OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE GANGS

Police say the Talon Motorcycle Club that opened a clubhouse in town in March has ties to the Hells Angels, a group identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as a "highly structured criminal organization."

The Talon MC's clubhouse in a warehouse on Route 33 is closed, pending litigation between the town and property owner Dennis Hayward. That litigation, filed in Rockingham Superior Court, centers on the lack of land-use approval to convert the warehouse into a clubhouse.



Bandidos: Law enforcement authorities estimate the Bandidos are one of the two largest outlaw motorcycle gangs in the U.S., with approximately 900 members and 93 chapters. Bandidos is involved in transporting and distributing cocaine and marijuana, and producing, transporting and distributing methamphetamine. Bandidos are most active in the Pacific, Southeast, Southwest and West Central regions.
Outlaws Motorcycle Club: Law enforcement authorities estimate the Outlaws have more than 86 chapters in 21 states with 700-plus members. It is the dominant outlaw motorcycle gang in the Great Lakes region. Members produce, transport and distribute methamphetamine, and transport and distribute cocaine and marijuana. Members engage in various criminal activities including arson, assault, explosives operations, extortion, fraud, homicide, intimidation, kidnapping, money laundering, prostitution operations, robbery, theft and weapons violations.
Black Pistons Motorcycle Club: The official support club of Outlaws Motorcycle Club has expanded rapidly throughout the U.S. and has an estimated 70 domestic chapters in 20 states. The members are estimated at more than 200 in the U.S. The Outlaws use Black Pistons chapters as sources of prospective members and uses Black Pistons chapters to conduct criminal activity, especially distributing drugs. Black Piston members engage in assault, extortion, fraud, intimidation and theft.
Hells Angels Motorcycle Club: Law enforcement authorities estimate the Hells Angels have more than 92 chapters in 27 states and 800-plus members. Members produce, transport and distribute marijuana and methamphetamine, and transport and distribute cocaine, hashish, heroin, LSD, MDMA, PCP and diverted pharmaceuticals. Members engage in other criminal activity including assault, extortion, homicide, money laundering and motorcycle theft.
Mongols Motorcycle Club: An extremely violent outfit in the Pacific and Southwest regions. Mongols transport and distribute cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine, and frequently commit violent crimes including assault, intimidation and murder to defend Mongols territory. Most of the club's 300 members are Hispanic males from the Los Angeles area, and many are former street gang members with a long history of using violence to settle grievances.
Pagan's Motorcycle Club: Members distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and PCP. It is one of the more prominent gangs in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Pagans have 200-250 members in 41 chapters in 11 states. The club has been linked to traditional organized crime groups in New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and engages in criminal activities such as arson, assault, bombing, extortion and murder.
Vagos Motorcycle Club: Law enforcement agencies report the Vagos have approximately 300 members in 24 chapters in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Oregon. Vagos produce, transport, and distribute methamphetamine and distribute marijuana. Members also have been implicated in other crimes including assault, extortion, insurance fraud, money laundering, murder, vehicle theft, weapons violations and witness intimidation.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Other problems have arisen since the Talons moved in. Police Chief Michael Maloney said police received numerous noise complaints between May 14 and July 1. Nearby residents complained of loud motorcycles entering and exiting the clubhouse late at night, particularly on weekends, he said.

"The Talons are a motorcycle gang," Maloney said. "All these motorcycle groups want to be known as 'clubs.'"

Motorcycle clubs are a familiar topic for police in Laconia, where Bike Week takes place each June. Laconia Police Chief Chris Adams said he is familiar with the Talons as well as Hells Angels. The Hells Angels' Nomads Chapter has a clubhouse in Laconia and the Hells Angels' World Run was held in Laconia this year, Adams said. He said it is an event involving Hells Angels chapters from around the world; two members from each chapter are required to attend, he said.

Adams said there were no problems whatsoever in Laconia during the 2011 World Run, and only one biker was arrested during the 2003 World Run, also held in Laconia. He said federal and state authorities assisted local police during the World Run. Adams said the key for Laconia police is to maintain open lines of communication with the Hells Angels. He advised the same strategy for Greenland police.

"We're not going to discriminate against them," he said. "If they act unlawfully, we'll deal with it."

Maloney declined to say whether police were monitoring the Talon clubhouse at 1660 Greenland Road before it was temporarily shut down.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice Web site, the federal government classifies the Hells Angels as an "outlaw motorcycle gang," defined as an organization "whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises." The DOJ states there are more than 300 outlaw motorcycle gangs in the United States. Gang members engage in violent crime, weapons trafficking and drug trafficking, the Web site states.

The Hells Angels is a particularly influential group with 2,000 to 2,500 members in more than 230 chapters in the United States and 26 foreign countries. According to the DOJ, the Hells Angels "pose a criminal threat on six continents." The DOJ also states the group is involved in the production, transportation and distribution of marijuana and methamphetamine, and the transportation and distribution of cocaine, hashish, heroin, LSD, PCP and "diverted pharmaceuticals."

The Hells Angels are also responsible for assaults, extortion, homicides, money laundering and motorcycle theft, the DOJ states.

Adams said police have had their share of Hells Angels run-ins. For instance, in 1998, there was a large brawl between Hells Angels and uniformed officers, he said.

"It can happen," he said. "The reality is, they do commit criminal acts. Each chapter is different, of course."

Adams said the Hells Angels has also become big business. The group sells trademarked merchandise and has associate clubs around the country.

"I believe they (Talon MC) are associated with them," he said.

There are strong suggestions on the Talon MC's facebook.com page that the club is affiliated with the Hells Angels. The page's main picture includes an image with the words "Support 81 World" on it. Adams said 81 stands for Hells Angels; H is the eighth letter of the alphabet and A is the first. The page also contains links to other pages for Sonny Barger, a Hells Angels founder, and multiple pages supportive of Hells Angels clubs around the world.

Some of the page's friends have links on their personal pages indicating they are "1 percent" bikers. Adams said "1 percenters" are the 1 percent of the biker population who view themselves as outlaws who do not conform to society's laws.

"It is a potential warning sign," Adams said.

Attempts to reach local members of the Talon MC were unsuccessful. Jim Maimone, the tenant at 1660 Greenland Road and a Talon member, did not return a request for comment placed through his attorney, Brad Lown.

An e-mail sent to an administrator of the Rockingham County Talon MC Web site received a response stating "Talon MC has no comment, thank you."

During a recent Greenland Planning Board meeting, Maimone did speak with the Herald and said the club is not like gangs depicted on television. "We're not the 'Sons of Anarchy,'" he said, referring to the motorcycle gang on the TV show of the same name.

He also said the group puts on charity events, including a ride in honor of Camden Hughes, the Texas boy allegedly murdered by his mother and left in a wooded area in South Berwick, Maine.

Talon MC had advertised the second annual "Poker Run" as taking place at the Greenland clubhouse on Aug. 7. Town attorney Peter Loughlin said the event did not occur there because of a judge's order from July 21 that sent the case to the Planning Board, stating the warehouse not be used as a clubhouse until the planning issues are resolved.

The Planning Board met Aug. 18 and decided to give Hayward a month to get the town a new site plan for review. The issue is expected to come up at the board's Sept. 15 meeting.

The court case was continued until a date after the Sept. 15 meeting, according to town building inspector Bob Cushman