The
Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the
Bandido Nation, is a "
one-percenter"
motorcycle gang [6][7][8] and
organized crime syndicate with a worldwide membership. The club was formed in 1966 by Don Chambers in Texas. Its slogan is
We are the people our parents warned us about. It is estimated to have 2,400 members in 210 chapters, located in 16 countries. The club considers itself to be an
Outlaw Motorcycle Club. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada have named the Bandidos an
Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.
[9]
Bandidos MC
OPP Sgt. Dave Rector positions Bandidos vest seized in raids near Iona Station prior to a news conference in London, Ontario. |
| Founded | 1966 |
| In | San Leon, Texas[citation needed] |
| Founded by | Donald Eugene Chambers |
| Years active | 1966-present |
| Territory | Chapters in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand and the United States[1] |
| Ethnicity | White and Hispanic |
| Membership | 2,000-2,500 full-patch members[2] |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, arms trafficking, conspiracy, extortion, murder, money laundering, trafficking in stolen property, witness tampering[3] |
| Allies | Mongols, Outlaws, Pagans, Vagos and Black Cobras[4] |
| Rivals | Comancheros, Hells Angels, Sons of Silence and Original Gangsters[5] |
History
The club was formed in 1966 in San Leon, Texas by Donald Eugene Chambers. Many people think Chambers named his club the Bandidos after seeing a TV commercial with the
Frito Bandito raising hell to sell
Fritos corn chips. This is not true, as the cartoon came out in 1968 (although he did adopt an obese machete- and pistol-wielding Mexican Bandido as the center patch for the club's colors). Don Chambers, having served in
Vietnam as a Marine, modeled the clubs colors after the scarlet and gold motif of the
United States Marine Corps. After Chambers' presidency ended due to his conviction for murder in
El Paso, Texas, Ronnie Hodge was elevated to president.
[10]
The Bandidos has over 90 chapters in the United States, 90 chapters in Europe, and another 17 in Australia and Southeast Asia. In the United States, the club is concentrated in Texas, but extends into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and several other states. The
Rock Machine Motorcycle club in Canada merged with the Bandidos in 2000; there was a chapter in
Toronto, Ontario until a dramatic internal conflict led to their deaths.
[11][12] The Bandidos are also found in Australia; aside from the non-locale-specific
Nomads chapter, the chapters are located in
Adelaide,
Ballarat,
Brisbane City,
Cairns, Sydney Downtown,
Geelong,
Gold Coast,
Hunter Valley, Ipswich City, Mid North Coast, Mid State,
Northside,
Sunshine Coast, North Victoria,
Sydney, and
Toowoomba, and were acquired with much bloodletting. In recent years the club has also expanded heavily into Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, France and the
Channel Islands. Additionally, it is looking into setting up shop in Russia and
Eastern Europe and also in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. 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.
Like the Hell's Angels,
[13][14][15] The Bandidos also have a number of puppet, or so-called "support," clubs, who are used as proxies for both legal and illegal activities.
[6][9][16][17] 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 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.
[18][19]
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 plead guilty.
[20] In October, 2006, George Wegers, then Bandidos' international president, plead 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 an police officer 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.
[21] Richard Merla, a member of the Bandidos, was arrested in 2006 for the killing, pleaded
no contest to murdering Quiroga in 2007, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
[22] "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.
[23] In regards to the senseless 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 removed from the Club due to his actions. .
[23]
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.
[24][25][26]
Scandinavia
A turf and drug war between the Hells Angels and the Bandidos, known as the "
Great Nordic Biker War" raged from 1994 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.
[27]
On January 14 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.
[28]
Australia
The Bandidos are known in Australia for their involvement in the
Milperra Bikie Massacre, a shoot-out with the rival
Comanchero Motorcycle Club that killed 7 people.
More recently, five Bandidos are accused of starting a blaze which destroyed the Rebels clubhouse at
Albion, a suburb of
Brisbane, Australia on
March 27. All five faced Brisbane Magistrates Court again on June 4, 2007.
[citation needed]
On 22 October, 2008, Bandido member Ross Brand, 51 and an acquaintance were shot while walking outside the gang's
Geelong clubhouse. Mr. Brand was struck in the head and died. Police have speculated that rival Rebels motorcycle gang may be responsible.
[29]
On March 24, 2009 the Sgt. of Arms of the Bandidos Auburn chapter Mahmoud Dib was arrested and charged with firearms offences by police investigating a string of drive-by shootings in Sydney. Police found a.45 calibre semi-automatic pistol which was loaded with seven bullets. Previously Dib's residency was shot by rival bike-gang Notorious in what is believed to be an ongoing feud with the latter Parramatta based bike group and the Bandidos.
[30]
Canada
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 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, 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 lead out of his barn and murdered "execution style." On October 30, 2009 after eighteen hours of deliberation a jury in London, Ontario found the 6 suspects guilty on 44 counts of first degree murder and 4 counts of manslaughter.
[31]
[edit] 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.
[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Bandidos MC -List of Chapters
- ^ Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs in the United States
- ^ 2005 National Gang Threat Assesment
- ^ Gangs In Idaho
- ^ The Leader Is The Only One Remaining
- ^ a b Barker, Tom (September, 2005), "One Percent Biker Clubs -- A Description", Trends in Organized Crime (Springer New York) 9 (1): 101-112, doi:10.1007/s12117-005-1005-0, ISSN 1084-4791, "Puppet Clubs. In addition to the Big 5 and the Independent clubs there are also "puppet" clubs that do the bidding of the larger clubs, act as potential recruiting sources, serve as cannon fodder in the wars between clubs, and give a portion of their illegal gains to the larger club. The Red Devils MC is well known as a puppet club for the HAMC as are the Black Pistons MC as a puppet club for the Outlaws. The Outlaw Nation and the Bandido Nation list their puppet clubs on their national websites."
- ^ "German Biker Gang Members Get Life for Murder of Rival", Deutsche Welle, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3404293,00.html
- ^ 2003 Annual Report Organized Crime in Canada, Crime Intelligence Service Canada, 2003, ISBN 0-662-67479-0, http://www.cisc.gc.ca/annual_reports/annual_report_2003/document/cisc_annual_report_2003.pdf
- ^ a b 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), U.S. Department of Justice., p. 14, http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ojp.usdoj.gov%2FBJA%2Fwhat%2F2005_threat_assesment.pdf&ei=AWFWSrXjBIT8sgPdoYX0AQ&usg=AFQjCNFAdlfWBuj46_q9H4iVfkrDk2Y0zQ, "All of the major OMGs have puppet clubs that serve as a recruitment source and as foot soldiers in conducting criminal activities. The Hells Angels’ principal puppet club is the Red Devils, the Outlaws have the Black Pistons and the Forsaken-Few, and the Pagans have the Tribe and the Blitzkrieg and Thunderguards (in Maryland). The Bandidos have several support clubs, including the Amigos, Pistoleros, LA Riders, Hombres, and Hermanos."
- ^ Dulaney, William L. (November 2005), "A Brief History of "Outlaw" Motorcycle Clubs", International Journal of Motorcycle Studies, http://ijms.nova.edu/November2005/IJMS_Artcl.Dulaney.html
- ^ CBC News (July 15, 2009), Bandidos boss planned to 'screw' Toronto chapter: murder trial witness; Accused handed out weapons ahead of meeting with Toronto rivals, police informant testifies, http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/07/15/bandidos-trial.html, retrieved 2009-11-19
- ^ AFP, Six convicted in Bandidos biker mass murders, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jaMYVJEQHM8GXXIgkjnZwprl3l4g, retrieved 2009-11-19
- ^ Caine, Alex (2009), Befriend and Betray: Infiltrating the Hells Angels, Bandidos and Other Criminal Brotherhoods, Macmillan, p. 187, ISBN 0312537190, 9780312537197, "The first Canadian Hells Angels chapter opened in Montreal in 1977, and the gang has dominated the province's biker scene ever since. By the early 1990's, however, domination was no longer enough -- they wanted to be the only game in town. At least in Montreal, the province's biggest city and home to pretty much half its population. So, with several puppet gangs as their foot soldiers, les Hells, as they're known, began a brutal campaign to monopolize the drugs business, especially the big money-maker: cocaine."
- ^ Cherry, Paul (2005), The Biker Trials: Bringing Down the Hells Angels, ECW Press, p. 213, ISBN 155022638X, 9781550226386, "'Every affiliated group has a godfather,' Sirois told the cops in describing how Hells' Angels' puppet gangs like the Rockers, the Jokers and the Rowdy Crew worked."
- ^ Hazlehurst, Cameron (1998), Gangs and youth subcultures: international explorations, Transaction Publishers, p. 18, ISBN 1560003634, 9781560003632, http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JhObWrzxcWIC&oi=fnd&pg=PA18, "In Denmark, where outlaw motorcycle gangs have fought for control of the east European drug market, Hell's Angels use associates and candidates for 'dirty work' (Devlin 1992: 86). Elsewhere they are known to use 'puppet clubs' (Campbell 1993: 5)."
- ^ Mallory, Stephen L. (2007), Understanding Organized Crime, Jones & Bartlett Publisher, p. 168, ISBN 0763741086, 9780763741082, http://books.google.com/books?id=fbcPBAOJcXYC&pg=RA1-PA168, "OMGs [outlaw motorcycle gangs] control their networks by violence and intimidation of members, rivals, and potential witnesses. A current trend among OMGs is the employment of puppet clubs to conduct the criminal activity for the sponsor club. In Mississippi, the Pistorelos have seven chapters that are associated with the Bandidos criminal activities. These puppet clubs take most of the risk and return most of the profits to the more powerful OMG members. This trend, along with the trend of Mafia associations, has allowed the OMG to expand their influence and become more diverse in both their legal and illegal enterprises."
- ^ About Violent Gangs - Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, US Dept. of Justice, http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/gangunit/about/omgangs.html, "The Bandidos are most active in the Pacific, Southeastern, Southwestern and the West Central regions of the U.S. The Bandidos are expanding in each of these regions by forming additional chapters and allowing members of supporting clubs, known as “puppet” or “duck” club members who have sworn allegiance to another club but who support and do the “dirty work” of a mother club–to form new or join existing Bandidos chapters."
- ^ http://www.amigosmc.com
- ^ http://www.hombresmc.net/
- ^ http://www.seattleweekly.com/2006-07-12/news/born-to-be-wild.php
- ^ http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=7179&more=1
- ^ http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/MYSA091205_merlaplea_en_4eaaf74a_html2424.html
- ^ a b http://www.woai.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=d3c0d6cc-d2be-483a-9424-f4b66f13a623
- ^ The gang's all here, Texas Monthly, April 1, 2007
- ^ Detective determined to solve 'professional hit' killing, Austin American-Statesman, October 1, 2006
- ^ Who shot Anthony Benesh?, Austin Chronicle, May 19, 2006
- ^ Biker Wars In the Land of 'The Little Mermaid'
- ^ Bandidos leader gets nine years in jail
- ^ http://www.theage.com.au/national/bikie-clubhouse-shooting-man-dies-20081023-56jo.html
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/718119--kellestine-guilty-of-eight-counts-of-murder-at-bandidos-trial
Books and Newspaper Articles
- Winterhalder, Edward, Out in Bad Standings: Inside the Bandidos Motorcycle Club — The Making of a Worldwide Dynasty, Blockhead City Press, 2005/Seven Locks Press, 2007 (ISBN 0-9771-7470-0)
- Winterhalder, Edward, & De Clercq, Wil, The Assimilation: Rock Machine Become Bandidos — Bikers United Against the Hells Angels, ECW Press, 2008 (ISBN 1-5502-2824-2)
- 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 1-7417-5463-1)
External links
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (Hells Angels) is a worldwide "one-percenter" motorcycle gang 
The rhombus-shaped 'one-percenter' patch is also used, displaying '1%', in red on a white background 
There are many interpretations of what the Mad Dogs are and are not. This is why people always have mixed answers to the question 'What is a Mad Dog?' Depending on how you met us, it may range from Bandit to Good Samaritan. From lawless to law enforcers. It may be none of these, but yet it may be all. Tom Leber, our Founder and International President reminds us of the simple reason why the Mad Dog Spirit exists and will keep on existing. 
