SAN BERNARDINO, CA, October 06, 2011 … Scores of law enforcement officials gathered in the parking lot of the Inland Empire 66ers minor league baseball stadium Thursday morning, the makeshift command center for an operation that involved close to 500 personnel. Throughout the morning, investigators carted in evidence collected in the raids: guns, small amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine; and boxes of “Vagos” trademark green patches, which are usually stitched to members’ leather vests. In an operation designed to behead the leadership of the notorious Vagos Motorcycle Club, ten gang members suspected of drug trafficking and a rash violence that included the recent murder of a rival Hells Angel member in a Nevada casino were arrested by state and local law enforcement authorities in a series of early morning raids throughout Southern California Thursday.
The crackdown comes after an 18-month investigation led by the state Department of Justice into of the most “violent criminal” motorcycle gangs in the nation, officials said. Members of the gang, which started in the Inland Empire in the 1960s, stand accused of suspicion of murder, rape, weapons violations, money laundering and drug violations. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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