For many people, motorcycles symbolize freedom of the open road, for others, motorcycles only think of lawless biker gangs who pick fights in roadside dive bars. Despite these impressions, the American Motorcycle Association has estimated that only one percent of motorcyclists are involved in an outlaw motorcycle gang. One of the most famous of these gangs is the Hells Angels. Founded in 1948 in Fontana California, the Hells Angels was actually a conglomeration of a bunch of small local clubs. The name was inspired by the name of a fighter plane from the Second World War.

Since there founding over seventy years ago, the gang has garnered a bad reputation with local and federal law enforcement. The United States Department recognizes the group as an organized crime syndicate, but what did they do to deserve this distinction? Well, many chapters of the Hells Angels, both in the United States and abroad, have been brought up on charges of racketeering and conspiracies to commit extortion, arms dealing and drug trafficking. As new motorcycle clubs have sprung up, they cut into the Hells Angels rackets, which led to gang on gang violence. But how dangerous is this outlaw club today?

Are the Hells Angels Still a Threat in 2020?

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In recent years, many North American Hells Angels chapters have been keeping a low profile. In 2020, a court in British Columbia held a Hells Angels rider responsible for a hit and run motorcycle crash in 2014. In 2019, a quiet Bronx neighborhood became the home of a new Hells Angels clubhouse, but the highest crime they are responsible for is being too loud. Although the Hells Angels haven’t been involved in any organized crime in a while, they are still a violent gang.

In 2016, a Hells Angels member shot a man in the stomach outside of their East Village clubhouse for moving a traffic cone that was holding his parking space. September of 2018, four New York-based Hells Angels ambushed and assaulted members of the Pagan motorcycle club at a motel near Staunton Virginia.

Related: 15 Flattering Facts About The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

The Hells Angels Abroad

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While the American chapters of the Hells Angels have been keeping a low profile, there are 444 chapters in 56 countries, and plenty of them have gotten into trouble with the law in the past few years. In New Zealand, the Hells Angels have been responsible for a great deal of drug trafficking in the country. May of this year, New Zealand police seized over half a million dollars’ worth of methamphetamine from one Hells Angels member. And in England, a chapter of the Hells Angels based in Berkshire got into a thirteen-man brawl which left several bikers injured and one disemboweled.

In 2019 the Netherlands became the first to ban the Hells Angels. The main reason for this ban was their role in importing and distributing cocaine and ecstasy in the Netherlands, but they were also responsible for arms dealing, murder and blackmail.

Related: 10 Sons Of Anarchy Inaccuracies About Motorcycle Gangs

How Dangerous Are They?

Hells Angels doing good deeds
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So based on the most recent news, it is safe to say that in 2020, the Hell Angels Motorcycle Club is still dangerous and still deeply involved in organized crime. While the Hells Angels are an outlaw motorcycle club, some of their chapters are more violent and more deeply involved in organized crime than others. Outside of the U.S, the Hells Angels appear to be operating less like a motorcycle club and more like a crime syndicate.

But don’t take this to mean the Hells Angels in the U.S have by any means gotten soft. While they haven’t made the headlines in the U.S lately, it’s important to keep in mind that they are still a violent motorcycle gang and might have committed many crimes this year that just haven’t been investigated yet.

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