Editorial: With this gang, the devil's in the detail

OPINION: Nelson's tendency towards smugness in the face of the nation's problems took another dent at the weekend.

The police raid on the Red Devils' headquarters on the fringe of the central city and barely more than a stone's throw from the newest big retail development, Harvey Norman, is evidence that this so-called "junior franchise", "puppet" or "feeder" to the notorious Hells Angels has turned last year's toehold into a firm footing. That's bad news for Nelson and the region.

There is always a comical element to the posturing of "outlaw" gangs with their testosterone ooze, elaborate rituals and funny clothes. They lend themselves to parody, partly because, from the outside, they appear to be so totally devoid of humour themselves. In this case the amusement lies more in the fact that the gang has chosen the same name as the Marlborough rugby team and, further afield but far better known, the nickname of the Manchester United football team. But that's where the fun ends. Though the Red Devils have a silly name, they are to be taken seriously as a new wart on the region's rear and, like other warts, they should be promptly dealt with before their roots are deeply embedded.

It would be easy to take a laissez-faire approach. There are apparently only four or five patched members of the Red Devils in Nelson and they aren't even real Hells Angels. There's nothing wrong with belonging to clubs of like-minded people, or in motorcyclists getting together in groups. If there were, the popular Ulysses Club whose black-clad, grey-haired motorbike-riding members can be seen gathered in the city on Saturday mornings would have to be similarly ruled out. It's not the clubhouse, the black leathers, the motorbikes or even the patches that are the problem. Organised crime is the issue and Nelson does not want any more of it.

The city's own old-established gang, the Lost Breed, is no collection of angels either. It is, however, homegrown, associated with some others around the country but not a part of them, and its habits and membership are comparatively well-known. It hates to be called a gang, preferring the monicker of "club", and last year it proclaimed its opposition to the sale and use of methamphetamine. As gangs go, it is at the more tolerable end of the scale and over the years it has cultivated the suggestion that it keeps interlopers out. The fact that it hasn't managed to exclude the Red Devils is in itself a concern, showing that the currents have changed and perhaps that there are new alliances at work.

Nelson doesn't need a new gang and nor does it need a turf war between rival gang members. Such contests inevitably cause more than just suffering to the gangs. Most especially, police are deserving of the fullest support from community leaders, businesses, and members of the public to prevent the Red Devils' foothold becoming a Hells Angels stronghold. That gang fronts an international organised crime network. It's more about dirty business than brotherhood. That the Red Devils have not only created a typical walled "clubhouse" but also were able to attract a large group of apparently paying customers there after Saturday night's cage fighting event should wave red flags, warning of trouble ahead.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Rodgerf   #4   01:37 pm Sep 02 2010

Kerry #3.All I see is the EDITOR has perused it before print,which doesn't mean he wrote it---use your brain Kerry---my old man used to be an Editor for a Queensland newspaper and sometime writer for the Auckland star.I've counted 10 people this month alone ask why no name is applied and then there's people like you who can't see the obviousness of such a question.If you can't even understand why I ask then god help us that try and find the true source of the propaganda. Are we being fed lines by people with their own agendas?

Kerry   #3   08:18 am Sep 01 2010

Rodgerf, you pop up on almost every Nelson editorial with the same old moaning about journalists not putting their name to their comments. Its getting boring mate. Newspaper editorials hardly ever have a byline, mainly because the clues in the name! Use your brain, which member of newspaper staff do you think is responsible for the EDITORial?

Frank   #2   04:08 pm Aug 31 2010

It sounds to me like this piece has come straight from Mcgurk , once he grabs that front page of the Nelson mail he hangs on to the limelight as long as he can. And these days when you here about perjury, drug dealing, rape etc to name a few it can just as easily be the police there talking about going by the headelines in the last few years.

Rodgerf   #1   02:21 pm Aug 31 2010

"Nelsons tendancy towards smugness" What a gutless thing to say about Nelsonians as if we invited them here---I can see why you haven't put your name to this hate piece--The smugness of this reporter is only exceeded by his or her lack of gumption--Crawl back under your rock.Without giving your name you're just a nobody.

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