African youths have joined forces behind bars with a renowned prison posse to form a feared ‘super gang’.
Teenagers from emerging African street gang Menace to Society (MTS) are set to be influenced by the hardened criminals of Prisoners of War (POW) inside Victoria’s Barwon and Port Phillip prisons.
The collaboration has sparked major concerns among senior prison officials about what will happen when MTS members are released, Herald Sun reported.
‘Younger African members will become indoctrinated in the hardcore methods of the POWs,’ a prison insider told the publication.
Teenagers from emerging African street gang Menace to Society have created a feared partnership with hardened criminals from Prisoners of War inside Victorian prisons. Pictured: MTS tags inside Ecoville Community Park in Tarneit
The collaboration has sparked major concerns among senior prison officials about what will happen when MTS members are released. Pictured: MTS tags inside Ecoville Community Park in Tarneit
An insider said MTS now have ‘structure and goals’ under the tutelage of members from POW, which is led by notorious murderer Matthew Johnson (pictured)
‘The worry now is that members will stay connected when they are released. You’ve got a worrying mix of frontline soldiers and criminal tacticians here.’
The insider said MTS now have ‘structure and goals’ under the tutelage of members from POW, which is led by notorious murderer Matthew Johnson.
Johnson has been holding the reigns to the gang from inside Barwon – where he bludgeoned underbelly figure Carl Williams to death with a metal bar from an exercise bike in 2011.
A report by a Victorian Ombudsman the following year revealed POW members were ‘responsible for a series of violent assaults on prisoners’, including an assault on an inmate who was allegedly acting as a police informant.
The group’s creed – allegedly authored by Johnson and leaked to Facebook – says POW members fight a ‘war’ inside the prison where they ‘bash, stab and slash’.
Now discussions are taking place about implementing additional security measures to restrict POW’s influence on MTS members.
Johnson has been holding the reigns to the gang from inside Barwon Prison (pictured)
Johnson (pictured) bludgeoned underbelly figure Carl Williams to death with a metal bar from an exercise bike in 2011
The group’s creed (pictured) – allegedly authored by Johnson and leaked to Facebook – says POW members fight a ‘war’ inside the prison where they ‘bash, stab and slash’
Although, one official said it may already be too late, according to the Herald Sun.
‘A member of the new gang, from the MTS, was walking around Barwon telling officers “You’re wasting your time” and “There’s nothing you can do to stop us”,’ the official said.
MTS first gained notoriety in December after they trashed the Ecoville Community Park in Tarneit by smashing windows, furniture and walls and spray painting their signature tag across the property.
Regular patrols were set up in Tarneit while a mobile police station was created by Victoria Police in an attempt to curb the crime rates.
An AirBnB house in Werribee, in Melbourne’s west, was also trashed and tagged with ‘MTS’.