Bandidos motorcycles descend on Ballarat, Victoria for the club’s annual national motorcycle race
The Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang showed up in force for their annual national race in a quiet rural town.
Hundreds of runners descended on Ballarat, in Victoria’s northwest, on Friday and will travel to Buninyong, 11km north, before returning to Ballarat.
The Bandidos gang is considered one of the “big six” motorcycle gangs in the state.
Victoria Police vowed to closely monitor his activities over the three days.
The Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang showed up in force for their annual national ride over the long weekend in Victoria.
Members of the motorcycle club have arrived in Ballarat by bike and will soon travel to Buninyong, 11km north, before returning to Ballarat.
The Victorian Echo and VIPER task forces will monitor the gang’s movements to ensure everyone’s safety
Local police will help their task force colleagues closely monitor the gathering of Bandidos affiliates
Task Forces Echo and VIPER will be assisted by local police to monitor the gang’s movements to ensure the safety of members of the public.
Police have issued a stern warning that they will “not allow themselves to be intimidated” by any OMCG member who commits criminal, road safety or public order offences.
“Members of the Echo and VIPER task forces, alongside local police, will have a vehicle checkpoint on the route to ensure passengers follow the rules of the road and behave appropriately,” said Western Region Superintendent Frank Sells.
“We will monitor all activities and be prepared to take rapid action to prevent, detect and disrupt any potential illegal activity. This will not be tolerated.
“The local community can be assured that Victoria Police have made full-scale preparations and are prepared to monitor and respond appropriately to OMCG activities for this national race.”
Hundreds of Bandidos motorcycles traveling on a main road into Ballarat, Victoria, causing traffic delays for residents on Friday
Ballarat is the second largest city in the state and has hosted the event several times before.
The OMCG held its annual general meeting in Ballarat in 2022, meeting at Lazy Moe’s restaurant in November, just days before the state election.
Leaders of the outlaw gang took out an advert in Ballarat’s The Courier newspaper days after leaving their last meeting.thanking the city for its “warm hospitality”.
Victoria is one of the few states in the country where bikers can openly display their colors and associate in public without risking a prison sentence.
Western Australia has some of the strictest laws making it illegal for a member to show their motorcycle club tattoos when in public.
Queensland will send a bikie to jail for wearing gang colors, with the same jail term handed to offenders for a third time.
Victoria is one of the few states in the country where bikers can openly display their colors and associate in public without risking a prison sentence.
Last year, leaders of the outlaw gang took out an advert in Ballarat’s The Courier newspaper, days after leaving their annual general meeting, thanking the town for its “warm hospitality”.
Victoria Police has moved to curb the powers of motorcycles by issuing a Firearms Prohibition Order (FPO) to almost all of its members.
An FPO prohibits a person from possessing or using a firearm or ammunition and gives police the power to carry out searches without a warrant.
A member who violates the order faces five years in prison.
Bandidos MC Australia, a motorcycle gang that split from the Comancheros in 1983, has more than 50 chapters across Australia.
The additional police presence will continue until the end of the race on Sunday.
