Bandidos Motorcycle Club

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"Bandidos" redirects here. For the 1967 film, see Bandidos (film).
Bandidos Motorcycle Club
Bandidos Motorcycle Club logo.jpg
Motto We are the people your parents warned you about
Founded 1966
Location San Leon, Texas
Founder Donald Eugene Chambers
Type Outlaw motorcycle club
Region United States, Australia, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Russia, Kosovo, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine
Membership 2,400+
Website www.bandidosmc.com

The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Bandido Nation, is a "one-percenter" motorcycle club[1][2][3] and organized crime syndicate with a worldwide membership. The club was formed in 1966 by Don Chambers in Texas. Its motto is "We are the people our parents warned us about." It is estimated to have 2,400 members in 210 chapters, located in 22 countries. The club considers itself to be an outlaw motorcycle club.[citation needed] The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada have named the Bandidos an "outlaw motorcycle gang".[4]

History

The Bandidos were founded by 36-year-old dockworker Donald Chambers in March 1966 in Houston, Texas.[5] He named the club in honor of the Mexican bandits who lived by their own rules and he recruited members from biker bars locally in Houston as well as in Corpus Christi, Galveston, and San Antonio.[5] Like other outlaw motorcycle clubs (Outlaws, the Pagans, and the Hells Angels), they call themselves "One Percenters", a phrase coined by the former president of the American Motorcyclist Association who once stated that 99 percent of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens and 1 percent "outlaws."[5] By the early 1970s, the club had over one hundred members, including many Vietnam War veterans.[5] The majority of the club consists of Caucasian males but Hispanics are also admitted.[5] Their motto is "We are the people your parents warned you about."[5]

Organization

The Bandidos has over 90 chapters in the United States, 90 chapters in Europe, and another 17 in Australia, 2 in New Zealand and In Southeast Asia.[citation needed]

In North America

In the United States, the club is concentrated in Texas, but extends into Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and several other states.

In Canada, the Rock Machine Motorcycle club in Montréal merged with the Bandidos in 2000; there was a chapter in Toronto, Ontario until the Shedden massacre led to their deaths.[6][7]

In Oceania

The first Australian chapter was formed in 1983, in Sydney, by former members of the Comancheros.[8] They have chapters in Adelaide, Ballarat, Brisbane[9] (Bayside, Centro, City), Byron Bay, Cairns, Geelong, Gold Coast, Hunter Region, Ipswich, Melbourne, Mid North Coast, Mid State, Mission Beach, Noosa, North Victoria, Northside, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, and Toowoomba - along with nomad members.

They have a small but growing presence in New Zealand after a rocky start in 2012.[10][11] They claim to have more than a dozen patched members and prospects in the Christchurch.[12]

In Europe

The first European chapter opened in Marseille in France in 1989, followed by chapters in Scandinavia, in Denmark in 1993 and Sweden in 1994. In recent years the club has also expanded heavily into Germany, Spain, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Channel Islands. As of March 15, 2014, the club has opened a new "Probationary Chapter" in Sittard, in the Netherlands. Additionally, it is looking into setting up shop in Russia and Eastern Europe and also in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.[13][14] The Bandidos are organized by local chapters, with state and regional officers, as well as a national chapter made up of four regional vice presidents and a national president.

Support clubs

Like the Hells Angels,[15][16][17] The Bandidos also have a number of "support" clubs, who are used as proxies for both legal and illegal activities.[1][4][18][19] These groups usually wear reverse colors (gold border with red background rather than the Bandidos' red-border–and–gold background). They also commonly wear a unique patch (known as the "Heart Patch") consisting of a round patch in Bandidos colors on the front upper left of the colors (vest), as worn by the member. Most of these clubs are regional.[20][21]

Criminal involvement

United States

In November 2006, Glenn Merritt of the Bellingham, Washington chapter was sentenced to four years in prison for drug possession and trafficking in stolen property. A total of 32 members were indicted in the associated investigation, on charges including conspiracy, witness tampering, and various drug and gun violations. Eighteen of those pled guilty.[22] In October, 2006, George Wegers, then Bandidos' international president, pled guilty and received a two-year sentence for conspiracy to engage in racketeering.[citation needed]

On 16 August 2004, a passer-by on Interstate 10 flagged down a police car after finding Robert Quiroga, International Boxing Federation Super flyweight champion from 1990 to 1993, lying next to his car. Quiroga had been stabbed multiple times.[23] Richard Merla, a member of the Bandidos, was arrested in 2006 for the killing and in 2007 pled no contest to murdering Quiroga; he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.[24] "I don't regret it. I don't have no remorse. I don't feel sorry for him and his family. I don't and I mean that," Merla admits.[25] In regards to the murder of Robert Quiroga, the Bandidos Motorcycle Club denounced any involvement in the crime, stating that Merla's actions were his own, and not those of the Club. Merla was expelled from the Bandidos due to his actions.[25]

In March 2006 police in Austin, Texas announced that the Bandidos were the prime suspects in the March 18, 2006 slaying of a 44-year-old local motorcyclist named Anthony Benesh. Benesh, who had been trying to start an Austin chapter of the Hells Angels, was shot in the head by an unseen sniper, as he was leaving a North Austin restaurant with his girlfriend and two children. Police said that Benesh was flanked by other people and the shooter used only one bullet, fired at a distance from a high-powered rifle. The murder occurred on the same weekend as the annual Bandidos MC "Birthday Party" in Southeast Texas, marking the 40th anniversary of the club's 1966 founding. According to police, in the days before his murder, Benesh had been receiving telephone calls from Bandidos telling him to stop wearing a vest that displayed Hells Angels patches.[26][27][28]

On May 17, 2015, the Bandidos were involved in a gun battle at a restaurant parking lot in Waco, Texas that killed nine people and wounded 18. Among the dead were members of the Bandidos and the Cossacks.[29]

Scandinavia

A turf and drug war between the Hells Angels and the Bandidos, known as the "Great Nordic Biker War" raged from 1993 until 1997. It resulted in 11 murders, 74 attempted murders, and 96 wounded members of the involved biker clubs. In Denmark a law was passed in response to the biker war that banned biker clubs from owning or renting property for their club activities. The law was later repealed on constitutional grounds.[30]

On 14 January 2009, the Bandidos Sweden President, Mehdi Seyyed, was sentenced to nine years in prison for two counts of attempted murder. He bombed two cars in Gothenburg, in September 2006, with hand grenades, in acts of revenge as the victims had previously testified against him. Four other Bandidos members received shorter sentences for their involvement in the attacks.[31]

Australia

Soon after their formation, the Sydney chapter was involved in a shoot-out with the rival Comanchero Motorcycle Club, with six gang members and a 14-year old bystander being killed.[32]

There have been a number of other shootings involving Bandidos Motorcycle Club members: In 2002 a member was shot and wounded by Sean Waygood and Michael Christiansen of the Anthony "Rooster" Perish criminal gang network in Haymarket, New South Wales;[33] In 2008, Bandido member Ross Brand was shot dead, and an acquaintance injured by rival Rebels motorcycle gang affiliate John Russell Bedson;[34] and in 2012, Bandido member Jacques Teamo, along with an innocent female by-stander received multiple gunshot wounds from a rival gang member at the Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast.[35][36]

Numerous police raids have targeted Bandidos members, and implicated them in illegal drugs supply and other crimes.[37][38][39]

Canada

Hells Angels Quebec president Maurice Boucher organized "puppet clubs" to persuade local Montreal, Quebec club Rock Machine-controlled bars, and their resident drug dealers, to surrender their illegal drug business. Rock Machine resistance led to bloodshed. On July 14, 1994, two members of the Hells Angels' top puppet club entered a downtown motorcycle shop and shot down a Rock Machine associate. That was the beginning of the Quebec Biker war.[40]

That August, a Jeep wired with a remote-controlled bomb exploded killing a Rock Machine associate and an 11-year-old boy, Daniel Desrochers, who was playing in a nearby schoolyard. A month later, the first full Hells Angels member was shot to death entering his car at a shopping mall. Nine bombs went off around the province during his funeral.[40]

The war ended in 2006 with mass killings by the Hells Angels,[41] plus public outcry over the deaths of innocent bystanders[42] resulted in police pressure including the incarceration of over 100 bikers.[43]

This turf war prompted the over-matched Rock Machine to align itself with the Bandidos patching over as Bandidos Quebec chapter.[44][45] Not all members were happy about the patch-over. Some defected to other clubs while others remained with the club but hoped to restore their sovereignty.[46]

File:Kellestine2clean.jpg
Wayne Kellestine protests against the London Ontario's gay pride parade in 2005.

On April 8, 2006, four vehicles containing the bodies of eight murdered men were discovered in a farmer's field outside of the hamlet of Shedden, Ontario, Canada. Six of the men killed in what became known as the Shedden Massacre[47] were full members of the Bandidos Toronto branch, including the president of the organization in Canada; they were Luis Manny Raposo, John Muscedere, Jamie Flanz, George Jessome, George Kriarakis, Frank Salerno, Paul Sinopoli and Michael Trotta. The suspects in the case, Michael Sandham, Marcelo Aravena, Frank Mather, Brett Gardiner, Dwight Mushey and Wayne Kellestine, were also full members or probationary members (also known as "prospects"), in what police described as an internal cleansing of the Bandidos organization NSCC (No Surrender Crew Canada).[citation needed] The victims were brought to the farm of Kellestine, where they were held captive before being systematically led out of his barn and murdered "execution style."

On October 30, 2009 after eighteen hours of deliberation a jury in London, Ontario found the six suspects guilty on 44 counts of first degree murder and four counts of manslaughter.[48]

These murders closed the chapter on the Bandidos Canada "No Surrender Crew" and ended any hopes of Bandido dominance in the country. Many of the remaining Canadian Bandidos re-formed the Rock Machine Biker Gang in Canada early in 2008. The new club spread outside of its traditional home of Quebec and opened chapters in Australia and the United States.

Germany

File:Bandidos Bochum.jpg
Bandidos club house in Bochum, Germany

On June 11, 2008, two Bandidos members were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a Hells Angels member in Ibbenbüren, Germany. Reports say they drove to his Harley-Davidson shop and shot him there on May 23, 2007. After the first day of a related lawsuit on December 17, 2007, riots between the two gangs and the police had been reported.[49] On October 8, 2009, a Bandidos member was shot to death by a Hells Angels prospect in Duisburg.[50]

In February 2010, about 8 ethnic Turkish Bandido members and supporters in Berlin in an unprecedented move defected and joined the Hells Angels, forming a sub-chapter known as "Hells Angels Nomads Türkiye". This triggered a gang war in Berlin that lasted from February to April 2010.[51]

On 26 April 2012 the authorities of North Rhine-Westphalia banned and disbanded the Aachen chapter of the Bandidos M.C., and three support clubs. In the following action carried out by the North Rhine-Westphalia Police 38 properties were searched, in which firearms and stabbing weapons were found. The display of Bandidos Symbols and the wearing of Bandidos Regalia was also forbidden in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Northrhine-Westphalia government found its actions necessary because the Bandidos wanted to build up their criminal supremacy through racketeering and violence.[52][53]

The Netherlands

Since the Bandidos motorcycle club started in the Netherlands in 2014, it has been under continuous attention by the Dutch law enforcement. Particularly the chapter in the province of Limburg was under police investigation several times. Shortly after the start, there were two assaults with explosives on the house of a local president, Harrie Ramakers[54] and there were some confrontations with another motorcycle gang, the Hells Angels.[55] President Ramakers is furthermore suspect in several murder investigations.[56]

In May 2015, a large police raid at several homes of club members lead to the discovery of five rocket launchers, many automatic weapons, explosives and illegal fireworks.[57] The raid was part of an ongoing police investigation involving large-scale drug trafficking; twenty people were arrested and accused of synthesising and dealing of hard drugs, extortion and money laundering.[57]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Texas Monthly: "The Gang’s All Here" by Skip Hollansworth APRIL 2007
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ "Shoot on sight: Angry club cuts ex-Bandido 'idiot' Jacques Teamo loose ", JANUARY 15, 2014, ROBYN WUTH AND TANYA WESTTHORP, GOLD COAST BULLETIN
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ "Bad News travels fast - back to prison", 15/07/2012, stuff.co.nz
  12. ↑ "Christchurch gangs face police scrutiny", 15/12/2014, BLAIR ENSOR, stuff.co.nz
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ The gang's all here, Texas Monthly, April 1, 2007
  27. ↑ Detective determined to solve 'professional hit' killing, Austin American-Statesman, October 1, 2006
  28. ↑ Who shot Anthony Benesh?, Austin Chronicle, May 19, 2006
  29. ↑ Daily Mail: "The MANY mugshots of the 170 biker gang members arrested in Waco, Texas shootout that killed nine as judge orders each suspect held on $1million bond" By ASHLEY COLLMAN 18 May 2015
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ "1984: Seven killed in Sydney biker shootings", BBC
  33. ↑ Michael Duffy: Bad: The Inside Story of Australia's Biggest Murder Investigation: Crow's Nest: Allen and Unwin: 2012
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ "Bikie who shot...is jailed for 12 years", 3 November 2014, AP
  37. ↑ "Hunter drug raids: Hunter Bandidos boss Ronald Leggett among 10 arrested", Feb. 12, 2015, DAN PROUDMAN and GABRIEL WINGATE-PEARSE, Newcastle Herald
  38. ↑ "Taskforce Maxima smash drug syndicate with alleged links to Bandidos Criminal Motorcycle Gang", Mar 6 2015, Queensland Police
  39. ↑ "Police charge 28 Bandidos members following raids", 20th Nov 2012, Fraser Coast Chronicle
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ York University, Organized Crime in Canada
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten 12 February 2010. Berliner Morgenpost 6 April 2010.
  52. ↑ NRW verbietet Rockerbande in Aachen | WAZ.de
  53. ↑ Bandidos openen afdeling in Sittard | De Telegraaf, Nederland 2014-03-16
  54. ↑ Weer explosie bij huis Bandidos-lid NOS 22 March 2014
  55. ↑ Hells Angels weg uit Sittart NOS 19 March 2014
  56. ↑ Ramakers was verdachte in verschillende moordzaken NOS, 27 May 2015
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 Vijf raketwerpers gevonden bij actie tegen motorbendes NOS 27 May 2015

Books and newspaper articles

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  • Edwards, Peter (2010), The Bandido Massacre; A True Story of Bikers, Brotherhood and Betrayal, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, (ISBN 978-1-55468-044-3)
  • Coulthart, Ross and McNab, Duncan, Dead Man Running: An Insider's Story on One of the World's Most Feared Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, the Bandidos Allen & Unwin, 2008, (ISBN 1-74175-463-1)

External links

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