Outlaw motorcycle gang members are lined up, face down on the ground in confronting pictures taken by elite police squad, Raptor South.
Raptor South seized tens of thousands of dollars in drugs and illicit cash from the streets, and took almost 20 prohibited weapons off the streets of southern NSW in the past two months.
Incredible images show members – some in gang colours with full arm tattoos – pulled from motorbikes, lined up like animals and restrained in handcuffs.
The images, which were released on Monday, mark the beginning of a police crackdown on growing gang-related violence in regional New South Wales.
Outlaw motorcycle gang members are lined up, face down on the ground in confronting pictures taken by elite police squad, Raptor South
Bikie gang members were pulled from their bikes and arrested in Illawarra, NSW’s south, in dramatic arrests made in past two months
Police hope the arrests will bring a halt to a turf wars between the Nomads and Finks, and a Brothers for Life gang chapter in New South Wales’ Illawarra region.
Since April, elite police squads have been on the ground in southern New South Wales to hone in on feuding bikie gangs.
In just two months, Raptor South arrested eight people, laid more than 40 charges and conducted almost 20 operations, Assistant Commissioner Barrie said.
The State Crime Command’s Criminal Groups Squad officially launched ‘Raptor South’ on Sunday, June 24 to have a full-time presence in the Illawarra region and stamp out growing criminal gang activity.
Elite police squad officers stand over bikie gang members as they lie face down on the ground during dramatic arrests in NSW this year
Police hope the arrests will bring a halt to a turf wars between the Nomads and Finks, and a Brothers for Life gang chapter in New South Wales Illawarra region
A member of the notorious Nomads gang is arrested in this photo released by the NSW Police on Monday
Elite Raptor South officers storm outlaw motorcycle gang headquarters
In just the first nine weeks of this year there were seven drive-by shootings and firebombings involving the gangs across the Hunter Valley, leaving locals terrified.
The Newcastle chapters of the Finks and Nomads have seen their numbers rise in the first few months of 2018, as the two groups battle for supremacy in the region.
Police sources told Daily Mail Australia they feared a bikie war could erupt, leading them to initiate a task force specifically to crack down on the local rival gangs before the violence turned deadly.
But while tensions momentarily calmed, they escalated again in recent months with a series of tit-for-tat attacks.
Daily Mail Australia is not alleging all members or associates of the Finks or Nomads are involved in the current spate of violence.
The Newcastle chapters of the Finks and Nomads have seen their numbers rise in the first few months of 2018, as the two groups battle for supremacy in the region
A member of the Nomads stands with a detective during raids throughout New South Wales south in the past two months
Escalating violence between rival bikie gangs around Newcastle, north of Sydney, has sparked fears of a turf war (Pictured are members of the Newcastle chapter of the Nomads)
There have been seven shootings and two bombings in the area since the start of this year with police believing the violence involves the Nomads and Finks (pictured) chapters in the region
Newcastle-based Finks member Jesse Johnston (pictured) was kicked out of Australia last year by border force officials. He is not alleged to be involved in the recent spate of violence
Blake Kevin Martin (pictured) was last year convicted of violently bashing a rival Finks member at a Newcastle pub. Daily Mail Australia is not alleging Martin is involved in recent incidents
Members of the Newcastle Finks chapter pose in their MC colours. The gang has reportedly undergone a major recruitment drive over the past year
Jesse Johnston (far right) is pictured wearing his club cut alongside fellow members before his deportation
The troubled has spanned across the Hunter Valley region, mainly in Newcastle and Maitland (pictured)
A Nomads clubhouse in Newcastle was the first target, when it was firebombed just four days into January 2018.
It was followed a week later by a drive-by shooting of a nearby home in Clarence St on January 15.
Two weeks later there was another brazen drive-by shooting of a house on Paradise Street at Kurri, on the outskirts of Newcastle.
On February 13, just over a month after the last shooting, the same Clarence St home was shot at again.
Tensions in the apparent feud escalated to seemingly new levels last week, with two shootings in less than 72 hours.
The first saw the home of jailed Finks president Andrew Russell Manners attacked in a drive-by shooting in the early hours of March 1. His partner and daughter who were home at the time escaped uninjured.
On March 4, a man was hit in the leg during a drive-by shooting on Deschamps Close near Maitland.
Since the start of 2018 there have been seven drive-by shootings and two bombings, leading police to warn a tit-for-tat war is on the verge of breaking out
Police have established Task Force Darnay in response to the violence and have shut down a number of bikie clubhouses across the region (pictured)
A raid on the Nomads clubhouse last weekend led to it being declared a restricted premises
Just 24 hours earlier Detective Superintendent Wayne Humphrey issued a warning to the two MCs to stop the violence.
‘This is a targeted attack between two groups who are undertaking this criminality,’ he told media last week.
‘They have a misguided code of silence and we’ve got to try and break that down.
‘I’m always going to be concerned someone innocent might be injured, or worse, and that’s why it’s essential that we… bring this type of behaviour to an end.
‘As a result of this ongoing dispute between these two gangs, Strikeforce Darnay has been commenced to investigate the outlaw gangs in the Greater Hunter area.’
Months after Jesse Johnston (pictured) was deported back to New Zealand, the Newcastle Finks chapter took another hit when president Andrew Russell Manners was jailed in February