Outlaw biker clubs in Central California raided. Investigators seize 50 guns, explosive materials and drugs
Authorities in Stanislaus County arrested four men and seized drugs, a stockpile of firearms and ammunition and material to make bombs as part of a months-long investigation into outlaw motorcycle clubs in the region, law enforcement officials announced last week.
The probe into the motorcycle clubs began last year following acts of violence stemming from a dispute between dozens of rival Hells Angels, Salida Nomads and Mongol members, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities declined to elaborate on what the violence entailed and what may have prompted the fight since the investigation is ongoing.
The ruling comes nearly a year after the Mongols’ attorney filed a motion for a new trial, claiming the club’s president had acted as a federal informant.
On Feb. 28, law enforcement executed 12 search warrants, raiding locations across San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties including a Hells Angels clubhouse in downtown Stockton, said Sgt. Luke Schwartz.
They siezed 50 firearms, ammunition, gun silencers, paraphernalia that contained the clubs’ names, narcotics and material to make explosives, the Sheriff’s Department wrote in a news release.
Four Modesto men — Vincent Ball, 62, Anthony Vincent Soria, 37, Alfeiri Mishell Taneiya, 26, and Emilio Diaz Martinez, 35 — who authorities allege are affiliated with motorcycle clubs, were taken into custody. They were arrested on suspicion of possession of a steroid, an assault weapon, a silencer and narcotics as well as manufacturing and selling metal knuckles and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the news release.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
