Letter: Hells Angels has wide influence

Tuesday, May 7, 2002 | 8:46 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan's May 3 column, "Outlaw bikers now a local problem," ignores some international implications.

According to a March 21 article in California Staatszeitung, a Los Angeles-based popular German-language newspaper, there was a major raid on Hells Angels by 500 police officials in Dusseldorf, in three neighboring cities along the Rhine, and in Schifferstadt near Ludwigshafen. Searches were made of the hideouts of the Hells Angels, a prohibited criminal organization in Germany. The police confiscated weapons, drugs and explosives. Moreover, in one bar in the inner city of Dusseldorf, six persons were taken into custody.

The article goes on to say that it was the duty of each member of the prohibited club to possess a gun and to wear a uniform-like leather jacket (Lederkutte). The article stated that in order to domineer red-light districts, the Rockers armed themselves like a military unit. According to Dusseldorf Minister of the Interior Fritz Behrens, the Dusseldorf Rockers are consciously committed to destroying fundamental values held by decent citizens, by following a secret system of internal code of laws.

From this it can be concluded that the Hells Angels is not only nationally networked, but also has international connections, giving rise to speculation that it may be associated with terrorism and anarchism as well.

FRANK PELTESON