Hells Angels MC: The Mick Jagger Contract - Meth

the senate judiciary committee conducting hearings on violence by motorcycle gangs heard some explosive testimony from a former held angels member rita braver has details now a place witnessed this morning is butch butch was hidden behind a screen he's now under government protection a witness in cases against motorcycle gang members he was a hells angel for 14 years and he told senator thurman the angels are out to get a famous rock band and its lead singer there's always been more that's an open contract open contract on this this ban and this person and there's been two attempts that i know of that failed two attempts at what to kill him that's mick jagger and rolling stones the hell's angels worked as security guards during a 1969 rolling stones concert in altamonte california a man was killed during a scuffle with gang members and butch testified that the angels are furious because the stones did not back them during the resulting prosecution of a gang member he said the gang has sworn to kill jagger someday a spokesman for jagger said this comes as a complete surprise rita braver cbs news capitol hill [Music] if cocaine was the drug of the 80s methamphetamine looms as the drug of the 90s that according to federal drug officials and the national institute of drug abuse methamphetamine meth crystal speed ice or some of its street names it is more potent than cocaine and cheaper to buy and while cocaine comes mainly from latin america methamphetamine is made here in the usa manufactured with over-the-counter chemicals and processed here in clandestine laboratories and unlike the latin american cocaine cartel the methamphetamine distribution network is made in the usa too who are its principal distributors [Music] the hell's angel the oldest and largest motorcycle club in the united states well known as a fraternity of rebels the gang of outlaw bikers but not as well known as the allegation by the u.s department of justice that the hells angels are movers and shakers in the illegal business of making and selling methamphetamine matt pavone of the u.s organized prime drug task force in san francisco there is no other organized criminal group that has as much of an influence in methamphetamine manufacturing and trafficking as the hells angels from what we know in law enforcement and the reason for that is the reason for that is based on the number of investigations we've conducted involving methamphetamine trafficking the group that shows up time and time again particularly in the western united states is the hells angels motorcycle club cisco valderrama is president of the hell's angel's largest chapter in oakland california the hells angels do not manufacture and distribute methamphetamine i know a lot of are some i shouldn't say a lot some members have gotten arrested for it but uh you're talking about the hell's angels no the hell's angels do not methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant that as we said threatens to replace cocaine as america's drug of choice why first of all it's domestic unlike cocaine and unlike heroin for example we're able to produce methamphetamine completely within the united states it can be manufactured here packaged here and distributed here the main reason for meth's growing popularity is the high it produces a euphoria is said to be similar to that of cocaine the drug is usually injected or inhaled or it can be smoked the high from methamphetamine can be at least as great as cocaine and the big advantage is it lasts significantly longer how much longer well a high from crack for example can last uh as short a time as perhaps 20 minutes a high from from ice can last for anywhere from 12 to 20 hours how dangerous is it it's very dangerous it's a central nervous system stimulant that can cause brain damage that can cause respiratory difficulties and can cause all sorts of short-term paranoia sounds like pcp uh correct in some ways and it's actually interesting that the hell's angels originally got started trafficking more in pcp and then ultimately moved on to methamphetamine that was back in the 60s when pcp was better known as angel dust dust of the hell's angels today according to the fbi the motorcycle club dominates the meth parade in california the nation's methamphetamine capital it is the bikers drug they control that drug anthony tate seen here in disguise was a national officer in the hells angels and for nearly three years the fbi's principal informant inside the club why did the bikers house angels other bikers why did they fix on meth as the drug that they wanted to control well primarily the uh the cost the feasibility the ease that it's made for instance to manufacture methamphetamine you probably only need two days to make say two hundred thousand two hundred fifty thousand dollars worth of meth and you're not talking about that much you're talking 25 pounds of methamphetamine is worth 200 250 000 that would be at wholesale price tate says that kind of money has drawn other motorcycle clubs and independents into the meth trade but the hell's angels he says remain the most powerful mr tate is a paid informant working for the fbi and he earns his wages by giving the fbi information that they need and they want george christie is president of the hells angels ventura california chapter i think that a lot of people are building careers from our lifestyle among them according to christie is anthony tate from the federal government paid some 100 000 during the three years he worked as an fbi in poland tony tate shows up in ventura he asked me to set him up in the drug business now he complained he cried he sniveled he said he was going broke someone's got to help him now not being in the drug business i informed me no i cannot help you sorry what do you think he was trying to do and trap you absolutely when you have a case as good as we did the only thing you can do is attack the individual's credibility in each case what i said was exactly the truth that's why the club calls me tony truth i murdered them with the truth and juries have apparently found tate truthful his testimony has so far resulted in the conviction or guilty pleas of 32 hells angels including the club's leader ralph sunny barger who's in prison in arizona kel's angel's convictions have ranged from distribution and possession of methamphetamine to conspiracy to commit murder anthony tate was critical to the investigation because he was the vehicle through which law enforcement was able to get inside the inner workings of the hells angels that inside view some of it captured on fbi videotape revealed a multi-million dollar drug enterprise for says take for example the case of kenneth owen the hell's angel who later received a 41-year prison term for possession and distribution of methamphetamine here's an individual who's found with 30 pounds of 100 pure methamphetamine and 3 million dollars in currency the estimates at the trial suggested that he had produced some 3 000 pounds of 100 pure methamphetamine the wholesale value of that much meth is about 30 million dollars the street value an estimated quarter billion dollars pavoni cited the cases of other hells angels charles chico manginello allegedly operated a clandestine laboratory stocked with enough chemicals to make some one million doses of meth per day manginella was sentenced to 40 years in prison for selling methamphetamine william rook a hells angel from northern california who with two other health angels set up a lab with the help of this how-to cookbook police found 41 pounds of meth in the trunk of their 1986 cadillac and enough chemicals in rock's laboratory to make 5 million doses of meth rork was found guilty of conspiracy to manufacture meth in the raw case we were able to establish that the hells angels had set up a methamphetamine laboratory in a fairly rural area in the state of missouri and then to move it back here to distribute to move it back here to distribute we also know as most of their manufacturing operation was set up on the west coast have also moved methamphetamine from the west coast to the east coast and even to midwestern chapters such as cleveland ohio it sounds like the big like the beginning of a national distribution out that they've test marketed it here in california and now let's move to some extent you're right in that there's clearly communication between the chapters what's in it for the federal government to persecute the hells angels why would they want to investigate you i think they would like to investigate us because we're uh certainly a visible target i mean you don't have to look uh far to find out who is in the club and who is not in the club if their position is there are greek letters aside of there are all kinds of men's clubs they're not investigating kiwanis well you we don't know that fact of the matter is cisco from your chapter alone seven hells angels have already been convicted of serious felonies right i'm not sure how many he has ken owen chico manchinello werner some james calucci one moment sir michael vincent o'farrell we still have the appeals going but they've been convicted so we have seven out of uh a few hunters out of several hundred health angels there are an estimated 800 members nationwide there were more arrests and convictions than just seven there were 40 arrests for meth conspiracy to murder explosives and weapons 30 convictions okay i'm sorry i thought we were i was thinking of northern california i didn't know you know i wasn't thinking of all the united states then i read the christie and valderrama a copy of the hells angels california bylaws seized from the home of convicted meth dealer ken owen number six no narcotics burns when making deals persons get what they are promised or the deal is called off fine automatic kickout from the club there are your own bylaws and let's see what number six those bylaws i think are something like 1960 something first of all you know i see there's no date on it you know it's conveniently taken off and uh what i think that uh my interpretation of that mike is when uh that was seized from ken owens property back in 1987. okay well our bylaws i mean it's hard to answer yeah it is hard to answer i'd like to see that mike first of all came from ken owens property given to us by the feds a man by the name of matt pavone assistant u.s attorney san francisco says the hell's angels are up to their hips in the methamphetamine trade as far as i'm concerned mike this is just a piece of paper and uh the hell's angel is not involved in narcotics transactions as an organization and uh you know they must be involved in something otherwise they wouldn't be putting it in the bylaws that's uh what they're uh alleging but uh having not been in mr owens house when it was seized i'm not sure where they got it what about the millions allegedly earned from meth where does it go according to pavoni it's invested back into expanding the meth business and as with other drug cartels it is laundered into legitimate enterprises you show it going into purchases of real estate limousine services catering services and things of that sort now you're finding meth everywhere in places you never found it before from the school yard to wall street anthony tate has been relocated and given a new identity through the u.s witness protection program because says the fbi there is a murder contract out on him the hell's angels deny any knowledge of it the image of the hell's angels is on the highway roaring down the open road but on wednesday federal agents hit them where they live raiding homes and clubhouses across the west coast we believe them to be involved in certain crimes such as theft of motorcycles stripping of motorcycles narcotics trafficking trafficking in firearms and explosives two years of investigating the motorcycle gang paid off at dawn as agents conducted raids from alaska to arizona with washington nevada and california in between neighbors going out to grab the morning paper were shocked to find swat teams surrounding their homes i was definitely scared that there were so many guns around that sort of thing especially pointed at my front door agents seized more than 100 firearms and 1 000 rounds of ammo but in perspective it took some 700 officers working across five states and they only came up with forty thousand dollars in a quarter pound of the drug metamphetamine i'm not at all disappointed you know you go where the leads take you the image of the hell's angels has changed somewhat over the years these days you're liable to find some middle-aged motorcyclists selling t-shirts or raising money for charity but agents say that's often a cover for a gang police still consider criminals if you have a toys for tots run on the same day that you're cooking methamphetamine you know which is your real persona some of it was evident last year when hells angels brawled with another gang inside a nevada casino three gang members were killed and another 12 people injured federal agents say wednesday's raids were a start to taking away the kinds of weapons gang members used that day chris lawrence cbs news los angeles

Channel: MOBFAX

Views: 28,456

Keywords: Hells Angels, Biker gangs, Motorcycle Clubs, Rolling Stones

Id: NnejxX4fG_E

Length: 14min 45sec (885 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 15 2022