VIP escort for Bandidos bikie gang

More than 200 members of the Bandidos bikie gang will descend on Melbourne this afternoon.Police have been told to "facilitate" the bikies as they ride in convoy from Geelong to the CBD.
The Bandidos will be given a police escort and traffic will be stopped so they can enjoy an uninterrupted run. Once in town, they are expected to hit pubs and strip clubs during their annual national run. "It really is a party," said one Bandidos member. Bikies from interstate and overseas are expected to join the run up the Princes Highway. The order from police command has outraged police already livid over what they say is a soft approach to bikie gangs. Officers will be drawn from regions already struggling to contain crime to monitor the gang from tonight until Monday. Police will devote 395 individual shifts to the operation, including traffic management units, general duties officers and brawler vans. "This operation will be sucking up a lot of manpower at peak trouble times," one officer said.
Senior Sergeant Greg Davies of the Police Association said city police were already struggling to cope with drunken violence. "Clearly, we do not have the current frontline capacity to prevent Melburnians being injured on an average weekend in the CBD," Sen-Sgt Davies said. "We just hope our members will be deployed in sufficient numbers to protect themselves and the community at large. "We've got to be confident the force has used all of its intelligence gathering and has planned for this. If there have been any slip-ups along the way then this has the potential to make Attila the Hun's foray into Europe look like an end-of-season footy trip." A spokeswoman for Victoria Police said force command had contingencies in place for the run. "Victoria Police has a number of strategies in place to minimise traffic disruption and will continue to seek to provide a safe and orderly environment for the Victorian community," she said

Melbourne drug czar Tony Mokbel have revealed a trail of deception, hidden funds and a private yacht modified to hide its passenger from officials.

Melbourne drug czar Tony Mokbel have revealed a trail of deception, hidden funds and a private yacht modified to hide its passenger from officials.
The 17m, A$350,000 ($436,000) Edwena, crewed by Greek sailors flown to Australia for the journey, took Mokbel to a new life of luxury in Greece, where he was joined by his pregnant partner after she eluded police in Rome.
Mokbel is now back in Melbourne after the Supreme Court in Athens ordered his extradition on a series of charges, including murder. He has already been sentenced to 12 years' jail for importing 2kg of cocaine.Mokbel was on bail awaiting sentence for his cocaine conviction when he vanished in March 2006, leaving his sister-in-law to face jail for a A$1 million surety she could not pay.Yesterday's revelation by police of Mokbel's escape by sea completes a trail that began when he fled a step ahead of a barrage of new charges, and saw him placed on Interpol's most-wanted list, with a A$1 million reward on his head. His flight has also resulted in the arrest of a three people in connection with his escape and the use of the proceeds of crime to bring it about.Detective Inspector Bernie Edwards, of the Purana Taskforce established by the Victorian Police to investigate the underworld killings, told ABC radio that more arrests may be made.Soon after Mokbel vanished, police were told he had been killed by the Calabrian mafia and buried in an already-occupied grave in rural Victoria, prompting an initial search using sonar equipment of two cemeteries in Tatura. But new information convinced police the story had been concocted to throw them off the scent.Investigators trailed his partner, Danielle McGuire as she took her 11-year-old daughter on a holiday to Europe. She gave them the slip in Rome. Mokbel by that time was living in an apartment in Athens costing more than A$3000 a month.Edwards told the ABC yesterday that Mokbel had fled initially to a hideout at Bonnie Doon, west of Melbourne, while his associates bought the Edwena in Sydney, sailed it to Newcastle, and arranged its transport across Australia.Mokbel and associates followed the yacht by four-wheel-drive to Fremantle, where it was fitted with a hiding place for Mokbel, larger fuel tanks and a self-righting mast.The yacht arrived in Greece on the following Christmas Eve, and remains berthed in Athens. Safely in Greece, Mokbel set up home with McGuire, proudly saw his daughter Renate born, and met with friends and associates. Police also alleged he had taken a small fortune with him. But on June 5 last year he was arrested, beginning an exhaustive, seven-month battle against extradition.
On May 17 he flew into Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport aboard a chartered executive jet, surrounded by police.

Former Hells Angels bikie Christopher Wayne Hudson has pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder

Christopher Wayne Hudson has pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder over the peak-hour shootings in Melbourne's CBD last June.
Solicitor Brendan Keilar was shot dead and a backpacker was seriously injured when they intervened in an argument between Hudson and a woman in the city during the morning peak hour.Mr Keilar, a father of three, was shot as he rushed to help Kara Douglas, who Hudson was dragging from a taxi in William Street. Hudson also shot Dutch backpacker Paul de Waard, who also went to help the woman.
Hudson, from Melbourne, has been remanded in custody to appear in the Supreme Court in June. The former Hells Angels bikie also pleaded guilty to assaulting another woman, Autumn Daly-Holt, outside a King Street nightclub before the shootings.
Last week he pleaded guilty to using an unregistered firearm after firing a gun from his car while giving a late-night lift to AFL star Alan Didak.

Victor Brincat, Thomas Hentschel charged with murdering former kickboxer Michael Ronald Marshall

Victor Brincat, 43, who had previously been interviewed about the fatal shooting of criminals Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro, faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court with Thomas Hentschel, 41.They are charged with murdering former kickboxer Michael Ronald Marshall, 38, near his South Yarra home on Saturday night. Marshall's partner and five-year-old son witnessed the shooting.He was shot up to five times in the head about 6.30pm on Saturday and died three hours later at The Alfred hospital.
With blood still drying on the bitumen, neighbours yesterday spoke of how Marshall valued his privacy. About six months ago, he had placed a sign near his double garage on Joy Street - metres from where he was gunned down - saying: "Admittance by invitation only to all persons and entities or trespass applies." A surveillance camera was connected to the intercom system at the front gate, and security grilles covered reflective glass, ensuring that no one could see inside the two-storey terrace home.One witness, who did not wish to be named, said he heard at least six shots as Marshall was gunned down. Marshall's five-year-old son had said: "Someone shot my daddy, someone shot my daddy." It is believed one of the shots pierced Marshall's eye.The witness said he assumed from the series of shots that Marshall "was being executed" and he was scared to assist.Marshall, a hot-dog stand owner, had a minor criminal record and was connected with figures linked to the amphetamine industry. Other neighbours spoke of a pleasant man who parked his old hot-dog van near his home, saying it was "ugly . . . the most terrible looking thing". Marshall was believed to have been an associate of Willie Thompson, who was shot at the wheel of his sports car on June 21. He had just left a martial arts class at a Chadstone gym.A spokesman for the World Kickboxing Association in Melbourne said he knew both men. Marshall would not have competed for at least 10 years, he said, but had recently bought a pair of boxing gloves for sparring.
The spokesman said Marshall's instructor, Bob Jones, would be saddened to hear of his protege's murder. Mr Jones is on business in North America and was unavailable for comment.Detectives from the underworld murder taskforce Purana, arrested Brincat and Hentschel about two hours after the shooting.Yesterday the detectives again scoured the scene where Marshall was gunned down.