More than 30 people have been arrested and firearms seized in a major cross-border operation targeting outlaw bikie gangs.
New South Wales and Victoria police say they have been gathering intelligence across the Riverina and Albury-Wodonga regions as part of Operation Blue Ember.
A four-day, multi-agency operation that started on Monday saw officers on both sides of the border carry out firearm searches and issue several firearm prohibition orders.
As a result, 19 people were arrested in NSW and 12 in Victoria with more than 75 charges laid, and more expected.
These included a 37-year-old man who was arrested and charged at a home on Wingara Street, North Albury after police attended to serve a firearm prohibition order.
During a search of the home, officers found a gel blaster, ammunition, Finks outlaw motorcycle gang (OMCG) paraphernalia, electronic devices and a Harley Davidson believed to be stolen.
A 39-year-old man was charged with driving while disqualified after he arrived at a home on Roper Place, West Albury while police were there waiting for him.
Meanwhile, in Echuca, a 42-year-old man was arrested and charged with possessing small quantities of amphetamine and officers seized a homemade shotgun, ammunition and imitation handgun from a 31-year-old man.
Prescription medication, cannabis, MDMA, imitation handguns and explosives, were among the other items seized.
NSW Police Detective Superintendent Andrew Koutsoufis said police also identified several club houses that will be the targets of future operations.
"If you sign up to being a member of an OMCG, or an associate of an OMCG, we come along with that package," he said.
Victoria Police Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly, part of the state anti-gangs division praised the efforts of officers to remove prohibited firearms from the street.
"Firearms in the wrong hands will kill. Our objective is to get those illegal and illicit firearms out of the hands of people who should not have them. We need to get them off the streets and out of the homes," he said.
Gang rise in regions
Superintendent Koutsoufis said effective police work in the metropolitan areas has led to an increase in outlaw bikie gang activity in regional communities, particularly on the border.
"We've been so effective in really decimating some of the club numbers," he said.
"They've been desperately trying to bolster their power base again, I guess. So we do have some evidence of [that] happening."
He said the border is a prime location with drugs being conveyed between Sydney and Melbourne, given it's a major thoroughfare between the two hubs.
Superintendent Kelly says outlaw motorcycle gangs remain a challenge for law enforcement agencies across the country.
"The impact they're having across the community and organised crime is a billion-dollar industry," he said.
"It's our role as law enforcement agencies to really focus in on outlaw motorcycle gangs and those who are facilitating the criminal activity.
"So, we'll be relentless.
"The message is fairly simple. If you're involved in organised crime, and think a country or rural setting is where you can hide out, you're mistaken."
He is urging the community to think twice before joining a gang.
"Once you're in a gang, the difficulties of actually getting out of an outlaw motorcycle gang is extremely challenging," he said.
"There are numerous stories of people who have had not only their lives, but their family lives devastated because you're signing up to something that you really don't know what it's all about.
"The stories are horrific in terms of some of the people who elect to leave those gangs and some of the things that occur so it's probably just a warning to anyone who is thinking of joining a gang to think twice."
