Black Uhlans MC (Motorcycle Club)
Black Uhlans MC are a one percenter motorcycle club founded in Australia in the 1970s.
Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club History
The Black Uhlans MC were allegedly founded in the 1970s by 10 former members of the Fourth Reich MC, who left that club and fled to Queensland after they had been connected to a rape, although no charges were ever laid, according to Arthur Veno in his book Brotherhoods (link opens in a new tab).
Overall information about the club is very scarce. If you have any further information about their year and place of founding then please contact us via our Facebook page.
The outlaw motorcycle club’s chapter based in Peakhurst, New South Wales has been active since around 1984.
John Higgs founded the Melbourne chapter. He was later convicted for his involvement in one of the biggest drug trafficking operations in Australian history.
Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club Patch / Motto / Colors
The patch used by the Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club has a bird perched on crossed pistons.
The colors used by the club are gold, black and red.
The Black Uhlans use the acronym, B.U.F.F.B.U, which stands for Black Uhlans Forever, Forever Black Uhlans. This format of acronym is extremely common amongst outlaw motorcycle clubs.
Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club Chapters
The Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club have chapters spread throughout Australia. They are not known to have any chapters based internationally.
Some of their known chapters are as follows:
- Black Uhlans Albury chapter (New South Wales / Victorian border)
- Black Uhlans Devonport chapter (Tasmania)
- Black Uhlans Gladstone chapter (Queensland)
- Black Uhlans Geelong chapter (Victoria)
- Black Uhlans Gold Coast chapter (locations have included Reedy Creek / Currumbin / Burleigh Heads, Queensland)
- Black Uhlans Melbourne chapter (Coburg, Victoria)
- Black Uhlans Smithton chapter (Tasmania)
- Black Uhlans Sydney chapter (Peakhurst, New South Wales)
Famous Black Uhlans MC Members
John Higgs – Founder of the Black Uhlans Melbourne chapter and major drug trafficker
Born on 29 November, 1946 he left school after grade 7 and married at age 17. In 1970 he was sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter.
He had two children with his first wife. His second son died of AIDS in 1996 and his oldest son was murdered in 1999.
In 1994 he was charged in connection to 7 tonnes of chemicals used to make illegal drugs. In 2007 he was connected to the world’s largest ecstasy bust, totalling 4.4 tonnes. He was sentenced to 18 years jail (see the Crime / In The Media section below for more information).
Black Uhlans MC Crime / In The Media
1992 – Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read is sentenced to 8 years in prison for the attempted murder of former Black Uhlans President Sydney Collins. In 2002 Sydney Collins would later go missing on a trip between his home on the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales. His 2001 Ford XR8 ute was found near the town of Tabulam, but his body is never located. In an interview in 2002 Chopper Read (who died in 2013) alleged that he murdered Sydney Michael Collins and buried his body near a football field.
1994 – Black Uhlans Melbourne chapter Founder John Higgs is arrested for procuring over seven tonnes of chemicals capable of making 226kg of illegal drugs worth more than $400 million. In 1999 he is sentenced to 6 years jail, with a minimum sentence of 4 years.
1996 – Three factory units owned by Black Uhlans member Jack Andrew Wilson are seized and transferred to the Public Trustee under the Criminal Assets Recovery Act after he is jailed for manufacturing commercial quantities of amphetamines. The units, located in the suburb of Peakhurst, Sydney, were used by the Black Uhlans for club activities and they stated that the $400,000 paid in 1991 by Jack Wilson was using club funds. In 2002 the club takes the case to the Equity Division of the NSW Supreme Court to fight for the ownership of the properties to be transferred back to the club.
2006 – 2 December, 2006. Police perform raids on the Black Uhlans clubhouse in Gladstone, along with the homes of multiple members. Sergeant-at-Arms Stephen Lee, 33, was charged with one count of enter and commit, extortion, major possession of amphetamine, possession of LSD, possession of a gaming machine and possession of property suspected of being proceeds of crime. Black Uhlans Gladstone Chapter President Derek Lyons and member Anthony Laing are charged with enter and commit and extortion. The extortion charges were the result of the trio allegedly entered a tattoo parlour where they demanded property.
2007 – July, 2007. Black Uhlans Melbourne chapter Founder John Higgs is connected to the world’s largest ecstasy seizure. 15,193,798 ecstasy pills weighing 4.423 tonnes were found packed into tomato tins by police as part of a major operation by the Australian Federal Police. He is later found guilty of conspiracy to import the 4.4 tonnes of ecstasy into Melbourne and sentenced to 18 years in jail, with a minimum sentence of 14 years.
2008 – 18 January, 2008. Black Uhlans associate Scott Hurley is charged with four counts of trafficking, four counts of possessing a drug of dependence and one count each of handling stolen goods, cultivating a drug of dependence and possessing proceeds of crime. He is found to be an employee of the Victoria Police Vehicle Examination Unit in Macleod.
2012 – In 2012 legislation was passed in Australia to ban entry to anyone showing patches, jewellery or any other items representing the following outlaw motorcycle clubs:
- Bandidos MC
- Black Uhlans MC
- Coffin Cheaters MC
- Comanchero MC
- Finks MC
- Fourth Reich MC
- Gladiators MC
- Gypsy Jokers MC
- Hells Angels MC
- Highway 61 MC
- Life and Death MC
- Lone Wolf MC
- Mobshitters MC
- Mongols MC
- Muslim Brotherhood Movement MC
- Nomads MC
- Notorious MC
- Odins Warriors MC
- Outcasts MC
- Phoenix MC
- Rebels MC
- Scorpions MC
2013 – 21 May, 2013. A member of the Black Uhlans attacks a beach Lifeguard on North Burleigh Beach, Gold Coast, Queensland. The Lifeguard, Phil Gregory, suffers a cut above his left eye and other facial injuries. It is alleged that the incident occurred after the Lifeguard asked the bikers girlfriend to not walk her dog through a designated swimming area.
2013 – August, 2013. Black Uhlans member Cameron Templeton takes a man to the Burleigh Heads, Queensland clubhouse, where he demands $10,000 cash and threatens the man, advising “You’ll f***ing pay, you know what clubs are capable of if you don’t pay. You know what happens to narks” and “you know how serious we are and what we can do”. The man pays in two payments of $5,000 and also pays a later demand for a further $10,000. In June 2015 Cameron Templeton is sentenced to one year in jail.
2014 – 10 July, 2014. Police officers from Task Force Maxima perform a raid on a property associated with a member of the Black Uhlans in Southport, Gold Coast, located in Queensland. In the raid police seized a motorcycle, an air compressor and a vehicle trailer, items which were alleged stolen property. The man was charged with theft, wilful damage, possession of explosives and possession of a drug utensil.
2015 – 16 June, 2015. Police Task Force Maxima perform raids on 30 properties, including 10 on the Gold Coast, Queensland and 20 in Mackay, Queensland targeting the trafficking of drugs by the Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club and the Rebels Motorcycle Club. Police seized a quantity of methylamphetamine, MDMA pills, cannabis and synthetic cannabis during the raids. A 56 year old man from the Gold Coast, believed to be a local chapter President of the Black Uhlans is one of those arrested on the charge of trafficking of dangerous drugs. In the Mackay raids a 53 year old man, who had been in the Rebels MC for 20 years, along with 42 year old woman were also charged with the trafficking of dangerous drugs.
2016 – 6 May, 2016. Police raid the Black Uhlans Albury chapter clubhouse as part of a joint operation between Albury Local Area Command, the Gangs Squad’s Strike Force Raptor and assisted by Police Rescue, the Dog Unit and Traffic and Highway Patrol Command. The purpose of this particular operation was to attempt to permanently shut down clubhouse operations. Twenty members of the club were present at the time of the raid and only very small amounts of narcotics including ice and cannabis were found in the search, resulting in field court notices being written for the narcotics along with field notices for liquor offences, as the clubhouse is not a licensed premise. Police seized more than 550 containers of alcohol along with ledgers, associated documents, cash and dozens of items brandishing the “Black Uhlans” name including signage from the front clubhouse gates. Defect notices were also written for vehicles as they were leaving the clubhouse.
In late 2016 the Black Uhlans lodged a development application to council to have the clubhouse deemed a “Function Centre”, with a listed cost of $38,500 to perform the work. This would then allow the club to use the premises for hosting various motorcycle club events. Local police formally objected to the development application, with that statement that “Information available to NSW Police Force suggests that the premises are being used to plan and conduct an organised criminal enterprise.” and “By approving the subject application and permitting the use sought, the council may be assisting in enabling the gang to engage in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity through the Albury local government area.”
2016 – 20 May, 2016. More than 300 people were attending the funeral of Black Uhlans associate James Henzell, who had taken his own life, at the Boyne Tannum Memorial Parklands, located near Gladstone in Queensland. Approximately 30 police officers, made up of officers from Gladstone Police and Taskforce Maxima, set up road blocks where they perform road-side drug testing, including stopping the car in which the widow was riding, other police watch over the funeral service. 6 people are arrested for failed drug tests. No members were charged under the Queensland anti-bikie VLAD (Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment) laws.
Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club Enemies and Allies
Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club enemies:
- To be confirmed.
Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club allies:
- To be confirmed.
Black Uhlans MC Books / Movies / TV
There are no books that we are aware of that are specifically written about the Black Uhlans Motorcycle Club. However the following books do make a mention of the club:
Book – The Brotherhoods: Inside The Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs by Arthur Veno. This book takes a look at all of the outlaw motorcycle clubs in Australia. View this book on Amazon (link opens in a new tab).
YouTube clip of burnouts at a Black Uhlans poker run:
Read More:
- List of One Percenters Motorcycle Clubs
- Outlaw Motorcycle Club Books
- Outlaw Motorcycle Club Court Records
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