Cycle Gang Members Seized in Series of Raids

Motorcycle gang members from Simi Valley and San Bernardino were arrested on Thursday as part of a nationwide series of raids by federal agents and local police that resulted in 53 arrests and the confiscation of hand grenades, dynamite and nearly 200 firearms.

Stephen F. Higgins, director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said the arrests in 18 states were aimed at “outlaw” bikers involved in organized crime.

Simi Valley Police Lt. Rick Terborch said that ATF agents and members of his department’s special weapons and tactics team smashed down a door at a home in the 6000 block of Katherine Road and fired tear gas canisters to flush out six suspected members of the Hell’s Angels hidden in a loft at the rear of the house.

He said the officers arrested the six and confiscated a sawed-off shotgun, 23 silencers in various states of construction and several sticks of dynamite that had been fashioned into a crude bomb.

Officers who arrested two purported members of the Diablos gang at a home in the 4000 block of North F St. in San Bernardino said they recovered six guns and found a laboratory set up to manufacture methamphetamines.

Agents said other arrests involving members of the Bandidos, Devil’s Disciples, Nomads, Outlaws and Pagans gangs took place in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Texas.

All told, officers seized 10 sawed-off shotguns, 10 submachine guns, 26 silencers, 63 rifles, 100 pistols, 4,500 rounds of ammunition, 4 hand grenades, 5 pounds of dynamite, a stolen computer, 15 stolen vehicles and large quantities of cocaine, marijuana and PCP, according to Dot Koester, an ATF spokeswoman.

The 53 suspects in custody face charges ranging from arson to illegal weapons possession to drug trafficking, Higgins said.