Thread: 30 members of the Vagos motorcycle gang arrested UPDATED

Authorities arrest 30 members of the Vagos motorcycle gang in Riverside County

March 17, 2010 | 4:28 pm

Thirty members of the the Vagos motorcycle gang were arrested Wednesday in Riverside County in an ongoing investigation against the group, which authorities described as "an extreme" threat to law enforcement officers.

About 400 officers took part in the multi-agency operation, targeting 73 locations and seizing weapons and illegal drugs, authorities said.

"They represent an extreme threat to law enforcement," Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco said in an interview. "The goal is to eliminate this threat."

Citing the ongoing probe, Pacheco declined to say whether any members of the gang had planned to target law enforcement personnel.

In Lake Elsinore, authorities found a methamphetamine lab at the home of one of the Vagos members.

The Vagos have at least 600 members in the Western U.S., half of them in California, authorities said. About 100 members are in Riverside County.

Pacheco said the group, which he described as the largest motorcycle gang in California, should expect continued law-enforcement actions.

"This is just the beginning," he said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... rests.html

THE GANGS WILL GET OFF, AFTER ALL WE HAVE HOLDER AND HE DOES A GOOD JOB AT THIS.

Originally Posted by SUSANM

THE GANGS WILL GET OFF, AFTER ALL WE HAVE HOLDER AND HE DOES A GOOD JOB AT THIS.

Motorcycle gang members usually get long prison sentences because most of them have long arrest records. Because most of them are felons a firearm gets them extra prison time.

Traps for police prompt raid on bikers in West

By The Associated Press
March 17, 2010 at 5:44 p.m.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Three booby-trap attacks on an anti-gang task force in Southern California prompted the arrests of about 30 members of California's largest motorcycle gang, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Members of the Vagos were arrested as part of the crackdown in Riverside and Shasta counties in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah after the attacks on police in Hemet, Calif.

"In the last few months, they've gotten our attention. Today we gave them some attention back," Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco said. "Our goal is to eliminate the significant threat to law enforcement that the Vagos represent."

Pacheco declined to detail evidence he said links the Vagos to those stealth attacks because the investigation was ongoing. But he described the ambush devices as insidious and cowardly.

On Dec. 31, someone drilled a hole in the roof of the gang unit's headquarters and diverted a natural gas line from a heater, filling the space with flammable gas. The trap was discovered before anyone was hurt.

Last month, a gun rigged to shoot when a headquarters security gate was opened sent a bullet whizzing past an officer. Again, nobody was hurt.

The third incident involved the discovery of a dangerous device near an officer's car.

Pacheco said the Vagos specialize in methamphetamine sales, weapons trafficking and violence, particularly toward law enforcement officers.

About 400 heavily armed police, sheriff's deputies and federal agents visited 73 locations early Wednesday in search of 94 gang members. They seized weapons and illegal drugs. Prosecutors said a meth lab was found at the home of one gang member in Lake Elsinore.

Officials said there are about 600 Vagos in the Western U.S., including about 200 in Riverside County, where the gang was started in the late 1960s.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... s-in-west/