A local policeman has compared our city’s gang underbelly to the Matrix, saying there is an entire network of Logan society that everyday residents don’t know about.
“You could have lived next door to these gang members and not known who they were, or what they were up to,” senior sergeant Clint Herman, the officer in charge of Logan Central police station, said.
“It may have come as a surprise to you when you saw them on the news.”
Besides a few unusual behaviours, such as working odd hours, he said often “nothing really stands out” about them.
So far this year, the Queensland Police Service has undertaken multiple sweeping busts that took dozens of alleged gangbangers off the street at a time.
Police allegedly “decimated” a local drug gang known as KTM, with 20 people charged in just one day.
In total, 41 people were charged and 25 properties raided across Hillcrest, Woodridge, Logan Reserve and other suburbs also spanning south Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Acting detective superintendent Craig Bowman said the gang was known for its history of public acts of violence and large-scale drug trafficking.
“This group has been a source of immense harm, and victimisation of our community,” he said.
“Their criminal activities have, without a doubt, exploited our most vulnerable with far reaching consequences including contributing to volume crime within our communities.”
Mr Herman said locals did not need to be concerned about their own safety, as “higher-end violence” perpetuated by these types of gangs was “very targeted”.
“There’s no randomness to the higher-end violence that is committed by these people.”
He said recent arrests were a “magnificent operation that will make a significant difference to a lot of the lower-level crime that low-level crooks use to generate income, to buy their drugs, and build that empire”.
“They were particularly violent individuals and that contributed to a lot of our more concerning crime in the area.”
But KTM isn’t the only one. Multiple gangs have made national headlines in recent years for their multi-million-dollar drug operations and violent crimes.
And they’re targeting our city’s youth, with several reports of gangs recruiting children.
The head and founder of the Rochedale South Neighbourhood Crime Watchers, Damion Douglass, said prospective gangsters were nowadays required to film “auditions” of them committing crimes.
These videos – depicting acts like fights, burnouts or car theft – can sometimes be found online.
“The recruiting process is way more complex than I would have thought,” Mr Douglass said.
“These videos – they’re more than just videos, they’re like an audition tape.
“Gangs aren’t this whole brotherhood anymore. It’s ‘lets see what we can get away with’.
“They don’t have any fear. They don’t care.”
