Australian and New Zealand police arrested 20 people and laid 69 charges during a coordinated operation targeting the Lone Wolf Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. On Thursday, Taskforce Morpheus carried out a national day of action, conducting searches and firearms checks across both countries as authorities sought to disrupt what police described as the gang’s criminal control.
Police assess Lone Wolf as posing a “very high threat” in organised crime in Australia. They link that assessment to alleged involvement in illicit drug importation and trafficking, money laundering and violence. Police said the gang puts “profits ahead of public safety.”
A coordinated operation
Taskforce Morpheus conducted 18 search warrants and 10 firearms compliance checks across Australia and New Zealand. Officers seized cocaine, MDMA, illicit tobacco and vapes. All Australian state and territory police, along with Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, make up the task force.
This was cross-jurisdictional work, not action by a single police force. NSW Police Force Raptor Squad Commander, Detective Acting Superintendent Brad Abdy, said outlaw motorcycle gangs should expect officers to target them “wherever they operate.” He said, “By combining intelligence and resources across jurisdictions, we're making it increasingly difficult for organised crime groups to profit from their criminal activity.”
Police allegations and warnings
Queensland Detective Superintendent Troy Pukallus said Lone Wolf used violence, intimidation and organised offending for financial gain. “They have no regard for the impact their actions have on the safety and wellbeing of the community,” he said.
Police, Pukallus said, were sending a clear message: authorities remained committed to identifying, disrupting and dismantling organised crime networks, no matter how well-connected criminal gangs believed they were. The operation led to 20 arrests and 69 charges. The source doesn't provide further details about those arrested or the individual charges.
Australian Border Force Commander Graeme Campbell called illicit tobacco a significant source of revenue for organised crime groups. He said there were “proven links between OMCG's (Outlaw Motorcycle Gang's) and illicit tobacco retail premises across Australia,” and that profits funded other serious criminal activity.
Authorities, Campbell said, would keep targeting groups that “exploit legitimate businesses”, including tobacco shops, to “conceal and facilitate organised criminal activity”. His comments linked the tobacco trade to the wider police operation, which also seized illicit tobacco and vapes. The source doesn't specify the quantity of any seized substance or name the locations of the searches and checks.
The operation focused on organised crime and alleged criminal activity, including drug trafficking, money laundering, violence and illicit tobacco sales. Police representatives described the task force’s cross-jurisdictional approach as a way to disrupt criminal networks and limit their ability to profit. The source reports no demographic or cultural effects from the operation and cites no public or dissident responses to the police action.