Mongols
Motorcycle Club
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Mongols Motorcycle Club
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Founded
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1969
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Location
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Key people
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Type
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Outlaw motorcycle club
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Region
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USA, Europe, Mexico, Israel, Australia
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Membership
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500 to 600
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Website
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The Mongols Motorcycle Club, sometimes called the Mongol Nation or Mongol Brotherhood, is a "one-percenter" motorcycle gang and alleged organized crime syndicate. The club is headquartered in southern California and was originally formed in Montebello, California, in late 1960s.[3] Law enforcement officials estimate there are
approximately 500 to 600 full patched members. The Mongols' main presence is in southern California, with charters in 14 states, as well as international charters in
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Israel, Australia, and Mexico.[4][5][6]
Criminal activities
The
Mongols members have had long-running confrontations with law enforcement in
such areas as drug dealing (especially methamphetamine), money laundering,
robbery, extortion, firearms violations, murder, and assault, among other
crimes.[7][8][9][10][11]
Incidents
In
1998, ATF agent William Queen infiltrated the club, eventually becoming a
full-patch member and rising to the rank of treasurer using the undercover
alias of Billy St. John. In April 2000, based on evidence gathered during
Queen's 28-month undercover time with the club, 54 Mongols were arrested. All
but one of the accused were later convicted of various crimes including drug
trafficking, motorcycle theft, and conspiracy to commit murder.[12]
In
2002, members of the Mongols and the Hells Angels had a confrontation in Laughlin, Nevada, at the Harrah's Laughlin Casino, that left three bikers dead.[13] Mongol Anthony 'Bronson' Barrera, 43, was
stabbed to death; and two Hells Angels — Jeramie Bell, 27, and Robert Tumelty,
50, — were shot to death. On February 23, 2007, Hells Angels members James
Hannigan and Rodney Cox were sentenced to two years in prison for their
respective roles in the incident. Cox and Hannigan were captured on videotape
confronting Mongols inside the casino. A Hells Angels member can be clearly
seen on the casino security videotape performing a front kick on a Mongol which in turn
started the ensuing melee.
Mongols
member Christopher Ablett turned himself in to authorities in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on October 4, 2008 after going on the run for murdering Hells
Angels President Mark "Papa" Guardado in San Francisco, California earlier that year. The San Francisco Police Department had issued a $5 million arrest warrant for him.[14] He was convicted of murder in aid of
racketeering and three gun charges on February 23, 2012, in San Francisco. [15]
On
December 20, 2008, in Las Vegas, Mongols members arrived at "A Special
Memories Wedding Chapel" for a fellow member's wedding, to find a local
Hells Angels charter were just finishing up their own ceremony. It is reported
by KTNV Channel 13 news, that the Hells Angels attacked the Mongols members,
sending three to a hospital, two of whom suffered from stab wounds. No arrests
were made and local authorities report that they are looking for suspects said
to be involved in the attack.[16]
Operation Black Rain
Operation
Black Rain was an operation by the ATF in 2008 to stop alleged criminal activity within
the Mongols Motorcycle Club.[17]
On
October 21, 2008, 38 members, including Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, were taken into Federal custody after four Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents infiltrated the group for a second
time, becoming full patch members. 110 arrest warrants and 160 search warrants
were issued in California, Ohio, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon.[18] On October 23, 2008, US District Court Judge
Florence-Marie Cooper granted an injunction that prohibits club members, their
family members and associates from wearing, licensing, selling, or distributing
the logo, which typically depicts the profile of a Mongolian warrior wearing
sunglasses, because according to the police, they use the logo and names as an
identity and as a form of intimidation to fulfill their goals. Prosecutors
requested the injunction after authorities arrested dozens of Mongols under a
racketeering indictment.[19][20]
The
club president Ruben Cavazos and others pleaded
guilty to the racketeering charge and Cavazos faces up to 20 years in prison
along with the others arrested. Cavazos was later voted out of the club by its
members on August 30, 2008.[21]
A
planned weekend meeting in Lancaster, California, expected to draw 800 Mongols and their families, was blocked
after city officials shut down and fenced off the hotel they had booked for the
event, which coincides with the "Celebrate Downtown Lancaster"
festival. The mayor had previously threatened to shut down the hotel over
unpaid taxes if the agreement to host the Mongols was not canceled. An attorney
for the Mongols said he plans to sue the city and the mayor, potentially for
civil rights violations, after previously threatening to sue the hotel for
breach of contract should they comply with the mayor's demands.[22][23] Mayor R. Rex Parris said he wants to keep the
Mongols out because they "are engaged in domestic terrorism...and they
kill our children."[24]
After
a long legal battle over the Mongols' MC patch, The Mongols won the rights to
continued use and ownership of their patch.[25][26]
The
television show America's Most Wanted had exclusive access to
the operation, and broadcast,
behind-the-scenes footage of the many arrests.
Mongols MC Germany
A
German chapter of Mongols MC was founded in Bremen by members of the local crime syndicate run by Lebanese immigrants
in 2010. It was the first time that a Muslim clan-based crime syndicate in
Germany became active in the field of outlaw motorcycle clubs.[27] Organized crime in Bremen is dominated by the Miri-Clan,
a large family of Lebanese origin with an estimated 2,600 members, who first
migrated to Germany beginning in the late 1980s, and rose to national notoriety
with a number of large-scale criminal activities in 2010.[28]
According
to Andreas Weber, the state of Bremen's chief of criminal investigation, the
new Mongols chapter is only nominally a motorcycle group. Clan members do not
have motorcycle licences and drive around the city in cars. Presumably, they
are interested in associating themselves with the US motorcycle club primarily
to profit from their infrastructure and trading channels in drug trafficking.
The president of Mongols Bremen, "Mustafa B." accidentally killed
himself with his bike as a novice licence holder briefly after the chapter's
foundation. He was presumably succeeded by "Ibrahim M.", who is on
record with 147 felonies ranging from grievous bodily harm to illegal
possession of a weapon.[29]
Local
daily newspaper Kölnische Rundschau reports that a further German Mongols
chapter has become active in Cologne, which is a traditional Hells Angels area.[30]
Mongols MC Michigan
During
the 1970's and 1980's there was a Mongols Motorcycle Club based out of Michigan
with other chapters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The Mongols MC based
out of Michigan were not affiliated with the Mongols MC from southern
California. Chapters of the Michigan based Mongols MC have since been dissolved
or absorbed into larger motorcycle clubs like the Outlaws MC[31][32]
References
2.
^ http://www.unzensuriert.at/content/003055-Eine-Grossfamilie-kassiert-Sozialhilfe-und-tyrannisiert-Bremen
7.
^ Glover, Scott
(October 22, 2008). "U.S. targets
bikers' identity; Prosecutor vows to strip Mongols of their name after 61
members are arrested as a result of a 3-year probe.".Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles,
Calif): p. A.1
8.
^ "Mongols
motorcycle gang members arrested". USA Today. October 21, 2008.
Retrieved May 13, 2010.
9.
^ Watkins, Thomas
(October 21, 2008). "Mongols
Motorcycle Gang Arrested In Federal Sweep". Huffingtonpost.com.
Retrieved 2011-10-05.
11.
^ "Feds seize
biker gangs trademark". Andrew Orlowski, The Register,http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/22/doj_seizes_biker_trademark/,
accessed 25th October 2008.
12.
^ Queen,
William Under and Alone : The True Story of the Undercover Agent
Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, Random
House, 2005 (ISBN 1400060842)
13.
^ "Las Vegas Review
Journal, 4/30/2002; LAUGHLIN SHOOTOUT: Signs told of melee in making". Reviewjournal.com.
2002-04-30. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
14.
^ Stannard, Matthew
B. (2008-10-08). "'Polite'
Surrender in Hells Angels Killing". Sfgate.com. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
15.
^ Lee, Henry K.
(February 24, 2012). "Guilty verdict
in murder of Hells Angels leader".The San Francisco Chronicle.
17.
^ October 21,
2008. ATF Seattle Executes
Numerous Search and Arrest Warrants in Operation Black Rain from Reuters.com
19.
^ The Associated
Press (October 23, 2008). "Judge bans
Mongols from wearing trademark logo". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
21.
^ July 7, 2009
(2009-07-07). "Mongols
ex-leader pleads guilty to racketeering, faces 20 years in prison -
latimes.com". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
22.
^ Currier, Craig
(July 17, 2009). "Mongols fenced
out; Officials shut down inn to block gang". Antelope Valley Press[dead link]
23.
^ Currier, Craig
(July 16, 2009). "Mongols vow
lawsuit to hold rooms at inn". Antelope Valley Press[dead link]
24.
^ Simmons, Ann M.
(July 17, 2009). "Lancaster mayor
trying to keep Mongols motorcycle club out of town; Mayor R. Rex Parris has
moved to shut down a local motel that had agreed to accommodate the bikers
during an annual meeting this weekend". Los Angeles Times
25.
^ Rivera vs.
Carter, et al., Case No.2:09-cv-2435-FMC-VBKx;http://www.scribd.com/doc/18066304/Rivera-v-US-Mongols-Trademark-Pi-Ruling
27.
^ Hells Angels vs.
Bremen Mongols: Biker War Feared in Germany ABC News 21 October 2010. Der Spiegel 18
October 2010
31.
^ http://www.amazon.com/Bikin-And-Brotherhood-My-Journey/dp/1449728057/ref=pd_sim_b_1#reader_1449728057
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