Feds, MCSO, DTF raid biker hideout

BY: JAKE LOWARY
Source: theleafchronicle.com


Tennessee - 2 arrested in operation connected to nationwide sweep last month
Early Friday morning about 30 agents from state, federal and county agencies raided two known hideouts for members of a national biker gang said to be a criminal organization.

The raid took place around 8 a.m. and involved agents from the U.S. Marshals, Drug Enforcement Agency, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and 19th Judicial District Drug Task Force, who took at least two people into custody in rural Montgomery County.



Jesse Reynolds, director of the 19th Judicial District Drug Task Force, and Montgomery County SheriffÕs Deputy Gill Wood talk Friday after more than 30 agents from the DTF, MCSO, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Drug Enforcement Agency raided two known hideouts of the Outlaw biker gang in rural Montgomery County. (Jake Lowary/The Leaf-Chronicle)


The search warrant was the result of a two-year investigation into the local outfit, which is suspected of possessing or dealing narcotics, firearms and especially aggravated kidnapping, according to Jesse Reynolds, director of the 19th JDDTF.

Eldon Ray Noble, 34, who gave a Cumberland City address, was taken into custody for outstanding warrants for worthless checks. Robin Laws, 42, was arrested on a sealed indictment for especially aggravated kidnapping.

Reynolds said the search and arrests were tied into a larger, national effort to take gang members into custody. For years the DEA has been after the Outlaws, which are suspected of violence, drug trafficking and weapons violations.

Last month the ATF and DEA arrested more than two dozen suspected gang members across the country, including Tennessee. Reynolds said Friday's operation was connected to that effort.

"It was a good day here," he said, noting all of the officers and agents involved avoided injury.

"That's what we look for at the end of the day," he said.

Reynolds did not immediately say specifically what was found during the search, but said the focus was not necessarily around drugs.

"We found evidence in ongoing violent crimes case we are working," he said.

The building, which authorities called a "clubhouse," is connected to other similar outposts used by the club across the east coast, Reynolds said. Earlier this year, police raided two similar clubhouses, one in Chattanooga and one in Knoxville that are also connected, Reynolds said.

"It was an extremely successful operation, making Montgomery County a safer place," Reynolds said.

More arrests are possible, he said.