EXCLUSIVE: 'It's get rich or get robbed. You don't want to be left behind': Founding member of Apex gang terrorising Melbourne reveals for the first time why hundreds of African youths set out to 'f*** things up'
By Belinda Cleary In Dandenong For Daily Mail Australia
- Founding member of Melbourne's Apex gang sheds light on the group that has been linked to the Moomba riots
- A Daily Mail Australia investigation reveals what it is really like being part of the violent group terrorising the city
- John*, 21, said the notorious gang was 'get rich or get robbed' and 'you don't want to be the one left behind'
- But he said the gang of 400 to 500 'go out together for thrills' but did not go out with the intention of hurting anyone
- John also speaks about their turn to serious crime, which started last year, and saw a victim hand over $25,000
Published: 00:41 EST, 23 July 2016 | Updated: 13:06 EST, 23 July 2016
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A founding member of Melbourne's notorious Apex gang has opened up on the African group's spiral into serious crime - from taking cars for cheap thrills to seeing a victim cough up $25,000 to save himself from being 'rolled' by members.
John*, 21, spoke exclusively to Daily Mail Australia and said the gang was about 'standing up, and making a name for themselves'.
'It is get rich or get robbed, you don't want to be the one left behind,' he said.
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A founding member of Melbourne's notorious Apex gang has opened up about the African group's spiral into serious crime
John said the gang met up frequently as a way to escape their boring lives.
'We go out together for thrills - it's our chance not to give a f***,' he said.
'We don't go out with the intention of hurting people but it can happen.'
The gang started in 2013 in Hamilton Park in Melbourne's south-east - not on Apex Street like the name suggests - but they chose the name for its easy pronunciation as the founding members learned English as a second language.
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'We just like the name "Apex", it has nothing to do with the street in Dandenong like everyone says,' John said.
'There are a lot of streets called that on Melbourne. We thought it was catchy and it was easy to say so we started using it.'
The gang 'just wanted to go partying and f*** things up', John, who arrived in Australia from Sudan in 2002, told Daily Mail Australia.
'But then last year it escalated and when we would see people walk down the street we would just take their bags,' he said.
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John*, 21, spoke exclusively to Daily Mail Australia and said the gang was about 'standing up, and making a name for themselves'
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The gang started in 2013 in Hamilton Park in Melbourne's south-east - not on Apex Street like the name suggests
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John said the gang - which has between 400 and 500 members - met up frequently as a way to escape their boring lives
It was shortly after that some people within the group decided they could make money from crime - and serious offences became more and more common.
Gang members started heading to wealthier areas away from Dandenong and the south-east to pick up flashy cars and cash.
WHO ARE THE APEX GANG?
'You see some people with bundles of cash and just say "f*** it - go for it" and they give you stuff,' John said.
- The group originated in, Dandenong, about 30 kilometres south-west of Melbourne
- The members are primarily from a Sudanese refugee background
- The gang have been involved in a string of carjackings and home invasions in the Melbourne area
- They are responsible for the Moomba riots in March
- Thirteen teenagers were arrested this week relating to a series of crimes
- They were aged between 13 and 17
- The parents of members are so worried they are sending them back to Africa
'The biggest handover I have seen personally was $25,000.'
And there is a 'right' and 'wrong' way to take cars according to John.
But it has nothing to do with the violence.
'Some people take cars just for the thrill and burn them but that is a waste and is the wrong way,' John told Daily Mail Australia.
'The people that do it right take the cars – for the thrill – but then they make money by chopping it up and selling it.'
John said he had no criminal record and he had learnt to 'be smart and how to carry himself'.
John admits 12-year-old boys are among those who go with them.
'They just want to earn their stripes and get a name for themselves,' he said.
'One part of me doesn't approve of that because getting a criminal record is stupid but we do let them ride with us.'
John blames the parents of the young boys who join the group and soon replace them as family.
'Our parents aren't looking after us so what the f*** are we supposed to do,' he said.
'Joining is a coping mechanism and because of the lack of support we get in our community.
'A lot of our dads have gone back to Africa and our mums don't care.
'If our dads lived here and we got back at five o'clock in the morning they would knock us around but our mums can't do that.'
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Gang members started heading to wealthier areas away from Dandenong and the south-east to pick up flashy cars and cash. Above is a member pictured in the suburb
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John said since the Moomba riots in March the group had become very well-known and now has between 400 and 500 affiliates
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He said since the Moomba riots in March the group had become very well-known and now has between 400 and 500 affiliates.
'There are people who are with Apex spread all over town – people get in touch and want to join and it just spreads,' John told Daily Mail Australia.
TIMELINE OF APEX EVENTS
Early 2013 - Apex gang is formed in Melbourne's Hamilton Park
November 2015 - Spate of carjackings happened across Melbourne. Mother-of-two Amanda Matheson died after she was hit by car driven by a suspected Apex member
March 2016 - Riot breaks out in central Melbourne at the Moomba Festival and is linked to Apex gang
May 2016 - Police start up 'Operation Cosmas' to combat the violent carjackings and robberies
July 2016 - Group of thugs threatened to kill a 12-year-old girl during a carjacking of a luxury BMW X5
He said while the Apex crew in the south-east started with Sudanese members the wider group now has people of all different origins - except 'Aussies'.
'There Sudanese, Islanders, Afghan, Asian and some white guys too,' he said.
John works full-time but when his friends say 'let's kick it' he 'goes with the flow'.
'We have drinks and take pills to lose ourselves, so we don't give a f***,' he said
'Then someone will come up with an idea for a thrill and we will go do it.'
John said he was bullied at school by 'Aussies' until he made his own 'ethnic' friends.
'I am not afraid of anyone anymore - at school you can't get up and fight back and teachers do nothing but people don't run at me anymore,' he said.
John said new people were accepted in the community if they approached the boys and asked.
'We look at the person and decide if they're one of us and then we let them come along,' he said.
He is also upset that other gangs in the area use Apex as a 'scapegoat' and try to blame them because they are 'coloured'.
'They go around hurting people and give us a bad name,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'We don't tag things with APEX it isn't our tag - that's how you know it is a fake using our name.
'The majority of these things are probably done by people who are coloured - when whites do the same thing they don't care.
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He said while the Apex crew in the south-east started with Sudanese members the wider group now has people of all different origins - except 'Aussies'
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John said new people were accepted in the community if they approached the boys and asked
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John blames the parents of the young boys who join the group and soon replace them as family
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This is Apex Street in Dandenong, which many think is where the gang's namesake comes from but they were actually formed at Hamilton Park
'Gangs use our name 'cause they can't make there own because they just get over run.'
While he would not comment on any specific incidents which had occurred recently, he said not all Apex people are bad - and 'they won't bash you if you say hello'.
'Not in our group here in south-east anyway - we aren't all that bad,' John said.
'When we are with other people it's "do this, do that" and we get sick of it. Here we are with family.'
He feels bad that people are afraid of all Africans because of the gang but showed no signs of cutting ties in lieu of recent events.
*John is not his real name
Exclusive - Apex Gang (Melbourne)
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