{"id":624734,"date":"2026-04-23T01:42:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T01:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/624734\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T01:42:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T01:42:20","slug":"bikie-kingpins-private-phone-calls-exposed-in-mongols-drug-extortion-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/624734\/","title":{"rendered":"Bikie kingpin’s private phone calls exposed in Mongols drug extortion case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of the world’s most notorious and dangerous bikie gangs are bolstering their membership in the Northern Territory by recruiting inside NT prisons, the territory’s top organised crime fighter has told the ABC.<\/p>\n

The Rebels, Mongols, Bandidos, Outlaws and Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) all have an established membership network in the NT.<\/p>\n

And Detective Sergeant Kenneth Bradshaw, who heads NT Police’s gang investigation unit, said two other OMCGs were looking to establish chapters in the territory for the first time.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kenneth Bradshaw says a number of high-ranking national leaders of established gangs already call the NT home. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/p>\n

“I see increasing numbers in OMCG membership with the clubs we have at the moment, and I have concerns that there are two other clubs who have shown interest in setting up in the NT,” he said.<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to Stateline NT, Sergeant Bradshaw said the territory was also home to several high-ranking national leaders of the already established gangs.<\/p>\n

“For a population the size of the NT \u2026 that’s certainly significant for us, and it’s a concern that they bring resources [from] interstate as well if they need to for criminal activities,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Court documents show gang members “are expected to maintain the secrets of the organisation” or face punishment. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/p>\n

Sergeant Bradshaw said recruitment often began in prisons, where gang members are able to target vulnerable people or those willing to engage in criminal activity.<\/p>\n

“A lot of connections are made in prison, a lot of promises and a lot of people become members through prison connections,” he said.Bikies at ‘core’ of drug, firearms black market<\/p>\n

Sergeant Bradshaw said OMCGs were often “at the core of violent crime or high-level drug distribution in the NT”, including for methamphetamine, and were heavily involved in the firearms black market.<\/p>\n

“They can be altered, turned into sawn-off shotguns, turned into small concealable weapons,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kenneth Bradshaw says witnesses are often reluctant to talk about OMCG activity out of “fear of retribution”, including against their families. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/p>\n

The Mongols are one of the clubs being closely monitored by NT Police, after first establishing a Darwin chapter in 2022.<\/p>\n

“Nearly upon the inception of that club an investigation was stood up,” Sergeant Bradshaw said.<\/p>\n

Why Darwin is a target for major crime syndicates<\/a><\/p>\n

Convenience stores selling cheap, illegally packaged cigarettes have been popping up across Darwin.<\/p>\n

That investigation saw 40 Mongols members arrested<\/a> in 2023, including the club’s then-president, Martin Burnett.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the 66-year-old pleaded guilty in the NT Supreme Court to extortion and supplying a commercial quantity of methamphetamine between 2021 and 2023 with a street value of almost $800,000.<\/p>\n

His co-accused, Filippos Magoulias, also pleaded guilty to extortion and drugs charges.<\/p>\n

‘No one gets out for free’<\/p>\n

A statement of facts provided to the court and obtained by the ABC details tapped phone calls between Burnett and Magoulias, capturing them discussing interstate drug deals and plans to extort or blackmail people who they say owed them money.<\/p>\n

In one of the covertly recorded conversations, Burnett told Magoulias one of the gang’s drug dealers was going to “lose two fingers” after failing to repay debts.<\/p>\n

In a separate conversation, Burnett and Magoulias can be heard discussing another of their associates needing to “engage in sex or make a large amount of money to meet her obligations”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Police say OMCGs are heavily involved in drugs, violent crime and illegal firearms. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/p>\n

The court documents state OMCGs “have a culture of silence” where members “are expected to maintain the secrets of the organisation and will receive punishment for any breaches of the rules”.<\/p>\n

Sergeant Bradshaw said police were aware of members being subjected to acts of violence and having tattoos “forcibly removed” before being allowed to leave a club.<\/p>\n

“No one gets out for free,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Our biggest challenge would be the reluctance of witnesses and victims to give evidence for us, and behind that sits this fear of retribution \u2014 retaliation not only against those victims, but against their extended family.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kenneth Bradshaw says OMCG member are “not just blokes going out for a ride”. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/p>\n

Sergeant Bradshaw said partners of gang members who had experienced domestic violence were particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n

“Quite often partners will refuse to give evidence, will refuse to give statutory declarations or allow us to help them,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They know their partners are OMCG members and they worry about the club coming after them.”Law change ‘the only way to stop them’<\/p>\n

Sergeant Bradshaw said OMCGs were recognised as criminal organisations for a reason and were “not just blokes going out for a ride”.<\/p>\n

“Sitting behind that club is criminal activity and the threat and the intimidation they bring with it,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Police say anti-consorting laws are “the only way to stop these clubs which are a significant threat to the community”. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)<\/p>\n

Unlike other jurisdictions, including South Australia<\/a> and Western Australia<\/a>, the NT does not prohibit OMCG members from wearing their colours in public, except within licensed venues.<\/p>\n

Sergeant Bradshaw said such anti-consorting law reform was one measure that could help deter gangs from using the NT as a safe haven to meet and recruit.<\/p>\n

“Other jurisdictions have realised that the only way to stop these clubs which are a significant threat to the community is to introduce these powers,” he said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby told the ABC police had not approached the government in relation to anti-consorting law reform.<\/p>\n

However, she said community safety was the government’s “number one priority” and it would consider any recommendations to improve that.<\/p>\n

“Our police are working hard to protect Territorians, and we are always prepared to back them in with the resources and reforms they need to continue creating a safer territory,” Ms Boothby said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of the world’s most notorious and dangerous bikie gangs are bolstering their membership in the Northern Territory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,302608,167013,36369,302610,44,1098,102625,32031,302609,1158,300645,302607],"class_list":["post-624734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bikers","tag-bikie","tag-gangs","tag-mongols","tag-news","tag-nt","tag-nt-courts","tag-organised-crime","tag-phone-tap","tag-police","tag-police-sting","tag-undercover-operation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}