‘DRILLER KILLERS’ IN ALL-OUT STREET WAR
SPECIAL REPORT - KATE KYRIACOU - THOMAS CHAMBERLIN
Violent youth “drill” rap gangs are involved in a suburban turf war where they have
claimed credit for bashings, stabbings and at least one murder, with police saying they are as dangerous as bikie gangs.
But a
taskforce set up in 2022 to tackle the groups is no longer operational and
one gang has now been linked to
the shocking alleged murder of Redbank Plains grandmother Vyleen White.Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said she travelled to the UK(
that was a waste of time
) last year to learn more about drill gangs and how international law enforcement tackle them.
(learnt nothing & has done nothing)
Drill rap is a subgenre of hip hop where gangs write lyrics about violent crimes – often based on real events –and “diss” rival groups.
“We’re appalled and it’s concerning, but certainly from our perspective, we’re putting everything in to decrease (their activities),” Ms Carroll said.
“We had a taskforce that started dealing with some of these gangs but we’ve pushed that now back into ‘business as usual’ (policing) … they are monitored exactly like an organised motorcycle gang is. We put that much emphasis on it.”
Last week’s alleged murder of 70-year-old Ms White in the car park of Town Square Redbank Plains Shopping Centre, as her six-year-old granddaughter stood nearby, rocked the state and renewed calls for action on Queensland’s youth crime crisis.
A 16-year-old male has been charged with murder and four other teens have been charged with offences relating to the incident.
There is no suggestion the children charged in relation to Ms White’s death are involved in any criminal activity referred to in the rap videos.
A court heard
one of those five teens is connected to a drill gang known as Swish Bound Gorillas. The Swish Bound Gorillas, known also as Swish and SBG, are involved in a long-running turf war with rival group Southside Drillas.
Swish emerged in drill rap videos in Queensland about five years ago, with members predominantly based in
and around Ipswich.
Southside Drillas, also known as SSD,
surfaced online at a similar time.When gang tensions flared, police set up Taskforce Uniform Knot to tackle the groups.
Investigators focused on engaging with families and at the time said offending had reduced.
With new rap videos uploaded just months ago and with community tensions rising last week, officers from several districts and units who spoke to The Sunday Mail said a similar taskforce needed to be established.
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