Bandidos

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OPP Sgt. Dave Rector positions Bandidos vest seized in raids near Iona Station prior to a news conference in London, Ontario.

The Bandidos Motorcycle Club is a "one-percenter" motorcycle gang^[1][2][3] with a worldwide membership linked to organized crime. The gang was formed in 1966 by Don Chambers in Texas. Its slogan is We are the people your parents warned you about. It is estimated to have 2,400 members in 195 chapters, located in 14 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.

[edit] History

The club was formed in 1966 in San Leon, Galveston County, Texas by Donald Eugene Chambers. Many people think after seeing a TV commercial with the Frito Bandito raising hell to sell Fritos corn chips, Chambers named his club the Bandidos. 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 red 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. Under the watch of Hodge, the Bandidos expanded internationally to become an even bigger motorcycle club.^[4]

[edit] Organization

The Bandidos, also called the "Bandido Nation", is the fastest-growing outlaw motorcycle club in the world with 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 State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and several other states. The Rock Machine Motorcycle club in Canada "patched over" to Bandidos in 2000, and there is a chapter in Toronto, Ontario. 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, Noosa, North Victoria, Sunshine Coast, 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 Isles of Great Britain. Additionally, it is looking into setting up shop in Russia and Eastern Europe and also in the tiny island nation of Singapore, as well as 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.

The Bandidos also have a large number of "support clubs". 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 "support 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. ^[5][6]

[edit] Members’ Involvement with Crime

[edit] 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.^[7] 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 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.^[8] 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.^[9] "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.^[10]

[edit] 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 believed to have been full members of the Bandidos, including the alleged president of the organization in Canada. Three of the suspects in the case are also believed to have been full members, and one a prospective member. Police described this incident as an internal cleansing of the Bandidos organization NSCC (No Surrender Crew Canada). ^[11]

[edit] Australia

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The Bandidos are known in Australia for their involvement in the Milperra Bikie Massacre. 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 will face Brisbane Magistrates Court again on June 4, 2007.^{[citation needed]}

On 22 October 2008, Bandido member Ross Brand, 51 and an acquaintance where 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.^[12]

[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.

[edit] Sweden/Norway/Finland/Denmark

A biker war between the Hells Angels and the Bandidos raged from 1994 until 1997. It resulted in 11 murders, 74 attempted murders, and 96 wounded members of the involved biker clubs.^[13] 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] 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)

[edit] External links

• Bandidos MC
• Out In Bad Standings: Inside The Bandidos Motorcycle Club — The Making of a Worldwide Dynasty by Edward Winterhalder