Mongols, Rebels Gangs Expand in NT, Police Push for Anti-Consorting Laws

0:00Outlaw motorcycle gangs like the Mongols and Rebels are pushing deeper into the Northern Territory, recruiting right inside local prisons. The Territory's top organized crime cop, Detective Sergeant Kenneth Bradshaw, says these groups are growing fast, with some national leaders already, based there. It all blew open in a Mongols drug extortion case where tapped calls caught senior members plotting brutal payback for unpaid debts. Next after the Mongols set up a Darwin chapter in 2022, police launched a big probe, leading to 40 arrests in 2023. The club's ex-president, 66-year-old Martin Burnett and his co-accused Falibos Magulias just pleaded guilty to extortion and supplying. Nearly $800,000 worth of methamphetamine from 2021 to 2023. These gangs sit at the heart of meth distribution, violent crime, and a black market for guns that get turned into concealable weapons. Victims and witnesses stay silent out of fear. Thanks to a strict code where snitches face beatings or even forced tattoo removal, domestic

1:03violence hits partners hard too, but they often won't cooperate with cops. Phone intercepts revealed the ugly side. One dealer facing losing two fingers, another told to hook up or hustle big cash to settle up. Bradshaw warns no one leaves these clubs for free, and prisons are prime spots for hooking vulnerable folks with promises. Police are pushing for anti-consorting laws like in South Australia and Western Australia to block gang expansion and public displays. The NT Attorney General says, community safety comes first, and they're open to reforms if cops recommend them, aiming to shut down this growing threat. That's your update from Sydney News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with The Story.