French bikie member of Hells Angels denied entry into Australia
A man who has been identified as a French Hells Angels motorcycle gang member has been denied entry into Australia. The Australian Border Force (ABF) officers stopped the 44-year-old bikie at Perth Airport on Saturday.
The man, who has arrived on a flight from Singapore, has also been established to have had links to Australian gang members in Sydney. His 601 Visitor Visa was cancelled under s116(1)(e)(i) of the Migration Act for apparently “presenting a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community, or a segment of the community.”
“These gangs pose a significant threat to our community and are known to be involved in serious criminal activity including drug trafficking and violent crime,” ABF Regional Commander for WA, Rod O’Donnell, said in a statement. “Any non-citizen involved with a criminal organisation such as a bikie gang can expect to be identified and targeted by the ABF, have their Australian visa cancelled and then be removed from the country.”
The man was removed from Australia on Aug. 19, Sunday, after being held in the Perth Immigration Detention Centre.
Earlier this month, a bikie involved in the 2013 Broadbeach bikie brawl has been deported to New Zealand. Jim David Thacker, who was part of the Bandidos motorcycle club, was arrested by border force officers and then kicked out of the country. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the government has discretionary powers to remove anyone considered as a “bad character” from the country. He had already cancelled the visas of 191 foreign-born bikies since last year.
In another bikie gang-related news, Former soldier Steven Utah has recently been granted a refugee status in Canada. Utah had been asked by the Australian Crime Commission to take part in a national operation against bikie gangs. He was recruited to pose as a Bandidos member, assisting authorities with their cases against the group. However, when he was outed as an informant in 2006, the ACC apparently failed to give him adequate protection despite him receiving death threats.
The Immigration and Refugee Board in Canada has agreed that Utah needed asylum from the gang.
