Bikies have begun stockpiling an arsenal of high-powered military weapons in Victoria, police say, with the Hells Angels targeted in a revenge shooting attack.
One of the state's most senior officers says the escalating bitter feud between rival bikie gangs has him fearing police or an innocent bystander could be hurt in the next drive-by shooting.
"It is frightening," Acting Deputy Commissioner Stephen Fontana told Fairfax Radio on Tuesday.
"When it spills out into the public area, that's a real concern to us."
The Hells Angels set up a new Seaford clubhouse in the city's southeast earlier this year.
But it was sprayed with bullets on Monday night only hours after the Hells Angels were suspected of using either AK-47s or M1 carbines to shoot out two businesses owned by a rival Comanchero member.
The Nitro Gym in Hallam and a nearby tattoo parlour in Dandenong were peppered with bullets, but two explosive devices thrown inside the gym failed to detonate.
A 44-year-old man, believed to have connections with the Comanchero gang, was also shot on Sunday but survived with upper body injuries.
Mr Fontana said most of the machine guns recently amassed by bikies have been imported illegally, but some have been made locally by criminal associates who are now facing charges.
Thefts of firearms across the state are also on the rise with police linking such crimes to the brewing bikie battle.
"It is a national problem," Mr Fontana added.
In recent months, the Hells Angels have been linked to a drive-by shooting on the Rock Machine clubhouse in Clayton South, where 70 shots were fired, and another attack on the Bandidos clubhouse in Dandenong.
Police say the Bandidos and Rock Machine have formed an alliance.
Military-style weapons were used in both attacks.
The retaliatory attack on the Hells Angels on Monday night, however, involved weapons with far less fire power, police say.
Tensions between the Hells Angels and Bandidos escalated in March when Bandidos sergeant-at-arms Toby Mitchell was wounded in a targeted shooting.
Police have formed multiple anti-bikie taskforces and raided many clubhouses since then and the state will roll out new laws later this week to let police tear down fortified walls at bikie hangouts.
Police are already writing up the paperwork to make the applications in court.
