Jerry Langton Three-Book Bundle

by Jerry Langton

  The 13 probably signifies the letter M, which is the 13th letter of the alphabet. This little half-code is popular with bikers, who often refer to Hells Angels as “81” since H is the eighth and A the first letters of the alphabet. M, in biker parlance, can stand for motorcyclist, marijuana or murder.

  The post went on to say that Bandidos’ Canadian website (which was created by Lenti and Raposo back in 2004) would stay up for a few weeks in honor of the Shedden Eight. Since then, things have been very quiet. A few media stories from Winnipeg and Edmonton have hinted that Bandidos are planning to return, but nothing concrete has emerged. An ad actually ran in a Winnipeg newspaper in early 2008 claiming that, of all things, a Rock Machine clubhouse would be opening soon. It hasn’t yet.

  There was another flicker of Bandidos’ presence in February 2008. Bandidos’ Canadian website was redesigned as a single page. “Big changes coming soon ... stay tuned,” it read. It was signed by NSCC, likely an acronym for No Surrender Crew Canada. But whoever put it up remains anonymous. Within weeks it was down again and the site no longer exists.

  The official Bandidos site lists 198 chapters in 16 countries, including Thailand, Singapore and Costa Rica, but not a single one in Canada. And most of the references to Canada in the guestbook have since been deleted. There are persistent posts supporting Bandidos from an Alberta man named Kevin who calls himself “Limey” (North American pejorative slang for an Englishman) and claims to represent the “Barbarians Nomads.”

  There are two fairly well known motorcycle gangs called the Barbarians. One is an all-black club based in Philadelphia, and the other is a relatively small British club. Neither is considered a player in the outlaw biker universe and neither wears the “1%” symbol on their patch. I asked the leadership of both clubs if “Limey” had any connection to them; they told me he didn’t.

  But that doesn’t mean that Hells Angels have no opposition in Canada (other than law enforcement, naturally).

  Consider this: when the Bandidos Canada website breathed its last, Lenti — or whomever he told to put it together — found the time and wherewithal to include an MP3 of the song “House of the Rising Sun.” That might not seem like a big deal, but it is considered the anthem of yet another gang — the Mongols.

  Founded in East Los Angeles in 1969 by Vietnam veterans who were denied membership in Hells Angels because of their Hispanic heritage, the Mongols grew rapidly. By collecting Hispanic and other disaffected would-be bikers, the Mongols soon outnumbered Hells Angels in their own place of origin — Southern California. Empowered and armed by close connections with local Hispanic gangs and Mexican drug cartels, the Mongols have basically pushed Hells Angels out of all but a few strongholds in Southern California. And they still hold a grudge against the club that wouldn’t let their founders join. A lot of other outlaw motorcycle gangs hate Hells Angels, but with the Mongols, it seems pathological.

  But Hells Angels were forced to recognize the existence and power of the upstart Mongols in 1977. At that time, Hells Angels had a policy forbidding any other gang from wearing “California” as the bottom rocker of their patch. They would routinely beat up or, according to some sources, even kill those who defied this order.

  They tried to do that with the Mongols, who they greatly outnumbered, but it didn’t work. The Mongols fought back with an intensity and an efficiency Hells Angels had never seen before. Before long, Hells Angels conceded that the Mongols could wear the patch. It drew the attention of law enforcement and the respect of other gangs.

  Later, rather than risk all-out war, they made a strategic deal for their home state. In exchange for allowing the existing Southern California Hells Angels chapters — Monterey, Orange County, Riverside, Fresno, Ventura, San Diego (“Dago”) and the original in San Bernardino (“Berdoo”) — to remain open and a promise not to invade the northern half of the state, the Mongols were given free run of the rest of Southern California — perhaps the most desirable spot in the world for organized crime and the birthplace of Hells Angels themselves.

  But sometimes the Mongols test that treaty. They will taunt the Hells Angels, and often violence will break out. The best-known example came on April 26, 2002.

  Everybody in Laughlin, Nevada, knew the Hells Angels were coming to town for the annual pan-biker get-together — the Laughlin River Run, which draws about 80,000 bikers of every stripe, from weekend wannabes to Outlaws to Bandidos to Hells Angels. The police — through a series of informants — knew the Mongols would be there with a plan to add more mystique to the gang’s image. Police interpreted this as a plan to attack the Hells Angels.

  The local police warned casino and hotel owners about what they thought was the Mongols’ plan. Both law enforcement and local business owners did their best to increase security, but it couldn’t prevent the two gangs from meeting up.

  Early in the day, Hells Angel Christian H. Tate was riding back to his home in San Diego. But he didn’t make it. His body was found by the California Highway Patrol just on their side of the state line. Tate had been shot in the back, and his body was thrown in a roadside ditch. His wallet was found some yards away, and his driver’s license was placed on the seat of his Harley.

  After they found out, the Hells Angels — who had taken up most of the Tropicana Hotel — were heard on police wiretaps discussing the use of night-vision goggles and sniper scopes that night.

  Later that evening, 35 Hells Angels showed up at Harrah’s, where they knew the Mongols were staying. They walked onto the casino floor, everything was caught on surveillance video. Security rushed in, but the Hells Angels assured them they were just there to have a good time.

  Suddenly, they were spotted by a group of Mongols — maybe 40 in total — who were relaxing in Rosa’s Cantina, a Mexicanthemed bar on the other side of the nickel slots. They approached in full colors and armed with knives, wrenches, hammers and other makeshift weapons.

  “Who’s in charge here?” asked an unidentified Mongol. “We don’t want any trouble.”

  “I am,” replied a Hells Angel. They began to pass by each other, but there were some unintelligible shouts on the tape. The groups turned back to face each other.

  “What’s your problem?” asked a Mongol.

  “You’re my fuckin’ problem!” shouted a Hells Angel.

  An armed Mongol approached the front line of the Hells Angels. “We’re gonna fuck you up,” he promised. Then a Hells Angel — later identified as Raymond Foakes — delivered a martial arts-style front kick to the chest of a Mongol.

  After that it was pandemonium. The tapes captured patrons and employees running for their lives as Hell Angels and Mongols clashed on the casino floor. Men were being hit with chairs, with wrenches, with anything bikers could put their hands on. It actually looks like a poorly shot movie; the action is so frantic, it almost seems like it’s being shown at too fast a speed.

  Suddenly, shots rang out. The tape captures a dark-haired Hells Angel — Calvin Brett Schaefer (also spelled “Schaffer” in some legal documents) — frantically trying to reload a handgun, while a Mongol named Kenneth Dysart appears to fire at him.

  By this time, the Mohave County SWAT team had surrounded the Casino, and officials had closed every bridge and highway out of the city. Ambulances arrived. When the police finally gained control of the situation, three men were dead and 16 others were taken to nearby emergency rooms.

  The dead men included one Mongol — Anthony “Bronson” Barrera, who succumbed to stab wounds to his heart — and two Hells Angels — Jeramie Bell and Robert Tumelty Jr., both of whom were shot. One other Hells Angel and an innocent bystander were shot, but not badly enough to warrant headlines. Many bikers were treated for stab wounds and blunt-force trauma. One Mongol suffered a fractured skull.

  Schaefer was charged with murder, but bargained down to committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering. He received two years.

  And the Mongols, who are generally seen as an up-and-coming powe
r, have relished their higher profile since the Harrah’s incident. They made even more headlines when Mark Guardado (himself of Hispanic descent, but considered white because of his appearance and manner of speaking), president of the San Francisco Hells Angels Chapter was assassinated. Police and media pointed their collective fingers at the Mongols. San Francisco is far on the Hells Angels’ side of California’s Northern/Southern divide.

  Since the Harrah’s fight, the Mongols have — according to U.S. law enforcement — forged alliances with the Outlaws, Bandidos, the Vagos and the Pagans to go along with the ones they already had with local Hispanic gangs and Mexican drug cartels, making a strong front of very anti-Hells Angels bikers and gangsters.

  But that’s south of the border. Although there is a Mongols MC Canada website that claims to represent chapters in Toronto and Niagara Falls, there’s no hard evidence of any Mongols’ presence in Canada. The site, police and other observers tell me, is either wishful thinking or a playful yank of the collective Hells Angels’ chain. None of the cops and none of the bikers I spoke with could identify a single Mongols chapter they knew of in the country.

  The fact is, Hells Angels have a stranglehold on organized crime in the country. Because of an expansionist philosophy started by Yves “Le Boss” Buteau and perfected by Walter “Nurget” Stadnick, every major Canadian center has become a Hells Angels stronghold. Hells Angels’ official website lists 36 chapters, and unlike the Mongols’ imaginary ones in Toronto and Niagara Falls, they are very real.

  But due to mass arrests and other problems, many of them are weakened. And there’s just no way to hold up an organized crime monopoly. Many of the factors that make them so strong also strengthens their enemies.

  Their whites-only policy gave birth to the Mongols and has engendered animosity for many other gangs, like the powerful-in-Western-Canada Indian Posse. Hells Angels’ habit of passing over candidates for various reasons created people like Frank Lenti and the Loners. Their demand to monopolize crime led to the emergence of gangs like the Rock Machine. Their penchant for strong-arm tactics led to animosity from people like Wayne Kellestine.

  In short, there are always bikers and other gangsters who won’t play ball with Hells Angels. Monopolies just can’t hold, especially when it comes to organized crime. They tend to draw intensified efforts from law enforcement, they have every upstart wanting to make a name for themself wanting to take a shot at bringing them down, and they also fall victim to their own successes and excesses and to the weaknesses in their philosophies and strategies.

  While it is true that Hells Angels have beaten or outlasted such capable competitors as Satan’s Choice, the Rock Machine, the Outlaws and Bandidos, they should still be looking over their shoulders at other bikers.

  Most Canadians know that what happens in the United States usually happens north of the border a short time later. And if you look at what’s going on with Hells Angels in the U.S., you may get something of an accurate predictor of what is likely to happen in Canada.

  Just as many rival biker gangs united in Ontario to keep Hells Angels out of Ontario, gangs like the Mongols, the Outlaws, the Pagans and the Vagos are working more or less in synch to protect their own areas from Hells Angels. If you took a map of the U.S., you could color Southern California black and white for the Mongols, almost all of Texas (and many neighboring states) would be covered in the familiar Bandidos red and yellow, while the upper Midwest (especially Chicago and Detroit) along with much of Florida would be black and white for the Outlaws. Maryland and many of the adjacent east coast states could be represented in the red, white and blue of the Pagans, who have recently had violent clashes with Hells Angels on Long Island and in Philadelphia. And while Hells Angels are present in Arizona and Nevada, you’d have to color big stretches of those states (and much of Mexico) in Vago green, and much of Oregon would be Free Souls blue.

  Hells Angels red and white would cover the rest. They have some allies — notably the Sons of Silence in Colorado, the Iron Horsemen of the Ohio River Valley and the Highwaymen in Detroit — but none is that significant or growing. Another small gang called the Florida Warlocks — not to be confused with the bigger and more powerful Warlocks of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey who are unaligned — are also said to have a deal with Hells Angels, but other sources have told me they also work with the Vagos. Either way, they are too small to tip the scales to either side.

  One of the reasons those clubs have aligned with Hells Angels is that they share a whites-only rule. Others, like the Outlaws, started out all-white, but have adapted to keep up with the times. Of course, Hells Angels will work with non-whites, but — at least for now — would never accept one as a member.

  Take, for example, Greg “Picasso” Wooley. His family immigrated to Montreal from Haiti when he was very young. He grew up as a friend and professional associate of Maurice “Mom” Boucher’s. Wooley was tough, courageous, intelligent, charming and had a knack for making money. He used to take Hells Angels for rides on his luxurious speedboats all the time. But he could never become a member no matter how much cocaine he sold or how many witnesses he beat up. Instead, Boucher slipped him into the Rockers, the Laval, Quebec-based club that specialized in carrying out violent work for the Montreal Hells Angels. The bosses in Manhattan either didn’t know about him or turned a blind eye.

  But the whites-only rule doesn’t just keep out prospective members, it also limits who can and will do business with you. Much of the Mongols’ strength comes from its association with Mexican and other Hispanic street gangs. The Mongols — as well as Bandidos and the Vagos, both of which have strong Hispanic memberships — can recruit and employ these foot soldiers and street-level dealers almost at will.

  Hells Angels will deal with Hispanic, black and other ethnic gangs — as with the West Toronto Chapter’s gun- and drug-running relationship with the Mount Olive Crips or the Montreal Hells Angels’ close association with the Master B street gang — but not nearly as easily. Shared languages, cultures and even friends and family give more diverse gangs an edge on the increasingly isolated Hells Angels.

  This, of course, makes perfect sense in California (particularly in the south) and other southwestern regions where non-Hispanic whites are a minority. The same could be said of Toronto and many parts of Canada that are becoming increasingly diverse. And many of these immigrant communities — like those before them — have brought their own crime organizations with them.

  A related reason why Hells Angels have ceded large areas of the United States to other biker gangs has to do with who their suppliers and employers are. Traditionally, bikers such as Hells Angels have depended on the traditional Italian Mafia to supply them with drugs and tasks like extortion, loan-sharking and protection rackets.

  But the Mafia is shrinking both in size and scope. Law enforcement would like to take credit for this, but a big part of it has been demographics. As Italian and Irish families become further removed from the immigrant experience, the lure of organized crime has diminished.

  Taking their place are gangs from other regions: East Asia, South Asia, Eastern Europe and, in particular, Latin America.

  It’s safe to say that the Latin American gangs — especially the Mexican drug cartels — are better armed, better trained and more determined than any other criminal organization before them. Among them, they have turned much of Mexico into a war zone, with government troops occupying many border towns, while violence — including the beheadings of rival gang members and those in law enforcement — rages. At the heart of the violence are a number of former special operations officers from police and the military who were taught about urban combat by American, Israeli and other experts but then left their employers for the higher pay and added prestige of the cartels.

  As Mexico became increasingly lawless, U.S. authorities stepped up border security. The cartels adapted in a number of ways. Instead of sending large shipments over the border, they sent small shipments o
ver with illegal immigrants — paid a pittance or forced to do it, and always sworn to secrecy — carrying small amounts of drugs or the basic ingredients of manufactured drugs over the border with instructions to collect on the other side.

  Since importing finished products like methamphetamine is a felony, while smuggling key components like pseudoephedrine (the active ingredient in most decongestants) is a misdemeanor, the cartels have gradually moved their drug manufacturing over the border. Throughout the American West, there are secret drug-making factories staffed by illegal immigrants who manufacture methamphetamine quickly and efficiently.

  This has become a huge problem for Hells Angels. They have been dealing meth on a large scale since the 1960s. But they and their increasingly small network of independent methmaking operations — what American cops often call “Beavis and Butthead labs” because of the kind of people who run them — simply can’t compete with the volume, quality and prices offered by the Mexicans.

  Nor can they compete with their ferocity. Despite their reputation for violence, Hells Angels are no match for the battle-hardened, well-armed soldiers and commandos the Mexican cartels have at their disposal. As one New Mexico-based agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) told me: “Once the Mexicans show up, those guys [Hells Angels] scramble to get out of town.”

  But since much of the drug-buying public (and those involved with other vices like prostitution and illegal gambling) are English-speaking, the Mexican cartels usually rely upon bikers to serve as their retailers. Every once in a while, there will be a deal between the Hells Angels and Latin Americans (particularly in Canada), but the cartels are increasingly turning to gangs with Spanish-speaking members, including previously all-white organizations like the Outlaws and Bandidos.