Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
The U.S. Department of Justice defines the term "Outlaw Motorcycle Gang" (OMG) as an organization whose members use their motorcycle clubs as "conduits for criminal enterprises". Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Criminal Intelligence Service Canada have designated four MCs as "Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs"; the Hells Angels, the Pagans, the Outlaws, and the Bandidos, known as the "Big Four". These four have a large enough national impact to be prosecuted under the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. The California Attorney General also lists the Mongols and the Vagos Motorcycle Club as outlaw motorcycle gangs.
The FBI asserts that OMGs support themselves primarily through drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, and extortion, and that they fight over territory and the illegal drug trade and collect $1 billion in illegal income annually. In 1985 a three-year, eleven-state FBI operation named Roughrider culminated in the largest OMG bust in history, with the confiscation of $2 million worth of illegal drugs, as well as an illegal arsenal of weapons, ranging from Uzi submachine guns to antitank weapons. In October, 2008, the FBI announced the end of a 6-month undercover operation by agents into the narcotics trafficking by the Mongols Motorcycle Club. The bust went down with 160 search warrants and 110 arrest warrants
Canada, especially, has in the past two decades experienced a significant upsurge in crime involving outlaw motorcycle clubs, most notably in what has been dubbed the Quebec Biker war, which has involved more than 150 murders (plus a young bystander killed by an exploding car bomb), 84 bombings, and 130 cases of arson. The increased violence in Canada has been attributed to turf wars over the illegal drug trafficking business, specifically relating to access to the Port of Montreal, but also as the Hells Angels have sought to obtain control of the street level trade from other rival and/or independent gangs in various regions of Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gazette, quoting from the Provincial Court of Manitoba, defines these groups as: "Any group of motorcycle enthusiasts who have voluntarily made a commitment to band together and abide by their organizations' rigorous rules enforced by violence, who engage in activities that bring them and their club into serious conflict with society and the law".
Members and supporters of these clubs insist that illegal activities are isolated occurrences and that they, as a whole, are not criminal organizations. They often compare themselves to police departments, wherein the occasional "bad cop" does not make a police department a criminal organization and the Hells Angels sponsors charitable events for Toys for Tots in an attempt to legitimize themselves with public opinion.
Contrary to other criminal organizations, OMGs operate on an individual basis instead of top-down, which is how supporters can claim that only some members are committing crimes. Belonging guarantees to each member the option of running criminal activity, using other members as support - the main characteristic of OMGs being "amoral individualism" in contrast to the hierarchical orders and bonds of "amoral familism" of other criminal organizations such as the Mafia. ATF agent William Queen, who infiltrated the Mongols, wrote that what makes a group like them different from the Mafia is that crime and violence are not used as expedients in pursuit of profit, but that the priorities are reversed. Mayhem and lawlessness are inherent in living "The Life" and the money they obtain by illegal means is only wanted as a way to perpetuate that lifestyle.
Recently, authorities have tried tactics aimed at undermining the gang identity and breaking up the membership. But in June 2011 the High Court of Australia overturned a law that outlawed motorcycle clubs and required members to avoid contact with one another. In the US, a Federal judge rejected a prosecutor's request to seize ownership of the Mongols Motorcycle Club logo and name, saying the government had no right to the trademarks. Federal prosecutors had requested, as part of a larger criminal indictment, a court order giving the government ownership of the logo in order to prevent members from wearing the gang's colors.
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Famous quotes containing the words outlaw, motorcycle and/or gangs:
“The price on the wanted
poster was a-going down, outlaw alias copped my stance
and moody greenhorns were making me dance; while my mouth’s
shooting iron got its chambers jammed.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
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—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish. At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the painful slavery of both men and machines, you see that it is nothing but a kind of typical, empty anguish that makes even crime and gangs forgivable means of escape.”
—Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)