Bikie Wars Burn Their Way To The Eastern ‘Burbs

By Ellie Craven on January 21, 2011 in News

The firebombing attack on a Coogee tattoo parlour on the December 29 has drawn attention to the rising bikie warfare erupting in the Eastern Suburbs. The relatively new Coogee Ink parlour was left looking like a giant ash-tray after the attack, the only thing left behind a resonating fear that this is the beginning of a ‘bikie war’ in the east.

The parlour was petrol bombed at around 12:50am on the day in question and 30 residents living above and surrounding the inferno had to be evacuated from their homes. Two men wearing dark clothing were seen running from the area, but at this stage police have established no further conclusions. Superintendent Gavin Dengate of the Eastern Beaches local area command said at the time, “Certainly, the tattoo shop (Coogee Ink) is linked to an outlaw motorcycle gang and that is one of a number of inquiries we will be making”.

What most people seem to be asking is why has this turmoil begun in the first place?

Firstly, you have to know which gang is connected to what parlour, especially considering the name of every second parlour ends with the word ‘ink’, thanks largely to the popular US reality series ‘Miami Ink’.

It is alleged that the bikie battle centred around the Eastern Suburbs is between the Comanchero and Notorious gangs, and stems from their desire for a cartel of tattoo parlours in the area. The Comanchero are said to have affiliations with Coogee Ink and reports from The Daily Telegraph allege that the Notorious gang can see the lucrative tattoo business flourishing for their enemies in Coogee, so what better way to get rid of the competition than a well placed Molotov cocktail?

With that said, Bondi Ink owner John Tadrosse told The Daily Telegraph reports linking his parlour to the Comanchero, Notorious and Coogee Ink are wrong.

“The name may be similar but that is where the similarity ends,” he said through his lawyer, Michael Ghobrial.

“Bondi Ink’s owners have no association with the Comanchero or Notorious.

“We have worked hard to move away from that image and have had a lot of high profile clients.”

If you see a gang member perhaps suggest, “Nothing like a bit of healthy competition eh boys?” Then again, if you enjoy eating with teeth rather than eating your teeth, maybe just stare at the ground, keep walking and hold your breath for a few seconds.

The bikies’ blatant disregard for the law is what is most frightening. They go by their own laws, with tit-for-tat type ethics, and no one really knows when this vicious cycle of violence is going to come to an end. If you take the Notorious motto – “Only the dead see the end of war” – as any indication, I think it’s going to be a while until this storm brewing over the east begins to clear.

Thankfully, bikie gangs aren’t out to make trouble for the majority of the general public, so unless you live above a tattoo parlour the biggest fear you should have is waking up in the morning with the initials of that backpacker you hooked up with last night tattooed on your shoulder.

Finally, to all the bikies out there reading this article I say, “Wow, is that a new haircut? You look great… Don’t kill me!”