Posted on 12/04/2003 7:57:17 AM PST by Holly_P
Officials raided Hells Angels' clubhouses across the West on Wednesday and arrested dozens of people - including a Tucson man - as part of a continuing two-year investigation of possible drug and firearm violations.
Officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives fanned out across Arizona, Alaska, California, Nevada and Washington in pre-dawn raids that mirrored those ATF conducted in July. Targeting specific people and clubhouses, officials altogether arrested 55 members and associates of the motorcycle club.
Agency leaders were tight-lipped on exact details of the operation, refusing to say how many locations were raided.
They also declined to be specific about the exact charges against those arrested except to say they involved narcotics trafficking, firearms violations and possessing stolen explosives.
They said the operation stemmed from information obtained through infiltrating the international club and details gathered in the July sweep, which netted six local arrests.
On Tuesday, seven people were arrested in Arizona, including Robert "Mac" Mc-Kay, 48, a leader of the local chapter of the club and owner of Black Rose Tattoo, 47 S. Sixth Ave.
ATF officials said McKay was arrested behind the tattoo parlor without incident at 8:22 a.m., about an hour and a half after the sweeps began here.
The other men were arrested in Bullhead City, Chandler, Chino Valley, Kingman and Mesa and include Robert Johnston, whom Tom Mangan, a Phoenix ATF spokesman, identified as the president of the Mesa chapter of the Hells Angels. He wouldn't say exactly what positions the other men hold, except to say they are members of the club or hold executive positions.
All seven were in federal custody in Phoenix, Mangan said.
"We think this will have a significant impact on the leadership of the Hells Angels within the state of Arizona," he said. "It sends a message that any type of criminal activity by this gang will not be tolerated."
Some 150 officers were involved in Tuesday's Arizona operations, including the Tucson Police Department SWAT unit. In addition to the Arizona locations, authorities served arrest and search warrants in Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle and various cities in Alaska.
Officials said officers seized approximately 50 firearms, what is believed to be a silencer and about a quarter-pound of what was believed to be methamphetamine.
The July raids targeted 40 locations, among them, all the Hells Angels clubhouses in Arizona, including the local chapter's, at 2414 N. Fontana Ave, near North Stone Avenue and East Grant Road. Arizona authorities arrested 30 people in those raids, including leaders of the local Hells Angels club and its "official support group," the Red Devils. Statewide, the arrests resulted in the seizure of 560 firearms, ammunition, narcotics and about $50,000 cash.
Officials said then that the raids stemmed from allegations of murder-for-hire plots, gun sales and other crimes and that ATF began investigating when an agent infiltrated a motorcycle gang in Tijuana, the Solo Angeles. The agent then made contacts with Hells Angels and was allowed to join them, eventually bringing in another ATF agent and a Phoenix police officer.
Sig Celaya of ATF's Tucson office said Wednesday that more arrests are expected here as the investigation continues.
* Contact reporter L. Anne Newell at 629-9412 or at lnewell@azstarnet.com.
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Such a story gets me curious. Did they somehow skip the storied initiation which would require commission of non-drug related criminal acts such as stealing, robbery, or assault and battery? As much as one might cheer a gang of thugs getting busted up, exactly what has our gummint done for the relief of those against whom such stealing, robbery, or injury was perpetrated in the name of such inflitration? Are such victims permitted to sue the government for redress?
I'd disagree with that. They control most of the methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution over large parts of the country and don't hesitate to do whatever they think is "necessary" to accomplish their goals. They're also suspected of being heavily into distribution of heroin and other very bad stuff. They've merely gone more "corporate" in contrast with their more flamboyant days when Hunter S. Thompson was acting as their PR flack.
A few keystrokes in the right databases (and a good load of B.S.)and I can turn you into the anti-christ.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7409626.htm
"According to the indictment, the alleged racketeering involved conspiracy to commit murder, murder, conspiracy to collect credit through extortion, interference with commerce through threats of violence, and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana. Gang members allegedly sought to achieve their goals by assaulting the Mongols and other rival gangs. But none of the 11 counts in the indictment directly accuses anyone of murder. The charges are nine counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of threatening a violent crime and one count of using a firearm."
I lived right around the corner from there. Where is that building behind them ?
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