Man born in Manikata cave banned from Australia for life after spending 40 years turning motor-cycle club into national and international crime network

The Australian government this week won its bid to ban Alex Vella, 61, a Maltese citizen who is boss of Australia’s biggest biker gang, from Australian territory for life.

Vella has been in Malta since last year, when he came for a visit but was barred from re-entering Australia. He challenged the Australia government in court, and the final judgement was given earlier this week, when three judges of the Australian Federal Court ruled that Vella be barred from returning to Australia, and that he should now pay all costs of mounting the challenge.

Vella was born in to a family of troglodytes (cave-dwellers) in Manikata in 1953. This detail has not been reported in the press but I know it because I live in the same part of the island and there are people who remember the family. Cave-dwelling was not unusual in the area even as late as the 1950s and 1960s.

He never went to school and at the age of 5 was working on building sites, carrying buckets of water for labourers. In 1967, when he was 14, his parents emigrated to Australia with their many children, including Alex (registered name: Alessio Emanuel), then aged 14. His parents became Australia citizens, as did each of his siblings as they turned 18, but he never did.

The reasons why are not clear. We do not know whether he applied for citizenship and was rejected or whether he did not apply at all. Yet he has lived permanently in Australia since 1967 on a residence permit.

In 1973, at the age of 20, Vella became national president of the Rebels Motor-Cycle (MC) Club, a post he has held ever since. Under his stewardship, the biker gang grew into a network that spread right across Australia and gradually into territory outside the country. The Rebels MC has now has international chapters in 20 countries besides Australia: Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, England, Fiji, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Lebanon, Malta, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the USA.

The Australian government contends that the network was used for purposes of crime, and documents presented in the Federal Court show that the biker gang network was involved in drug-dealing, money-laundering, serious assaults, kidnapping, extortion, firearms offences, threatening law enforcement officers and intimidating court witnesses.

Alex Vella has no family in Malta but since the 1970s he has visited Malta every year, opening himself up to queries as to why he does so. His mother, siblings, wife, sons and stepsons are all in Australia.

He last left Australia on 9 June last year, and came to Malta. Three days later, Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection cancelled his visa/residence permit.

Vella challenged this in court, but the Attero Task Force fought back, determined not to allow him back into Australia. The Attero Task Force is made up of representatives of all of Australia’s state and territory police forces, and of the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Federal Police, Customs and Border Protection Service, the Australian Tax Office, Securities and Investments Commission and Australia’s Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.

Transcripts of testimony by the Attero Task Force include the following:

The Rebels MC presents a high threat to the Australian community. This OMCG has demonstrated an ability to increase its geographical influence, diversify across illicit drug markets and launder illicit profits.

Alessio Emanuel Vella has been the National President of the Rebels MC since 1973. During this 40 years he has overseen the expansion of the OMCG from three original chapters to the largest OMCG in Australia. He has and continues to exert significant influence over the Rebels MC in Australia.

Mr Vella acknowledges he is the National President of the Rebels MC. He also acknowledges he is aware that several members of the Rebels MC have been involved in criminal activities.

The fact that Rebels MC members remain members despite criminal convictions including convictions obtained whilst members of the OMCG contradicts Mr Vella’s assertions the Rebels MC does not condone criminal activity by its members, and allow them to remain members.

The Rebels MC have remained cohesive and disciplined through Mr Vella’s strong leadership.