Vagos Motorcycle Club
| Founded | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Founding location | San Bernardino, California |
| Years active | 1965-present |
| Territory | Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico |
| Ethnicity | Hispanic and White |
| Membership (est.) | 300 full-patch members[1] |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, arms dealing, auto theft, extortion, money laundering, prostitution and murder[2] |
| Allies | Bandidos, Mongols and Sureños[3] |
| Rivals | Brother Speed, Free Souls, Gypsy Jokers and Hells Angels[4] |
The Vagos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Green Nation, is a one-percenter motorcycle gang that was formed in San Bernardino, California during the 1960's.[5] The club's insignia is Loki, the Norse god of mischief, riding a motorcycle and members commonly wear green.[6] The Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have named the Vagos as an Outlaw Motorcycle Club, claiming that they are involved in criminal activities such as producing, transporting and distributing methamphetamine and marijuana, as well as assault, extortion, insurance fraud, money laundering, murder, vehicle theft, witness intimidation and weapons violations.[7] The Vagos have approximately 300 members among 24 chapters located in the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and three chapters located in Mexico.[8]
Criminal activities
Four members of the Vagos were convicted in 1974 for the murder and mutilation of University of New Mexico student William Velten. The four, Richard Greer, Ronald Keine, Clarence Smith and Thomas Gladish, spent 17 months on death row. Their case was in the appeals process when Kerry Rodney Lee, an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration, confessed to the murder.[9]
In October 1998, a two-year undercover investigation of the Vagos resulted in the arrests of more than a dozen people for kidnapping, and drug and weapons crimes, and in September 2004, a state investigation involving the gang led to the arrests of 26 people and the seizure of more than $125,000 in cash, drugs and guns.[10]
On March 9, 2006, twenty-five Vagos members and associates were arrested on firearms and drug violations charges following one of the largest coordinated law enforcement probes ever conducted in Southern California. The operation, known as "Operation 22 Green", involved around 700 personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police and sheriff's departments. Ninety-five illegal firearms, illegal drugs, $6,000 in cash and two stolen motorcycles were also seized.[11]
In December 2007, six members of the Vagos were arrested for beating and robbing a member who intended to leave the club. The victim was attacked at the Custom Motorcycle auto shop in Grants Pass, Oregon then taken to his home where the attackers robbed him, in August 2007.[12]
Three Vagos members were arrested on June 22, 2009 for sexually assaulting a woman in San Jose, California. On May 4, Eduardo Larios, Jose Portillo-Garcia, and his younger brother Edwin met the woman at a nightclub. They told her they would drive her home, but instead drove her to their clubhouse on Kings Row. There, they gang raped and beat her.[13]
References
- ^ Appendix B. National-Level Street, Prison, and Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Profiles
- ^ Witnesses call weekend's pizza parlor shooting an ambush; 3 dead
- ^ Motorcycle Club Ambushed At California Pizzeria
- ^ 22 Motorcycle Club Members Arrested in Raids in 5 Counties
- ^ Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Flying Colors in Oregon
- ^ Vagos MC Meeting In Grants Pass
- ^ Raids resulted in five arrests: police seized guns, cash
- ^ Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs in the United States
- ^ Infamous Crimes in New Mexico History
- ^ Vagos Motorcycle Club targeted in Southern California crime sweep
- ^ Vagos Motorcycle Club targeted in Southern California crime sweep
- ^ Six Vagos bike club members charged in beating, kidnapping
- ^ San Jose police seek possible rape victims of Vagos