Saturday, April 24, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Bikers linked to drugs, prostitution, murder

Agent tells of seven years investigating Hells Angels, Mongols

Evidence from a grand jury investigation into outlaw biker gangs includes a Mongol logo, above, and Hells Angels vest, below. The gangs have a feud that has lasted 40 years. Photos by Cariño Casas.

The outlaw motorcycle gangs that clashed at the 2002 River Run have previously been linked to methamphetamine production, drug trafficking, prostitution rings and murder, an expert told a grand jury in March.

John Ciccone, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, has worked exclusively for the last seven years on criminal cases involving the Mongols and Hells Angels motorcycle gangs.

"They do a lot of prostitution rings that they run, they are involved in extortions, they're involved in thefts of stolen motorcycles ... murders, assaults, narcotics trafficking, firearms trafficking," Ciccone said.

Prior to the Laughlin riot, the Mongols and Hells Angels were involved in a long-running feud that dates back at least four decades.

He said the first dispute stemmed from both groups wearing a similar strip across the bottom of the patches they wear on their jackets or vests.

"And that actual war led to the deaths of Mongols and Hells Angels," Ciccone said.

A truce was struck regarding the patches, but in the mid-to-late 1990s, the rivalry renewed when the Mongols started to "beef up their numbers, recruit more people, and started opening up chapters in Hells Angels territories."

"It basically has been brewing, going back and forth with shootings, stabbings, assaults, murders, for the last six or seven years, and it's still happening to this day, even after Laughlin," Ciccone said. "In my opinion, Laughlin was just an escalation of prior problems between the two groups that just happened to escalate at this particular run."

In his testimony before the grand jury, Ciccone gave jurors a lesson on the organizational structure of the two gangs. He said the Hells Angels is an international assembly of motorcycle enthusiasts that includes out-of-work outlaws and members who make an honest living.

"A lot of them, you know, are involved in legal, legitimate businesses, and a lot of them are involved in, you know, illegal businesses," Ciccone said.

The Hells Angels have chapters in the United States, Canada and Europe. The American chapters are broken down into West Coast and East Coast, and within those divisions each state has different chapters. In Nevada, there are Hells Angels chapters in both Las Vegas and Reno.

In each chapter, there will be a president, a vice president, a sergeant at arms, a secretary and treasurer. The chapters usually meet once a week for what they call "church."

Ciccone said to get into the Hells Angels, you first have to be allowed to hang around and party with members for a brief period of time.

"Once you get to start meeting people and they decide whether they really like you and want you around, they'll ask you to prospect," Ciccone said.

A prospect has to have a sponsor from the organization, and the prospect faces what is basically a year of hell before they are admitted to membership.

"It's probably the worst experience you can go through," Ciccone said.

"They could have you doing all different things; transporting narcotics, you know, you have to be involved in assaults, you're expected to participate," Ciccone said. "If another member is getting into a fight or something like that, you would be expected to jump in.

"If a guy wants a hamburger at 3 a.m., he calls you up, you have to go get it," Ciccone said. "If they want (you) to bring girls back, you have to go find the girls. ... Some of it is criminal (in) nature, some of it isn't."

The most prized possession of a Hells Angel is their full patch or set of color.

"The insignia is a death head," Ciccone said. "Once you're a full patch member, you know, the club comes first and foremost."

The Hells Angels has a lengthy history of violence. One drug dealing turf war between the Hells Angels and a rival gang in Canada caused hundreds of deaths, he said.

In contrast, the Mongols are "primarily a Southern California street gang," Ciccone said.

"A lot of the members were former street gang members that have elevated up through street gangs into a motorcycle gang, and 95 percent of their membership is out of Los Angeles," Ciccone said.

Ciccone said there are approximately 39 Mongol chapters in Los Angeles. There are also chapters in Oklahoma and Colorado, and they do have chapters in Mexico.

"About 95 percent of them are Hispanic gang members," Ciccone said. "They're not nearly as large as the Hells Angels with the world-wide perspective of the club."

Ciccone estimated the Mongols have approximately 300 members total, where the Hells Angels have about 2,500 members worldwide.

The Mongols' organizational structure is also different, in that it has a national hierarchy. They have a national president, vice president, sergeant of arms and treasurer.

The membership process of the Mongols is similar to the Hells Angels, and the whole purpose is to get the distinctive patch.

"In the middle, it's a picture of a Genghis Khan character holding a sword and riding on a motorcycle," Ciccone said.

"Once you become a full patch, you're to back the club at any cost," Ciccone said. "If that means murdering someone, that is what you're expected to do."