Police launch statewide blitz on tow truck businesses with outlaw bikie links POLICE are raiding tow truck operators statewide in a bid to drive criminal outlaw gang members out of the industry. Taskforce Takeback officers will carry out compliance checks on tow truck operators after complaints of illegal car clamping to extorting exorbitant fines from helpless motorists and of bikies targeting legitimate operators. It began yesterday, with police targeting a Mermaid Beach tow truck business on the Gold Coast. Police raid a tow truck business in Northview St, at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast. Under the Tow Truck Act, operators are legally required to maintain detailed records and, after legal advice, police were able to access the company's financial records. The owners initially refused to hand over business records to police and called in lawyer Shane Alexander of the Criminal Law Group, for instructions. An employee, a 47-year-old man police said was a known associate of the Finks, tried to escape the search but was stopped in the street. He and his vehicle were searched and he was issued with a number of fines before he was ordered to remove his shirt as police photographed his tattoos for official records. Police ordered a Mermaid Beach tow truck employee to strip off his shirt so they could photograph his tattoos. Officers said the 47-year-old was a known associate of the Finks. Picture: Glenn Hampson Source: News Limited Police searched the office and vehicles including a number of Harley Davidson motorcycles during the raid. A second company, this one at Nerang, also was raided yesterday morning. Taskforce boss Superintendent Jim Keogh said every tow truck operation across the city would come under intense police scrutiny to uncover links to criminal gangs. "Criminal motorcycle gangs and gang members hold significant interest and influence in the tow truck industry," he said. REVEALED: The bikie business model Bikie dads breed new generation of bad boys There are legitimate operators who have been targeted and threatened by other operators. Each operation we visited today had very strong links with criminal motorcycle gangs. Supt Keogh said the records would be analysed by forensic accountants working with the Department of Transport and the Crime and Misconduct Commission. He confirmed police had received a number of complaints against shonky tow truck operations. There have been reports of vehicles being unlawfully towed and operators charging exorbitant amounts of money to free the vehicle. It has become a significant issue on the Gold Coast, with motorists believing the only way to get their vehicles back was to pay what they were asking. In some cases, it has been as much as $300 to $500. That's more than three times the going rate. Some operators also illegally towed vehicles parked on private property, placing the cars in holding yards until the fees were paid. Motorists have been forced to comply but, in a number of these cases, the towing of the vehicle was illegal. Police must be notified before a vehicle is towed. At a few hundred dollars for every car, you're looking at a fairly lucrative operation. Officers will use the code of conduct to crack down on aggressive operators. There are very strict conditions and police will ensure the operators meet their requirements.