30 members of Vagos Motorcycle Club facing charges today following sweep

MCs in the News

At least 30 members of one of California's most notorious outlaw motorcycle gangs are facing charges today amid a law enforcement crackdown prompted by recent booby-trap attacks on anti-gang officers in Hemet.

Nearly 100 members of the largest outlaw motorcycle gang active in California, the Vagos Motorcycle Club, were targeted in a law enforcement sweep Wednesday.

“Operation Everywhere” netted 30 arrests of Vagos gang members in Riverside County, and an unknown number of suspects were taken into custody in other counties and three other states, said Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco.

The prosecutor said the biker gang's criminal activities have intensified over the last few months.

“The Vagos gang has gotten our significant attention,” he said. “Today we delivered the terms of having gotten our attention.”

Pacheco appeared with Hemet police Chief Richard Dana, who described the multi-agency law enforcement sweep as “sending a message” to the gang members.

In the last two-and-a-half months, the officers working for the Hemet/San Jacinto Gang Task Force have been targeted in three potentially deadly attacks.

On Dec. 31, authorities discovered a natural gas line on the roof of the task force's headquarters had been redirected into the facility, filling it with gas, which could have caused an explosion.

On Feb. 23, an anti-gang officer was opening a gate at the task force's office in the 500 block of Saint John Place when he was nearly struck by a bullet discharged by a makeshift firearm triggered when the gate moved.

On March 5, a task force member found an explosive device attached to his unmarked patrol car when he pulled into a gas station in Hemet.

Neither Dana or Pacheco would say Wednesday if the sweep was a direct response to the attacks. But Pacheco emphasized that Vagos bikers pose an “extreme threat” to public safety officials.

“When you try to kill law enforcement officers in this county, you are going to get a very significant response,” Pacheco said. “We will not go quietly into the night. We will respond aggressively and forcefully until the threat is eliminated -- not reduced or minimized -- eliminated.”

More information about the sweep, which included operations in several California counties as well as Arizona, Nevada and Utah, will be released at a news conference today at Pacheco's office in Riverside, he said.

Pacheco said the Vagos originated in Riverside County as the “Psychos” motorcycle club in the 1960s. The gang spread nationwide and now numbers around 600, about half of whom are in California, with a high percentage concentrated in Norco, Lake Elsinore and portions of eastern Riverside County,
he said.

According to the D.A., the Vagos go to great lengths to “infiltrate” law enforcement, with members applying for clerical positions -- even trying to become sworn officers -- in order to gather intelligence.

The gang has ties to white supremacists and is notorious for drug trafficking, Pacheco said.

Of the 94 members “contacted” in Riverside County Wednesday during parole and probation checks, 30 were arrested, mainly for drug and weapons violations, authorities said.

A methamphetamine lab in Lake Elsinore was the biggest find, according to Pacheco.

“This is just the beginning of a larger effort,” he said. “We're letting them know we're here, and we'll be seeing them again.”


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