing these incidents from occurring again.”

With the Gold Coast battling to attract visitor numbers for summer ahead of borders being thrown open, the new police operation was announced within hours of the eruption of gang-related violence.

“These incidents are extremely concerning for us…these particular gangs don’t like to air their dirty laundry in public, it’s not good for their organisational backgrounds and business model, but when they do occur, they can be quite catastrophic,” Wildman said.

The four incidents began with a wild brawl outside the Toybox Showgirls strip club in Surfers Paradise late on Friday night.

Five men have been charged with affray and will appear in Southport Magistrates Court later in November.

Also on Friday, a man presented at the Gold Coast University Hospital suffering a gunshot wound to his left arm. Police are investigating where and when the man was shot.

On Saturday, three men were stabbed, one in the chest and one in the back, during a fight that broke out at Burleigh.

Two of the men were taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH) and one to Robina Hospital before all being transferred to GCUH. All three suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

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Two men have also been charged over an incident at Biggera Waters, where it is alleged two people were stabbed and accelerant thrown at an apartment early Sunday.

Police allege that around 4.30am Sunday two men threw accelerant at the front glass door of the unit that lead to a brawl on the footpath.

A 22-year-old Redland Bay man was stabbed four times in his abdomen and chest and a 42-year-old Redland Bay man received two stabs wounds to his face and one to his left torso.

A 26-year-old man from Upper Coomera has been charged with two counts of wounding, while the 42-year-old man from Redland Bay has been charged with attempted arson and dangerous conduct with a weapon. Both have been refused bail.

Gold Coast police Detective Inspector Brendan Smith said the violence was based on internal bikie gang matters that posed no threat to the public.

“It’s clearly tension between clubs and also within clubs,” Smith said.

“They’re all driven by greed, this mindset of power.

“One week they’re best mates, the next week they’re stabbing each other. It’s a lifestyle choice that they’ve made, and they could end up in jail or worse.

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