Numerous police and international intelligence agencies classify the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club HAMC as a motorcycle gang and contend that members carry out widespread violent crimes, including drug dealing , trafficking in stolen goods , gunrunning , extortion , and human trafficking operations.
American Hells Angels member Paul Merle Eischeid, who fled the United States in after being charged with drug trafficking, racketeering, kidnapping and homicide, was apprehended in San Isidro, Buenos Aires on 3 February after being tracked by the U. Augustiniak and Michael Christopher "Mesa Mike" Kramer, had murdered Yvonne Garcia, a year-old mother of six who verbally disrespected the club and its members while in an intoxicated state during a party at the Hells Angels' clubhouse in Mesa, Arizona on 27 October He was extradited to the U.
The rival clubs were reportedly travelling to a motorcycle rally in Trenque Lauquen when members of Los Tehuelches opened fire on the Hells Angels from a van, prompting a gun battle in which around rounds were fired. The Hells Angels expanded to Australia in , initially establishing chapters in Melbourne and Sydney , and now have approximately two-hundred-and-fifty members and fourteen chapters in the country. The club's activities in Australia have traditionally included drug trafficking, prostitution, armed robbery, arms trafficking, fencing stolen goods and murder-for-hire, [59] but they have more recently moved into legitimate businesses such as gyms, tattoo parlours, haulage companies, and the security industry.
Police allege that the Hells Angels undertake money laundering by passing money through legitimate businesses. The Austrian branch of the Hells Angels was established when the club formed a chapter in Vorarlberg in November On 4 January , Marcus Matz, the fugitive president of the Hells Angels chapter in Leipzig , Germany, was arrested when police officers raided the Hells Angels clubhouse in Vienna.
Belgium became home to its first Hells Angels chapter in the summer of , at which time a major Belgian police inquiry into the club immediately began. In May , Belgium became the first country in the world to declare the Hells Angels an illegal organization with Vincent hallez.
