Jordan Poi and Oleksandr Akatskyy pictured brandishing what appears to be a handgun in a suburban Queensland street. Photo / Jordan Poi Facebook
Jordan Poi and Oleksandr Akatskyy pictured brandishing what appears to be a handgun in a suburban Queensland street. Photo / Jordan Poi Facebook
Armed bikies are posing for pictures in suburban streets as fears grow that a turf war will erupt between rival gangs staking a claim to the Gold Coast.
Just nine days before the Palaszczuk Government watered down the former LNP administration's tough VLAD bikie laws, two Black Power members were pictured in full gang colours, one of them brandishing a handgun.
While the Gold Coast Bulletin was unable to determine where the picture was taken, one of the men is Jordan Poi whose social media profile lists his address as the Gold Coast.
Poi is known to police with a record that includes assault occasioning bodily harm, stealing and enter premises.
The gunman is Oleksandr Akatskyy, a Ukrainian who lives in Brisbane.
Taylor Ruatara, 18, who is charged with the shooting murder of Jason Boyd at his Carrara home on Friday, had recently started associating with Black Power.
Black Power is not the only Kiwi gang to stake a claim to the Coast, with Mongrel Mob members active on the northern Gold Coast for the past two years.
The two gangs are fierce rivals and it is feared they could clash as Black Power becomes more assertive.
Nerang MP Sid Cramp said he was aware of gang members in his electorate and had been told they were targeting teenagers.
"We have been seeing them move back into the suburbs and the clubhouses will return, but the main problem is they are targeting our youth," Mr Cramp said.
"The kids who are struggling to find their way in life are easy targets - it is scary.
"We have a community that is trying to support these kids but it's tough to compete with these gangs when police can't do their jobs properly.
"I have had officers come to me to voice their concerns, they are worried too.
"The LNP will keep campaigning for a return to strong laws and I think the VLAD laws should be reinstated immediately if we regain power in Queensland."
Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek said Gold Coasters were worried about the resurgence of bikies.
"There has been anecdotal evidence of them re-emerging since Labor was voted in and now we are hearing bikies have been seen roaring through Surfers Paradise in colours," he said.
Black Power first appeared in Queensland in early 2015.
A police source said members had recently been found having a "gathering" in a Southport park.
"Their record of violence in New Zealand is horrid, Black Power take us to a new dimension on the Coast," the officer said.
"They are looking to get into places like Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, especially now the laws are relaxed and other gangs are looking to become active."
A spokesman for the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Yvette D'Ath, defended Labor's new laws.
"Our laws give the police more powers, not less", he said.
Recent bikie activity on the Coast
Friday December 2: Fatal shooting at Carrara allegedly between bikie associates.
Friday December 2: Eight motorcyclists seen in colours seen roaring down the Gold Coast Highway in Surfers Paradise about 9pm.
Tuesday November 29: Hells Angels and Nomads bikies raided and charged with drug offences.
Sunday November 20: Black Power members pose in a suburban Queensland street with a handgun.
Friday November 18: Bikie detectives assist in raids at Oxenford, Maudsland, Robina and Broadbeach Waters. They allegedly find drug labs, homemade machine guns, drugs and a 3D printer.
A notorius Gold Coast criminal known as 'Solitary Son' and his ex-girlfriend have been found dead in a Southport unit, sparking a murder investigation. Photo: Bronson Ellery/Twitter
Friday November 11: The body of former Bandidos enforcer Bronson "Lizard Man" Ellery and his ex-girlfriend, Shelsea Schilling, found inside a Southport unit in a grisly murder suicide.
Wednesday November 9: Taskforce Maxima detectives arrest men with links to the Hells Angels in relation to an alleged identity theft racket and drugs.
